The Immeasurable Value of Worship

When we talk about worship, we are not talking about singing. Worship goes beyond the songs we sing. Worship is all about adoring God; understanding Who He is, and appreciating Him for Who He is. Worship is an expression of reverence, adoration to a deity, in which case we have no other but the Lord God Almighty. Worship to other gods and idols is false worship, idolatry, but it is still worship. 

Things that will help us discover the immeasurable value of worship

1. Prioritizing worship

Is worship something you have prioritized in your personal life? Where have you put worship, in your life? 

John 4:23-24

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Worship is not something that we should do and stop; worship should be our lifestyles. Wherever we are, worship should flow, all the time. 

Talking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus said that the Father seeks for such people to seek Him, meaning God seeks for worshipers. He desires and wants to have worshipers. He is looking forward to have His creation worship Him, give Him honour and glory. Worship from you to God is a priority, to Him. God has been and is looking for worship. 

The Bible does not say that God is seeking for pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers, and so on. He is seeking for worshipers. God gives the giftings (Eph. 4:11), and we give the worship to Him. God can do many things, but He cannot worship Himself. He gives us many things, but we give Him worship. Worship should be prioritized, wherever we are; in our schools, work places, homes, etc. When I talk about worshiping wherever we are, I am not talking about singing while working, schooling and so on; I am talking about adoring, loving, revering God wherever you are. 

All around us, people are bound by so many things, that worship is secondary to them. God is nowhere in their lives, as they are bound by many things. They end up shifting their worship to things, or even people. It is good to respect people, but we should never worship them. 

John 4:23

"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth;

This statement lets us know that there are false worshipers. I want to pray for you and for me and for the church of the Lord Jesus that we shall not be false worshipers. 

John 4:21

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.

When our minds tells us that we have to be in a sanctuary, church and so on to worship, and when we are bound by places to worship, this is false worship. False worshipers are bound by the temple, mountains, clothes and robes of worship and so on. So if you have to wait to get that "robe of worship", turbans, go to that valley, cave, mountain, church, to worship, that is false worship. The Father is seeking those who will worship in Spirit and in truth, true worshipers. 

John 4:23

"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth;

True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. 

The word "spirit" is in small letters, meaning the writer knew Jesus was not talking about the Holy Spirit. He was talking about our spirits. The connection with God starts in our spirits. True worship must start in the spirit, as we are spirits, living in a body. You give God praise and worship from the inside of you, not from your mouth. You must worship in spirit. 

Jesus is the personified Word of God. Since He is the Way, Truth and the Life, the word of God is the Truth. Our worship must align to the Word of God. This is true worship. 

2. The person of interest

Where are we directing our worship? Worship is all about God. Worship is to and for God, and to no other. Worship is not about me, not about the leaders of the church, the pastor, the leaders of worship and so on; it is about God. If worship is not to God, it becomes something else. 

Exodus 20:1-2

And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

The Person of interest is not the praise and worship leader, the praise and worshipers, the pastor and so on; He remains to be God. When we are jumping around, celebrating, lifting our hands and voices, bowing down, it is not for people. Do not ever try to do anything while worshiping to please people; worship is to God. Do not ever do things in church to be seen by the pastor and so on (bowing down, lifting hands etc.) When the praise and worship leader tells you to lift your hands in worship, do not do it for him/her. If you worship best with your hands in your pockets, do it, but do it unto the Lord. Whatever you do, do it unto the Lord. 

Worship is not a performance. Performance is an act where people do things so as to entertain or impress people. If in your mind you have an idea of singing in church to be seen or impress people, that is not worship. Worship is not entertainment; worship is unto God. You cannot play with the mind of God. Worship is to and for God. 

Psalm 24 (read)

3. What is the time for worship? 

Is there any one moment when God becomes a lesser God or ceases to be Who He is? Maybe there is something you were believing God, praying for and fasting for; and did not come through, and now you think that God has changed. Does God really change? All the time, God remains to be God. Issues and seasons may come in our lives, but they should never change who God is to us. 

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls- 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.

It does not make sense at all that when you do not have this or that you will not worship. The Scriptures show us that even if things will not go as expected we should rejoice in the Lord, all the time. Worship the Lord, all the time. 

We do not worship God because of what He has done for us; we worship God because He is God. 

