Worship

If you're not interested in reading a super long post, I suggest you skip past this one. ;)

I just got done reading a section about worship in a devotional book called A Call to Die by David Nasser. It brings up a point that struck me big time a short while after I became a Christian, sometime back in early 2009 I think, a point that was brought even more clear to my mind when I saw a couple of other people at school attack the subject of worship.

I love worshiping God, a huge reason being because it gives me room to cry out the prayers that are in my heart. However, the one thing that bugs me the most regarding worship is when other people think that worship is just walking into a room, singing a bunch of songs to the ceiling, and then walking out and continuing on your merry own way.

How much more wrong can you get?

Worship is giving God glory, giving Him some of the credit He deserves, telling Him that He deserves everything you can possibly give Him, showing Him that your love for Him is so great that you can hardly contain yourself. You are not merely "singing a bunch of songs to the ceiling" when you are truly worshiping God; you are singing to Him and for Him! The words turn into your prayers, into the cries of your heart, into your desires.

The way I see it, if you don't believe something a song says or you aren't truly praying to God through the song, if you don't really want God to move through your life based on the words in a song ("This life is Yours and hope is rising..."), then, reader, whoever you are, please don't sing. God prefers an honest heart to one that is just going through the motions. And don't think that throwing your hands up in the air makes you more of a Christian than anybody else, if you're that sort of person, reader. I know these are harsh words, but God prefers the humble to the prideful. If you're only raising your hands to Him to look better, your intentions are way off. I don't know about you, reader, but I feel extremely vulnerable and completely surrendered to God when I raise my hands to Him and ask for His Spirit to reign in me.

If only we realized just how mighty God is and the kind of power we invoke when we worship Him, maybe we wouldn't be so quick to simply just go through the motions and shrug it all off afterwards.

Reader, just be honest with God. He already knows where you are, after all. Your worship to Him, whatever form it's in, should come from the depths of your heart. Whether you are happy, upset, confused; whether you feel like you're on top of a mountain or in the deepest pit of your life; true worship expresses Your heart to God and gives Him the glory above all else, no matter the circumstance.

And singing is only one form of worship. Dancing, painting, drawing, writing, acting, lighting/sound, stage design, other forms of art not mentioned, serving others, and praying are all forms of worship. In fact, doing whatever it is you do for God is worship! Whether you are making some sort of video to glorify Him or whether you are lying beneath the stars, thanking Him for creation, as long as it is with your whole heart, you are worshiping Him.

One last thing. Romans 12:1 = "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship." What does it mean to be a living sacrifice for God? It means that everything you do stems from Him. It means that He is working in you and causing you to want to live for Him. And that living for Him is what it means to give your life up for Christ, the whole "Christ died for me, so I live for Him" type of thing you sometimes hear.

Once again, reader, just be honest with God from where you are.

Worship songs that have changed my life because of how God spoke to me through them or how I cried out to Him through them:

• Invitacion Fountain - The Violet Burning
• I Could Run Away - Brandon Grissom
• Amazing Grace - Various Artists
• Everything - Lifehouse
• Our God Reigns - Delirious
• Wrapped in Your Arms - Fireflight
• Came to My Rescue - Hillsong United
• All I Need is You - Hillsong United
• You Hold Me Now - Hillsong United
• With Everything - Hillsong United
• Till I See You - Hillsong United

I pray, reader, that the next time you decide to worship Him through music, you really look into your heart, listen to the words you are singing, and really mean them.