Tag Archives: worship

Why we worship

A few months ago, I began to get that restless feeling in my spirit that I have come to recognize as preparation for a significant change – usually a new ministry assignment. As I talked with Marion and sought to discern the Lord’s leading, we eventually realized that we were being reassigned to a little neighbourhood church here in Vanier known as The Village.

The Village is pastored by a wonderful couple who live just one block from our house, and our initial assignment was simply to come alongside them and provide friendship, encouragement and prayer support. However, as this relationship has developed, Marion and I have also been invited to assist in strengthening the Village’s ministry of sung worship.

This is an excellent fit for us on a musical level. As a worship leader my style is very simple and unsophisticated. I play my acoustic guitar and sing. No band; no lights; no smoke machines; no mosh pit; no screaming fans; no gear beyond a very basic sound system with a microphone and a pickup to amplify my guitar. Not that I’m against any of that other stuff, but for me they have never seemed necessary (although I have to admit, having a bass player would be a great blessing). I’ve always led worship in very small settings – small groups and home churches. The Village is not a home church, but it is a very simple church, so a simple approach to sung worship fits right in.

As for Marion, the simplicity of the musical culture at the Village has provided a perfect context for the djembe (African hand drum) that I gave her a few years ago, and it has been a delight to see her gaining confidence as a hand drummer. Acoustic guitar and djembe make a very good combo, and her playing helps to keep me anchored with a solid rhythmic base that adds some punch to our musical offering.

The simplicity of music and worship at this new place of assignment is also a good fit on another level. It is a constant reminder that worship is not a show, but an offering of love.

I’ve had seven years to re-learn this lesson. From the spring of 2006 until this recent shift to The Village, Marion and I had been part of two mid-size churches. Both these churches were blessed with plenty of talented musicians, and despite my love for worshipping the Lord in song, I knew that the Holy Spirit was restraining me from joining the praise and worship team at either church. At the time, I didn’t think of it as a sabbatical, but I now realize that the time span of seven years was no accident.

The lack of involvement in worship ministry was a big change for me, as prior to this I had been the main worship leader as well as the pastor and teacher in our house church for many years. But with the subtle pressure of the Holy Spirit keeping me from joining the public worship ministry of either City Church or All Nations, I played my guitar and sang my songs of worship in my basement, in my small group, at prayer meetings with a handful of intercessors. It felt strange at first to be restricted to using my gift in such a limited way, but I knew that God was pruning me, testing my heart to see if I would still choose to be a worshipper when He was the only one watching or listening.

About two years into this seven-year sabbatical, I was introduced to the worship coming out of International House of Prayer in Kansas City, and spent many hours letting my heart be changed  in the fragrant atmosphere of devotion that flows from the IHOP Global Prayer Room.

Now that I am stepping back into a more public role as a worship leader at The Village, I am constantly reminded that this is a priestly function. When I am leading worship, I am not serving myself or my own need for attention. My entire focus needs to be on helping the people of God to be true worshippers who bring a pleasing offering to God. To do this, I need to first of all be a true worshipper myself. And so, I have been asking myself some old questions, and finding that the answers to those questions – though I have known them for many years – are reaching my heart in a fresh way.

Why worship? What is the point? Why does God value worship? Specifically, why do we worship with songs?

Those are very big questions, and a single blog post is far too short for adequate answers, but here are a few thoughts.

We don’t worship to entertain God, to impress him. Though the simple worship songs offered by a tiny church in Vanier may seem unimpressive even by human standards, the best worship band on earth pales in comparison to the worship offered in the heavens. Nothing we bring could ever compete with the sights, sounds and smells of the worship in the heavenly throne room. And so, humility is called for. We need to get over ourselves. Even with the most skilled singers and musicians, the latest and most anointed songs, a world-class sound system, lights, smoke, and thousands of people – we’re not that impressive. Beloved, yes – amazing, yes – but only because we are the handiwork of an amazing God. He is the one who is truly impressive.

