We often hear “worship is a lifestyle,” but it’s not often followed by what this means in everyday life.

I help lead worship in the children’s ministry; one morning I asked the kids “What is worship?” Some said singing songs to God, while another said how we live, which is much closer to the meaning of worship.

Even as I write this I’m aware that my attempts to address this question fall short of what it means to worship God. How can I describe worship of our God who is infinite when I have such limited means of expression?

In response to the kids’ answers, I also said that worship is how you treat your classmates; it’s how you treat the kid that no one else likes. It asks, “Am I willing to be a friend to the kid with no friends?”

As an adult the questions are not much different. How do I treat my neighbors? Do I really care about them? Am I willing to stop in my tracks to really talk with them and even pray with them in the hallway, all while I’m on my way to something I think is important.

I’m brought back to Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus to learn of Him, which is where all other outward worship begins.

There is always a price for genuine intimacy with God. Do I know a little about what it means to pay a price for intimacy with God? If not, am I willing to ask God to grace me so I can pay whatever the cost for intimacy and communion with him?

We can only worship God as deeply as we know him; it will never go deeper. The greater our “knowing” of him (this speaks of relational knowing, not head knowledge), the greater our worship of him.

Am I invested in pursuit of God, or do other things rob me of this pursuit? Are there any changes I can make in my life that will help me invest more in my pursuit of God?

Abraham worshipped God with a depth in his commitment that was willing to say, “Yes, I’ll lay down my promised son.” It was a test of Abraham’s faith, which revealed where his loyalties lie.
He wasn’t called “friend of God” for no reason. God was first in Abraham’s life.

Gen 22:12
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” NIV

The testing of our faith is linked to going into deeper depths of intimacy with God. We only need to look at the lives of Joseph, David, and the disciples to see this. With each test of faith we go through, it is God’s way of digging deeper into our heart so we can go into deeper intimacy with him.

A relationship without conflict, difficulty, and testing is no relationship at all; it doesn’t go beyond the surface. But a relationship that has weathered the storms of conflict, difficulty, and testing is an intimate one.

What storms and difficulties in my life have served to draw me nearer and deeper with God?

James 1:2-4
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Hebrews 13:15 (NASB)
15Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

Rom 11:33-36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34 “For who has known the mind of the LORD ?
Or who has become His counselor?”
35 ‘Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. NKJV

Your thoughts, response, comments?

Rom 12:1-2
12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ESV

What gets in the way of worshipping God fully?

Too often we limit our view of God, and forget He is the One who hung the stars in the sky, spoke creation into existence, and breathed His breath to give us life. We are told to stop and remember because God knows we are quick forgetters. This passage from Isaiah 40:12-28 is a good place to stop and meditate on Him. Let us worship Him, lifting up holy hands to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Isaiah 40:12-28
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in scales?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,
or who gave Him His counsel?
14 Who did He consult with?
Who gave Him understanding
and taught Him the paths of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge
and showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales;
He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him;
they are considered by Him
as nothingness and emptiness.
18 Who will you compare God with?
What likeness will you compare Him to?
19 To an idol a smelter casts,
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver welds for it?
20 To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot?
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He reduces princes to nothing
and makes the judges of the earth to be irrational.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.
25 “Who will you compare Me to,
or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up and see:
who created these?
He brings out the starry host by number;
He calls all of them by name.
Because of His great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert:
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Yahweh is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never grows faint or weary;
there is no limit to His understanding.

“Together Forever No Matter What” This is God’s covenant commitment to us as believers.

We are shaped and formed by what or whom we love, and who or what we love is what we worship. There is never a question of whether or not we will worship, the question is to whom will we give our worship?

Intimacy without respect is no intimacy at all. Honor, adoration, and the exaltation of Christ in our hearts proceeds true intimacy with God.

From Facedown by Matt Redman
“(W)hen we truly draw near to God, our sense of His greatness and might will always be heightened, never diminished. Any sort of worship that esteems drawing near to God yet somehow portrays Him as merely a tame and cuddly friend perhaps isn’t quite as near to Him as we would like to think. As A.W. Tozer puts it, “No one who knows him intimately can ever be flippant in his presence.” If we look through Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, we’ll find worshippers overwhelmed to the core in the intimate yet fiery presence of a holy God.

As we journey near Him in worship, our heart of reverence for God will beat stronger and faster than ever. Up close and personal, yes, but also, up close and unfathomable. As William Barclay points out, even in these incredible New Covenant times when we may draw near to God, “the New Testament is never in the slightest danger of sentimentalizing the idea of God.”

The question is, “Are we?”

Our sentiments change, but God’s love and His majesty never change. Love & Worship of God amounts to more than our sentiments can stir up. It goes much deeper than our feelings to a “knowing.”

Because God’s love and His majesty never change, he deserves worship that comes from commitment, rather than our flippant feelings alone. He is committed to us; we can show our commitment to him by worshipping him even when feelings are absent.

I’ve had the privilege of leading worship in the children’s ministry on a fill in basis. To be honest I’ve never been much of a “kid person,” but God has totally softened my heart. The last time I lead kids in worship I got all choked up when I prayed for them at the end. God has changed my heart. Now I have the honor of teaching guitar to an 8 year old girl.

