Worship—Your Lifeline to Jesus

Worship is that higher form of our conversation with the Lord where we are not petitioning Him for what we need but thanking and praising Him for who He is and what He has already done. This brings us speedily into close communion with Him.[1] We can worship with others in church, in our quiet times, and simply by doing all that we do as a love gift to Him.[2] Worship also puts us back into our place. You don't have to literally kneel down to get the benefit. Kneeling in our hearts is always good for our souls because it reminds us of who He is as our Beautiful Creator and Redeemer and it reminds us of who we are as His beloved people. This softens, or unhardens, our hearts.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Psalm 95:6-8

All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.

Why You Need This Connecter

Worship literally means “ascribing worth to” the object of our worship. It is so easy for our focus to go off in other directions. Perhaps that is one reason why the Lord structured His Church around a weekly time of worship. In this way He can work with us every seventh day (at least) to get our focus off of ourselves and our problems and back on to Him. In both public services of worship and private moments of intentionally drawing close to God, we can experience the returning wonder of Who He is and of all that He means to us.

Through church worship services we can learn how to enter His presence with thanksgiving and His courts with praise—and carry that into our “quiet” times as well.[3] Corporate worship creates a spiritual “atmosphere” which seems to draw heaven closer to the earth, making it easier for everyone present to become worship-full. The Holy Spirit loves to see us worshiping both Father and Jesus and He always comes to carry us higher once the spirit of true worship moves into our hearts.[4]Don’t settle just for singing on key or giving lip service to the prayers! Begin there, but by all means seek to use the collective opening as an opportunity for you to mount higher into genuine praise and presence. Put your heart into thanking, praising and adoring God and He will put more of His Heart into you!

We would be widely missing the mark, however, if we only thought of worship as happening in gathered religious meetings or in intimate moments of close encounter with the Lord. These can certainly be high points, but there is far more to worship than these special moments.  Worship is central to the entirety of our being: We are born worshipers! We have just been worshiping everything else but the One we have been created to worship. In everything that we do we are ascribing worth to something, even if it is the wrong thing. The scriptures take the view that everything that we do can be transformed into worship if it is done for the Lord under His leadership.[5] The telling thing is what is in our heart. If His peace is reigning over us, He has truly been enthroned and rightly worshiped, even in the midst of daily work or play.[6]

How It Works as a “Safety Net”

Worship services are a gift to us, like shared fire was to those who didn’t have it in the old days. At its best a good worship service restores the freshness of experiencing God’s presence. When the singing turns into praising, when the praying leads to burdens lifted, when the message becomes a revelation, God is visiting His people. This always refreshes us in the moment and strengthens us for days ahead. What a lifeline! And because it is so effective as a safety net, it “catches” us week after week and holds us in the “grip of grace.” Strengthened by frequent encounters with our Lord, it is easier to withstand the tempter and stay “fired up” to pursue our God-given purpose with passion.

A good worship service also serves as a safety net in this way: If we see worship happening around us and cannot enter into it ourselves, then that is a clear sign from the Holy Spirit that we are holding on to something that is holding us back. It may be something we feel guilty about, or worried about; it may be a grudge we are holding against someone. Whatever it is, we need to deal with it and then join in. In this sense I have often seen going to church like going to the doctor’s. If I’m in good spiritual health, I have no problem entering into the Spirit of worship: a clean bill of spiritual health. If not, it’s a good thing I had the check-up in time to work on the problem. In fact, the presence of the Lord in the worship service not only enables us to see problems (sins) but also to receive grace from Him to overcome them.

Problems to Avoid

We are told that Lucifer once led worship in heaven. He fell due to pride.[7] That should give us all pause. At the very time when he should have been lifting up the Lord and leading others to enthrone God on their praise, Lucifer began lifting up himself, seeing to draw praise attention his way! Jesus also warned us that religious people especially are prone to this problem. The Pharisees loved to be honored, to be seen as holier than others, and to draw praise to themselves. Be very careful about this: Spiritual pride is a terrible pitfall!

Beware also of false humility. Don’t hold back because you feel you are unworthy. Jesus has made you worthy to enter God’s presence and to stand before Him as a much-loved child. We are actually invited to come “boldly” to God’s throne of grace anytime we need mercy or help of any kind.[8] Your sinful side will be used by the enemy as an accusation that you are unworthy and unwanted. But these are lies! We run with boldness into His presence, even when we are covered with spiritual slime, because the Blood covers us, the Love invites us, the Spirit unites us, and His Word guarantees a friendly welcome.

Keep Growing!

Fellowship  Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit are always in perfect love and fellowship with One Another. They are now working through the gospel to draw us out of our self-focus into genuine fellowship with one another and with God. By intentionally seeking out friends in the Lord who are seeking to grow in Spirit and in truth, we stay refreshed and strengthened.

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