Nor do we worship to make God like us, or to convince him of how devoted we are. God has no illusions about us, and His love for us isn’t dependent on how well we sing our songs or play our instruments. Our hearts are transparent to Him – he sees right through to the core of who we are. He sees our love for Him and our sincere desire to please him, but he also sees our fears, our pride, our judgments, our preoccupation with ourselves, and much else besides. Nothing we do in worship can change that, nor should we even try. After all, God hates pretense. His favour is attracted only by a broken and contrite heart with no deceit.

So why do we worship?

God is worthy
First, we worship because God is worthy. He is before all things, all things come from Him, and everything exists for His pleasure and glory. Any created thing that we consider to be beautiful or good or true is only good because it comes from His hand. True worship is not about us but about God. It is a declaration of His supreme worth, a declaration that He is the reason why we live. In the words of the apostle Paul, in Him we live and move and have our being.

But God is not only worthy of praise because He created us. He is worthy of praise because of His self-giving, sacrificial love. We bow in wonder before the One who took on human form and allowed himself to be broken and crushed on the cross. We are in awe of the One who took away our guilt, washed us clean and gave us a new heart so that we could stand before Him without fear in His presence as beloved sons and daughters. We are amazed at the prospect of sharing in resurrection life with Him forever in His Kingdom that will have no end.

Love
And so we worship not only because God is worthy. We worship God because we love Him. His amazing generosity towards us causes love to flow from our hearts in response. We love because He first loved us. Love for God is the first and greatest commandment.

Now, if we are honest, we would have to admit that we don’t always feel love towards God. Although we have passed from death to life and from darkness to light, our minds and hearts are still in the process of being renewed, and much of our life in this age is still preoccupied with our own concerns. It’s only by the Holy Spirit’s power that we are able to love God at all.

Invited into intimacy
God is better to us than we know. He is fully aware that we are not capable of loving him with our whole being. And that is precisely why He has given us the Holy Spirit, and commanded us to worship him with songs. When we sing songs of praise and thanks and adoration towards God, the Holy Spirit takes our own words and uses them to change our hearts, and we find that our thoughts towards God begin to line up with the words we are singing. The Holy Spirit reminds us of how much He loves us, and our hearts begin to engage with God’s heart, and we find that we are once again in awe of His goodness.

And so, although worship is first of all for God – it is a way of honouring Him and expressing His worth – it is also very much for us. It is a gift that God in His mercy has given us so that we can draw near to Him and our hearts can be transformed in His presence.

One of the most wonderful truths about God’s character is that He delights in our love for Him. The King sees us, He is moved by our love for Him, He invites us into His chambers. This intimacy with the Holy God is one of the amazing paradoxes of worship. Though the Lord is on high, yet he looks with affectionate love on those who humble themselves and seek Him with sincerity.

Why do we worship? Because God has commanded it; because He is worthy; but also because He loves us, and we are invited into intimacy with Him. What an amazing privilege, to come into the experienced presence of the King of Kings for an advance taste of the glories that will be ours forever when His Kingdom comes fully on earth as it is in heaven.

And so, as a worship leader, I want to be careful to keep my focus on Jesus; to remember His goodness and mercy and His supreme worth; and to remember the price He paid and the value He sets on the precious ones whom it is my privilege to lead into His presence every time I offer my songs of worship before God’s throne in the presence of His people. What an amazing and humbling privilege. To God be the glory.

House of Prayer : Foundation Stones

Good morning praying friends,

On this weekend when Christians remember the death of our Lord, celebrate His resurrection and look forward to His coming again in glory, my thoughts are turning once again to laying foundations for the Vanier House of Prayer.

Since our premature launch attempt a couple of months ago, I have “gone silent” in regard to the House of Prayer, but when anyone has asked, I have said we were “building underground” — cultivating relationships that will be crucial to the health of the HoP down the road.

Although this process is far from complete, I am sensing that the time is not far off when we will need to begin building above ground, putting some simple foundation stones in place that will be crucial for what follows.

Sometimes I “see” things in my spirit that are from God, but don’t have complete clarity as to timing and how to get there. Over the past couple of weeks I have caught glimpses of a couple of simple foundation stones for the House of Prayer. I would appreciate prayer for clarity in terms of the timing and other details of setting these foundation stones in place.

