The Motions

We got a treat this past Tuesday as Elizabeth lead out discussion. Topic: worship. Our most recently worship night was very powerful, but it didn't start out that way. There was a complete difference from the beginning of the service, with mostly everyone raising their hands or singing, but not really paying any attention to the One they were singing to, and the latter part of the service, when people really decided to focus on God and not just go through the motions. The result at the end? Healing, deliverance, and changed lives.

Really, what is the point of just going through the motions? It wastes the precious time we have on this earth to do what God has called us to. He doesn't get anything out of fake praise, and neither do we. Elizabeth listed nine benefits of real, true worship:

1. It's what we are created to do. (See I Peter 2:9 and Luke 19:40)
2. God deserves our praise and worship. (Just think of all the things He's done!)
   
3. It pleases God and expresses our love towards HIm. (Wouldn't praise and worship to you make you happy?)
4. It takes the focus off of us. (Think about the worship song, "From the Inside Out": "The are of losing myself in bringing you praise." That's just how it should be.)
5. It serves as a reminder of how valuable we are to Him. (See Hebrews 4:16)
6. God wants what we have to offer. (He loves to see us, no matter what.)
7. It frightens the devil. (More and more people doing it, coming together, building off of each other, just like Matthew 18:20, "when two or more are gathered in My name"...) (Also see Psalm 8:2)
8. God inhabits our praises. (Again, Matthew 18:20, and also Psalm 37:4)
9. Worship gives us strength. (See Nehemiah 8:10 and Psalm 16:11)

So, knowing all these benefits (and considering that there are so many more not listed), what are the real motions of worship? According to John 4:24, we should worship:

• In spirit -- the act of worship from our rationial consciousness (meaning check your motivations for your actions in worship), and
  
• In truth -- consistent with the rest of our lives (It's not just one or two days of the week, it's 24/7).

People get the wrong idea that it's worship only when we lift our hands and sing songs in church. It's more than that -- it 's giving thanks to Him for the things He's done in your life, big or small. It's filling your mind with God-kind of things. (Not being overly-spiritual; see Philippians 4:8 for some good examples.) These are things you can do all the time, worshipping in truth. But we also have to make a conscious decision to focus in on God (worshipping in spirit). Sometimes it's not easy; we tend to think about everything from when/how to raise/lower our hands or rest our arms to when the people around us are or are not worshipping. But preparing ourselves ahead of time to enter into the worship that's happening really helps us to focus on the important things -- God, the great things he has done for us, is doing in us, and has already completed for and through us in the future.