I’d love to hear from those of you who have had experience in leading children’s worship, or in teaching children how to play the guitar.

How can it be that one man’s life is more valuable than the next? This question created great distress in my heart, as I watched one episode of the television program 24. In this episode a terrorist discovered that a Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) investigator was quickly drawing close to tracking the money trail of the terrorists. As a result of this the terrorist demanded that the President order this man’s execution, or else a deadly virus would be released in major cities that would kill millions. Attempts made to track the terrorist prior to the set time for the execution failed.

I was in agony of heart as I watched this occur. The situational ethics disturbed me greatly. Again the question haunted me: Is one man’s life more valuable than the next? The world would probably answer this question with a resounding, “Yes;” but is this consistent with the Bible? Questions bombarded my mind. Do situational ethics have any place in Christianity?

Then I was overwhelmingly struck by the reality that one Man, Jesus Christ, sacrificed his life for mine. The man on 24 sacrificed his life so many could live, but he was not without sin. He was not innocent like our Savior, Jesus Christ. As I was overcome with this reality, I began to cry vehemently in worship to our Lord. I praised him with a heart full of gratitude for all that he has done for me, and for rescuing me from the penalty of sin. Who would have thought that watching a television show could spark deep worship within my heart?

I thought of the scripture in Romans 5:12-21, which speaks of how sin entered into the world by one man, Adam; but just as sin entered by one man so through one man, Jesus Christ, the free gift of grace would abound to many. I continued in worship with deep and heartfelt gratitude and thanksgiving, very much in an ordinary aspect of life, until I could weep no more.

So why does all this matter? The question of situational ethics still remains, and will never be easy to answer. More importantly, in the drama of life, am I willing to be drawn into those times of worship when it would be least expected?

Is worship of my Lord and Savior daily, filled with thanksgiving for even the small things in life, such as the very air I breathe? I have learned, when I remember, to start my day with thanksgiving for another day that he has given, and pray that he will use it to his delight.

There are so many opportunities to worship the One in whom I love and trust. Certainly, worship coming forth from watching a television program was not expected. I want to look for and be open to the unexpected.

Col 2:6-7 states, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving, emphasis added” (NRSV). The question then for me is: “Does my life abound with thanksgiving on a daily basis?” I pray so.

1)    A heart of worship toward the Lord. To become men and women after God’s own heart.

 2)    A sense of responsibility to one another. For example, we all learn at a different pace so some will catch on quicker than others in some areas. Being responsible to each other means we leave no one behind. Those who have grasped the concept, technique, or song will help those along who are struggling. These roles may be reversed in another situation. We are all students, and we are all teachers. We all have something we can learn from each other, even the absolute beginner. We must be teachable.

Let me say more about leaving no one behind. The Marines and special forces teams all have the motto that they will never leave a fallen comrade behind, even when it puts them in danger. This is an example of being responsible to each other, depending on each other, and caring for one another.

Biblically, worshippers often went out ahead in the battle, and sometimes the soldiers never had to engage in fighting because the war was won in worship of the Lord. The enemy cannot stand before the Presence of God.

3)    We are a team working together whose greatest desire is to worship God in spirit and in truth, and who just happen to use a guitar, piano, or other instrument as a tool to this end, like David used a harp.

4)    View the investment in developing lead worshippers, whether in front of a congregation or small groups, as God’s Worship Training School. Developing the needed musical skills is important, but being a good musician alone will not take us into the Presence of God. The perspective is a heart of worship first, and prayerful trust that God will anoint and bless our development as his musicians.

5)    Seek to develop the mind of Christ, in that we are a vessel within which the Holy Spirit desires to move in and through. We want to be a people who know how to enter His Presence privately and collectively. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7, KJV).

6)    Seek to develop the highest level of skill and excellence possible for each one. Skill and the building of confidence are necessary so we can worship without the distraction of struggling with our playing.

7)    We must be a people who walk in humility of heart toward God and each other, a people who encourage and build one another up in Him, a people who pray for each other, both spiritually and musically.

I’d like to hear about your thoughts, experiences, ideas, and wisdom.

Anyone can sing worship songs, but it takes something different to enter into God’s Presence and lead others into His Presence. It’s easy to move from one song to the next without a stillness of heart, into which the Lord can speak. 

There are those “forced” periods of silence in worship, and everyone knows it. But Spirit led moments of silence allows our spirit to commune with His Spirit. There’s a sense of wonder and awe that I can sit in stillness, absorbing the Presence of the God of the universe. Too often, however, we rush on to the next thing, and we miss knowing what it is to taste and see that the Lord is good.

Our culture is in a rush to do everything, and we get swept into it without even realizing it – until something shakes us and we know we’ve missed dining with Jesus. We’ve missed sitting at his feet, and bowing before Him with childlike wonder.

What are your experiences with this? Have you found some effective tools to keep your eyes fixed, and avoid the common distrations? How do you deal with the distractions that keep you from worship?