One of these foundation stones is a weekly gathering for worship, prayer and simple teaching. The focus of the gathering would be intimacy with Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and its main purpose would be to provide an atmosphere that makes it easy to enter into the presence of God. This would not be primarily an intercessory gathering. Although we will probably do some intercession at this gathering as it develops, its initial purpose would be primarily devotional. The teaching would focus on drawing near to God, intimacy with Him, and hearing and responding to His voice.

I believe this is something that we are to offer. I’m less clear as to time and place. At the moment, Marion and I sensing that we are to begin these gatherings in the fall of this year. That seems a long way off, but it would allow a bit more time for the consolidation of our new relationships at The Village. Please pray for confirmation as to timing.

In terms of a location, we are considering offering our home as an initial meeting place. We have had prophetic words about the Lord using our living room as a birthing place for the House of Prayer — in particular as a place to pray with individuals who come to us. We are very much open to this and have already seen it beginning to happen, but our living room is quite small and won’t hold a lot of people. So, please pray that the Lord would give us His wisdom in terms of an initial meeting place.

I expect to be the initial worship leader at these meetings, but as this weekly gathering develops, I will be looking to the Lord to raise up worship leaders of His choosing. In keeping with our vision for a small, simple, local House of Prayer, we are not looking for superstars, but for willing vessels who have a heart for the presence of the Lord and are willing to learn.

Finally, I am very much aware that I am not a promoter – this is probably one of the areas in which I am least gifted – so I would appreciate your prayers that the Holy Spirit would draw people, as well as your participation in inviting people to come along with you when the time comes for us to begin these meetings.

A second foundation stone is prayer walking. As I was waking up the other day — one of the times when the Lord frequently drops prophetic possibilities into my spirit — I “saw” a picture of a group of people prayer walking through Vanier, and realized that a regular (weekly or bi-weekly) prayer walk could be a very simple and effective foundation stone for the House of Prayer, especially during the spring, summer and fall months. Again, I’d appreciate your prayers as to timing (when to initiate this), and that the Holy Spirit would draw people.

Thank you for praying. Please feel free to contribute your insights in the form of comments. Blessings to you as you celebrate the Lord’s resurrection.

Peter

Playing to an audience of One

All of us play to an audience.

This tendency to play to an audience – to do the things that we know will win us approval, applause and appreciation – starts very early in life. In fact, I am pretty sure it is innate. People manifest this tendency in different ways, but everyone does it.

Anyone who is a parent or grandparent knows what I am talking about. When my daughter Bethany was a preschooler, she concluded that she might be able to get out of potential punishments by fluttering her eyelashes. She overplayed her hand, though, at the age of four, by telling me her strategy. “You can’t punish me – I’m too cute”. When I finished laughing, I disciplined her nonetheless, even though it was hard to keep a straight face. And a generation later, the pattern continues. Bethany’s adorable nieces – my beautiful granddaughters Sophie and Alivia – are adept at the same game, and play their audience masterfully, although thankfully their parents have the wisdom to know when to play along, and when to burst the bubble.

Playing to an audience can be cute in a four-year-old. But this seemingly innocent game doesn’t stop when little Joey or Janie heads off to school. The audience keeps changing throughout life, and the strategies we use to impress people or win their approval may become more clever and subtle – but at bottom it’s really the same game, in many different forms. Make ’em think I’m smart, or cute, or sexy, or strong, or good, or otherwise impressive. Make ’em like me. Make ’em treat me well.

One of the remarkable things about Jesus is how free he was from this all-pervasive game, this compulsion to please people and win their favour. That’s because he was playing to a different audience. He did only what he saw his Father doing, and lived only for his Father’s pleasure.

Because of that, he could love even those who abused him and rejected him. When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, he knew exactly what he was doing, and he had no illusions about the outcome of his ride. He knew that he was fulfilling prophecy. He knew that he was God’s chosen one, destined to suffer for the sins of his people and the whole world. He knew that the leaders of Israel were even then plotting to destroy him, and that most of those who hailed him as King would turn away from him just a few days later. He knew that even Peter, his right-hand man, would crumble under the pressure of fear and deny knowing him. He knew that he was headed for a cross. He had warned his disciples about this months before. When he sweated drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, waiting for one of his friends to betray him, wishing this cup of agony might pass from him, it was for their sake and ours that he stayed faithful. When he went into the heavenly sanctuary as Lamb and High Priest, he went for them – and for you and me. When he stands before the Father’s throne and intercedes for the souls of men and women, he’s doing it for those who denied him, rejected him and betrayed him. He’s doing it for us.