You are waiting for God to do something for you, and then He does it for you. Then you praise and worship Him. I want to tell you that even before He did it, He still was God. He did not become God because of giving you what you wanted. The Person of God overrides the deeds. God does not become God when He does, or because He has done; even before He does, He is still God. I challenge all of us to be worshipers, no matter what we are going through. Be that man or woman who will worship God even when you are going through fire. Like Shadrach, Misheck and Abed-Nego, say that even if God will not rescue you from the fire, you will still worship and serve Him (Daniel 3:16-18). 

Job 1:1

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

Job 1:20

Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

We know the story of Job. He was an upright man, blameless and fearing God. Even after all was taken away by the devil, Job could still bow down and worship God. Job is a good example of a true worshiper. In Job 2:10 he was prompted by his wife to curse God and die. Job did not sin against God, in all these things. 

 

Job 2:9-10

Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" 10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Worship should not be hindered by anything. Feelings will come; because of people, things, situations and so on. The wife of Job wanted to stop him from worship. Some people around you will want you to keep quiet, and stop worshiping. Situations will come to stop your worship. They will tell you to stop worshiping God, because He allowed the bad situations. Let us worship God, as we know Him, and where He has brought us from. We have an experience with Him. Let nobody challenge, hinder or stop our worship. Sometimes we feel like we do not want to worship, but we should not allow feelings to interfere with our worship. 

The flesh is always against your spirit. Your flesh will never encourage you to worship or serve God. Let the spirit win; worship, regardless of whatever your flesh tells you. Feelings are of the flesh, so never listen to them; they will always come and go. Go with your spirit. Like Job, refuse to be moved, and keep worshiping. 

4. Who drives worship?

True worship is not driven by the praise and worship team, the pastor, and so on. True worship is driven by the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus, in talking to Nicodemus, told him, 

John 3:6-8

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Worship that is led by the Holy Spirit is unpredictable, as He is unpredictable. Sometimes He will tell you to be silent; sometimes He will tell you to tell God He is amazing; you never know how He will do things. True worship is not manipulated, doctored, but rather led by the Holy Spirit. That is my desire for you and me, that wherever we are, we listen to the Holy Spirit. When we are led by the Holy Spirit, and worship God the way He leads, He ministers to us and does things in our midst that we did not even expect, as He is the driver. 

Worship is not tethered by religion. Some people cannot worship without a book, in their church. Worship should be led by the Spirit. 

Philippians 3:3

For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh…

Do not tie your worship to the things of the flesh. Our circumcision is not that of the flesh, but of the spirit. We do not put our confidence in the things of the flesh, in the suits, etc., to worship. Our confidence should be in the Lord Jesus, who has saved us and delivered us. Do not worship because you are smartly dressed, and so on. It is good to have make up, dress up and have good things; but we do not tie our worship to the flesh or the things of the flesh. Our confidence and worship is in and for Christ Jesus. 

5. ‎Basis of true worship

True worship must be scripturally sound. Worship should go hand in hand with what the Bible says. To worship, you need the Word of God. The more we eat of the Word, the more we give of it, in form of worship. If we desire to write songs, that are full of revelation, we must be readers of the Word. Revelation will only come of the Word that we have eaten, that resides in us. The more of the truth that comes in, the more of the truth we will give out. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). If our hearts are filled with the Word, we will be able to worship God in truth, as we worship God by the Word. 

6. Does it involve all of me? 

Yes it does. It is because worship is not lip-service. Worship comes from the spirit. 

Mark 12:30

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.

Love is agape. Agape is an active word, meaning that love is an active word. If we love God, we are active, and are worshiping Him continuously. The Bible tells us to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. When it comes to worshiping God, it involves the heart, soul, mind and strength. How did you know God? You heard the Word, with your ears (body); the word went into your mind, and you understood that Jesus loved you and died for you (soul); then you dropped the Word into your heart. The Word came from your heart again, after believing, then it came to your soul, your mind, for you to truly understand that He loved you and died for you, then out through your mouth, you confessing that Jesus is Lord. This is the same way we worship; we meditate on the word (body to soul – mind), drop it into our hearts where it aligns with our spirits. The same Word and worship arises from our spirits, through our hearts which believe, to our minds where we meditate on the worship, then out from our mouths, in form of singing, saying and so on. Worship involves all of our beings. 

Psalm 19:14, 63:1-7, 95:1-11 (Read)

Colossians 3:23-24

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

Whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord; that makes your lifestyle and all you do worship. 

Blessings. 

-- Pastor Karani Kaugi.

(26/10/14 Sunday Service Sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry.)

Pastor Kaugi is a pastor and leader of the praise and worship team, at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./Bypass Intersection), next to Eastgate Restaurant.