God is seeking people that will worship—truly worship—and he has promises that if you are faithful to worship on His terms that there are endless rewards and blessings. I challenge you to engage in true worship. There are three ingredients for true worship in which we all can grow.
Ingredients for True Worship
#1: True Worship Has Humility
Recently I observed a church on TV. I switch to this station right in the middle of one of their songs. They were singing “Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome”. During the song every person that the camera showed just stood their and read the words off the wall. When the song was over, the congregation sat down and the rest of the service went off like clockwork.
As I watched this I began to think about how we have lost sight of what worship really means. Jesus said in John chapter 4 that there is only one true way to worship. Jesus set up the system of worship, so when we decide to enter into worship, we are no longer in control of ourselves, but we are entering His turf and submitting ourselves to the will of God. This is where humility kicks in.
Humility is the first key to any successful time of worship. Throughout the entire bible the primary Hebrew and Greek words for worship mean humility. Without humility you cannot truly worship. Humility means to lower yourself and submit yourself to the will of another. So when you worship, you are coming under submission of the Holy Spirit, and allowing Him to act, walk, and speak in and through you. Romans 12 says it best by saying that you should present, or submit, your body to God as a living sacrifice.
Many of our churches today will not come under submission of the Holy Spirit. They have a schedule to keep, this song has to be sung, these announcements have to be made, the pastor has to get done by 12:00. All the while the Holy Spirit is trying to point out people that are hurting, a marriage that is falling apart, or someone that might be contemplating suicide.
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As long as we stay in control, we will go on and have church as usual so that we can get to the buffet line by 12:15. But when we let the Holy Spirit takes control we will stop having church and start being the church. When the Holy Spirit is actually involved in our services sickness will be healed, marriages will be restored, joy will reign in our midst once again, and the lost will come to Jesus.
Will the services go past twelve o’ clock? Probably. But who cares? When I choose to worship, I expect the Holy Spirit to take control. I don’t want Him hanging around in the back corner somewhere. I want Him center stage. I want the lost to see Him and come running. I want the broken to see Him and start shouting because they have been healed. I want the proud and stubborn to see Him and start weeping in humility.
That is true worship! Worship in truth is great and wonderful—singing the songs, raising your hands, clapping, and all the other tangible stuff. But we must go beyond that and learn how to worship in the Spirit and let the Holy Spirit have his way.
#2: True Worship Has Faith
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
In a previous study we saw that the first ingredient required for worship was humility. We cannot come to God with a proud or haughty spirit. Pride can do nothing but die in the presence of God. God will not allow it into His presence.