Jesus is the only one who can lay my heart bare with one deft stroke of the sword of his Word. He is able at one and the same time to wound me, comfort me and speak life and hope to me. He has exposed the twisted motives of my heart too many times to count, and untangled the tangled mess of my hopes, fears and desires so that I know which way I should walk. He does this because He loves me. Having given his life for me, he continues to plead for me, woo me, call me to himself, beautify me and prepare me until my transformation is complete, until I am clothed in glory together with all those who have responded to his call, and we enter in to the wedding feast as the glorious Bride that he had in mind from the beginning.

Jesus is able to finish what he started. He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it. We can count on him precisely because he doesn’t care about pleasing us. He loves me and you, but he’s not compelled to win our favour by doing what we want. He lives only to please his Father. He can’t be corrupted. He has stood the test and been found faithful. Jesus doesn’t stand before me to win my approval. He stands before his Father’s throne as the heavenly intercessor for me, and all those for whom he paid so high a price. And so, because we have a Passover Lamb and High Priest who cannot be swayed, one who is faithful through and through, one who is completely incorruptible – so unlike our fallen human leaders – because of this, we can be completely sure that he will always deal with us in truth, mercy and righteous, holy love.

There are many things about Jesus that move my heart and make me want to weep with gratitude. Today, I am thankful that – so unlike mine – Jesus’ heart is consistent; that, so unlike mine, his eyes are always locked in on his Father’s face; that, so unlike me, he is unswayed by the many voices that clamor at him to change. He hears every prayer and is sensitive to every cry; his heart is tender towards everyone who calls out to him; but he lives his life and walks his course for an audience of One. Not only that, but he has promised to make me like him. In fact, that’s the only basis on which he will receive me. Salvation is completely free – Jesus paid the ultimate price for my forgiveness – but there is a catch. I have to agree to one thing. I no longer belong to myself but him. That means he gets to do what he wants with my life. That means letting Jesus make me over again, from the inside out. I, too, have to learn to play to an audience of One.

Jesus, you said that if my eyes are good and my gaze is unswervingly locked in on you alone, then my whole being will be full of light. That really is what I want, Lord. I want my life to shine like a city set on a hill for all to see. Do for me what I can’t do for myself. Make me like you. Teach me to play to an audience of One.

New Years Resolutions

I am not a big fan of New Years Resolutions. I haven’t made one in several years, that I can recall.

It’s not that I don’t like making commitments. It’s just that I prefer to let the Lord lead me into new seasons in his timing, and in my life, those new seasons don’t always correspond with the beginning of a new calendar year.

This year, however, many things are changing as the new year begins. I am re-entering the world of Information Technology contract consulting after a nine-month hiatus. Marion and I are also at the beginning of a new venture in our neighbourhood, as we take our first tentative steps towards the development of a community House of Prayer in the heart of Vanier. In addition, I have taken on a role as a worship leader on a once per month basis in a small church that is being planted here in Vanier.

Marion and I have always been good with money and we have never had problems limiting our expenses, but for the past few years we have had a fair bit of discretionary income.  The new consulting contract, while a blessing, does not pay as well as the ones I have had for the past several years, with the result that our discretionary income will be somewhat reduced. And so, for the first time in several years, I have made a budget.

Along a similar vein, as I have considered the new ministry involvements that are starting up shortly, I have realized that they will require me to be more intentional about my use of time. So, for the first time in several years, I have found it necessary to create a weekly timetable, allocating specific chunks of my days and weeks to Bible study, prayer, worship, exercise, work, rest and recreation.

This may not seem particularly noteworthy or exciting. In fact, to some of you it may sound downright boring. But as I was considering all this, I realized that there is something else going on which is more profound. During the closing days of 2012, Marion and I followed several of the sessions of the year-end OneThing conference at International House of Prayer. For me, a key insight came as I listened to Misty Edwards speak about what it means to bear the easy yoke of Jesus. She made the simple observation that although it may be an easy yoke, it is a yoke nonetheless, and a yoke is a form of discipline. To bear a yoke means that I do not belong to myself. I am the bondservant of the One who gave his life for me.

As I listened to her words, I realized that the Lord was calling me to a more disciplined, more focussed life. For the past several years, although I have not stopped praying, giving, worshipping or serving, I have in a sense been waiting for a new assignment from the Lord. I had been thinking of this assignment largely in terms of an identifiable ministry role. During the OneThing conference, the Lord made it clear what my assignment is. Until He returns, my assignment is to love Jesus with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and to live my life for his pleasure.

I already knew this, of course; the Spirit has been working this understanding into me for many years. Yet somehow, the pieces fell into place more clearly and decisively as I listened to Misty Edwards a couple of days ago. Maybe her words had such impact because for the past thirteen years, she has given her life as an intercessory missionary, serving in a place of relative obscurity.

Whatever the reason, I now know in a way I did not know before that I have only one assignment. It is to live for his pleasure, to live before His eyes. There will be other secondary assignments, of course, flowing from that primary one. But the secondary assignments should never become my identity, should never be allowed to take over the primary place in my heart. All that matters is loving Jesus and living for his smile. For me, the budgeting of time and money is an expression of what that assignment currently requires.

As I was finishing this post, I received a phone call with the news that a friend from our church had died suddenly while on vacation with his wife. He was in his middle years, and full of vitality.

Such news is always sobering. Whenever someone dies, it reminds me that my life is not my own, and I can’t put off serving the Lord until tomorrow. It seems like yesterday that I turned fifty, and yet my sixtieth birthday is only a few months off. I want to live the years that remain to me with my eyes locked in on Jesus. And by God’s grace, that is what I will do.

House of Prayer : One thing I seek

When Jesus was asked which of all God’s commandments was first in importance, he answered without any hesitation.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 10:28-30)

It may seem difficult at first glance to love a being that we cannot see. Yet this was not God’s original intent. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked with God (Genesis 3:8), and in the New Jerusalem, the redeemed will see His face (Revelation 22:4). Lovers of God through the generations have found that to those who seek him, he discloses enough of himself to keep us hungering for more. King David, Israel’s Psalmist, was fascinated with the beauty of the Lord, and declared,

One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple. (Psalm 27:4)

When Jesus died, the curtain of the temple was torn in two (Mark 15:37-38). This signifies that because Jesus has paid the price for our sins, we can approach the presence of the Holy One without shame and without fear. Yet those who belong to God often encounter many distractions and many impediments to prayer. And so the first and foremost goal of a House of Prayer is to encourage Gods people to come into His presence, by providing a place and an atmosphere that encourages prayer. The God of the Bible is a God who draws near to His people. He promises that if we draw near to Him with a sincere heart, He will draw near to us (James 4:8,Hebrews 10:19-22).

When we draw near to God, it is natural for us to present our requests to Him (Philippians 4:6, Matthew 7:7). We petition him for his favour and intervention in specific situations, not only for ourselves but for the needs of our community, our leaders, and the nations (1 Timothy 2:1-4). The Bible strongly encourages us to do all these things. Most of all Jesus instructed us to petition God for the coming of His Kingdom on earth as in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Yet even when our requests are godly ones, there is something more important than bringing requests to God. First and foremost, in the House of Prayer we come to love him with our songs of worship and our prayers of adoration and thanks and praise. (Hebrews 13:15, 1 Peter 2:5) These are expressions of the love of our hearts, and we find that as we focus our loving attention on God, he changes our perspective on everything else in our lives, and gives us eyes of faith, so that the rest of our prayers are filled with faith and the confident expectation of an answer.

Glimpses of glory

A few days ago I was cycling along a pathway by the Ottawa River. I was perplexed about my current circumstances, and I stopped for a few minutes to sit on a bench and look at the river. As I told the Lord of my concerns, I sensed the Spirit prompting me to look at the fruit cluster on a sumac bush.

I went over to have a look, and was amazed. The Spirit reminded me of the thousands of cells of various types in each berry, each cell containing hundreds of complex organic molecules built with chains of atoms that are themselves fantastically complex. And this is just a single fruit cluster on a single sumac bush!  That’s not to mention the millions of other species of living things on earth, let alone the wonders of the mineral world and the vast galaxies that form outer space. My concerns fell into perspective as I realized that the God who made all this had a place for me in his plans.

All my life I have been enthralled by the wonder of God’s creation. The beauty of the created order – even in its fallen, marred state – reflects the glory, goodness and creative generosity of God, and brings rest to my soul. But more recently I have begun to find myself increasingly captivated by the beauty of God himself.

Several books of the Bible include descriptions of God’s throne room and the majestic splendour that surrounds him. Among the best known and most detailed visions are found in the Book of Revelation.

Sadly, many people tend to avoid Revelation. It’s an amazing book, written by a man with a deep love for God’s people. As a young man, John had been Jesus’ closest earthly friend. By the time he wrote the Book of Revelation, he was an old man, living in a prison camp on the Aegean Sea because of his faith in Christ. He was the overseer of several Christian communities in Asia Minor that were tasting intense persecution under the cruelty of the Emperor Domitian. John wrote to give them hope and encouragement.

Although John spoke a message of hope, it was also a sober message. The Lord would return to deliver his people, destroy evil and bring in the new age of righteousness and peace. But before his return, there would be a period of intense struggle. The Spirit revealed to John that there would be much turmoil and many painful trials before the final victory and the coming wedding feast.

Yet before showing John any of these gruesome details, the Spirit gave him several powerful encounters with the beauty and majesty of the Father and the Son. There’s a stunning vision of the Son of Man in Revelation 1, and an equally awe-inspiring description of the throne room of God in Revelation 4 and 5.

I am still very much a beginner when it comes to truly understanding these heavenly realities. But I am realizing in a fresh way why we need to feed our hearts on the beauty of God.

Of all the wondrous aspects of God’s glory, perhaps the most wondrous of all is that he is interested in us. The throne room contains not only the throne of the Ancient of Days but also the throne of the Lamb who was slain for us. Although God, He is also one of us, and he stands ready to open the seals of the scroll that will complete history and bring in a renewed, restored and glorified earth.

Over the past couple of weeks the world has been treated to the spectacle of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. These games were an amazing display of the glory of man. The Olympics showcase humanity’s drive to pursue and appreciate excellence, order and beauty in all domains of life. This drive is in us because we are made in the image of a great, glorious and creative God, who intended us to rule the earth on his behalf. Even in our fallen condition, having made quite a mess of things, we still bear His imprint. Yet if we pursue the glory of man without God, we end up empty, disappointed and frustrated.

I have known for a long time that I needed God. I know that I am daily dependent on His love, truth and power. But God is not just a source of gifts that I need to sustain my life. As long as I think of God that way, I still don’t really get it. I was made to worship and adore the Beautiful One. He is beautiful, delightful, exquisite in himself. You and I need to learn to feed our souls on his beauty. In the end, it is only His beauty that can satisfy us, sustain us, keep us from evil, and bring us through to the glorious destiny that we were made for.

What is true worship?

Worship is what we were made for.   The Book of Revelation gives us a picture of a renewed heaven and earth in which there is constant worship.   When all things are restored, there will be no more division between worship and life – it will all be one constant stream, an expression of our lives poured out in love to the King who has redeemed us and who will dwell with us forever.

But for now, we are on earth and God is in heaven.  Although Jesus has come among us, we are not yet in the New Jerusalem; we don’t see him face to face.  And so for us, living here and now, worship is still a separate activity from the rest of our lives, much as we might wish it were not so.  Until Jesus returns, it will be that way.  We ache for the day when we will be one with Him, but we’re not there yet.

So for us who live in this dying world, yet who belong in Christ and are waiting for his return, what should our worship look like?  In his famous dialogue with the woman at the well in Samaria, Jesus spoke of true worshippers who would worship the Father in spirit and in truth.   So then, what is a true worshipper?  What characterizes true worship?    What type of offering is pleasing to God?

This is a big question, but as one who loves worship and has sought for years to bring a faithful offering of worship to the Lord, I’ll try to briefly summarize what I have learned from the Scriptures and from my own experience.  I’m certain that what I say will be inadequate, yet I pray that it will encourage you in your own pursuit of the God who alone is worthy of all worship and praise.

First and foremost, if we are going to be worshippers of God we need to understand that our worship must be genuine, not just a show.   If we are worshipping to win points with God, to impress others with how spiritual we are, or to have a particular kind of emotional experience, we are missing the point.  Jesus, quoting the prophet Isaiah, referred to God’s grief and displeasure with the Pharisees of his day who honoured God with their lips while their hearts were far from him.   Being true worshippers means daily offering our lives to Him as living sacrifices.  It means that we are learning to love God with our whole being – heart, soul, mind and strength – without pretense.

True worshippers understand that He truly is the only God; there is none other.   True worship means praising God for who he is – his power, greatness and goodness – and thanking Him for his mighty works in our lives.   It means acknowledging him as our Creator and Redeemer, the source and goal of our life.  Since all of us are self-deceived to an extent, being a true worshipper means laying our hearts wide open before God, and inviting Him to identify the idols in our lives (anything in which we have placed ultimate trust other than God) so that we may turn away from them and place our trust in Him alone.

Even though God is far above us – great, awesome, and holy – true worship also means not staying at a distance from God, but drawing near to Him.   When Jesus gave up his life on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn in two as a graphic illustration that by His sacrifice the way is opened for us into the presence of God.  Jesus has given us access to the Father and He desires that we boldly enter in.   Staying at a distance dishonours His sacrifice.  He doesn’t want us to be content with less than the intimacy that He purchased for us!   True worshippers understand that because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we are invited to boldly come before God with unveiled faces and behold His glory, unlike Moses who covered his face in God’s presence.   True worshippers love spending time in the presence of the Lord, worshipping Him in the Spirit, knowing that as we linger in His presence we are being changed into His likeness.

In spite of this invitation to come into His presence boldly, true worshippers never take God lightly.  Like the elders around the throne in the Apostle John’s vision of heavenly worship, true worshippers are in awe of God and his holiness.   At the same time, true worshippers are those whom Jesus calls his friends.  We tend to think of friends as equals, but Jesus redefined friendship for us when he said that we are his friends if we do what He commands.  Yet he clearly was talking about a very intimate relationship, because He also said that He would show his friends everything that He had received from His Father.   David wrote that God would show His secrets to those who fear Him.  True worshippers – those who worship in spirit and truth – are those who are in awe of God and yet know themselves to be  His friends, to whom He promises to reveal His plans and show His covenant faithfulness.

True worshippers are overcome with gratitude for the amazing gift of God’s mercy and forgiveness that has been poured out on them.   Like the woman who came into the house of Simon the Pharisee, poured perfume all over Jesus’ feet and wiped them clean with her hair,  true worshippers are so aware of their own need and so thankful for God’s kindness that they pour out love on the Lord,  without worrying about what anyone around them will think.

True worshippers pursue God passionately.  They can’t get enough of Him.  Like the Beloved in the Song of Songs who went through the streets of Jerusalem at night looking for her lover, sick with love and filled with desire to pour out her love on him, true worshippers have a burning desire to lavish love on the Bridegroom who has claimed them for his own, has purified them and is coming to redeem them and make them forever His.

Like the Apostle Paul, I have to freely confess that I have not attained to all I am describing here, but I am pressing forward to make it my own.  Daily I ask God to fill me with genuine love for Him and for those around me.  More than anything else I want to be a worshipper whose offering brings delight to the Lord, so that when He returns I can welcome Him with joy.

Why I need to worship

Worship settles my heart and gives me God’s perspective

Worship fills me with joy and peace

Worship changes my heart

Nothing else helps me see God’s Kingdom the way worship does

Worship draws me into the presence of the Almighty and refreshes my spirit

In worship, all the promises of God are made real to me

In worship, I get a glimpse of God’s glory – I get a glimpse of God as He really is, the One who alone is good

In worship, I see myself as I really am – not the centre of the universe, but a beloved child who needs my Father

In worship I receive the grace to love God and love others

In worship I am reminded of my identity, my destiny and my calling

For all these reasons, and most of all because He is worthy, I will make the daily choice to be a worshipper of my wonderful God.

“The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever” – Westminster Catechism