It’s kind of obvious isn’t it? Worship is actually a 7 letter word. Yet, somehow, it seems as though we tend to think of worship as something that you can only do at church on Sundays. Only the worship pastor knows how to lead us in worship, only the songs that we sing at church are meant for worship. Absolutely not true!
Just like praying, we are called to worship God regularly. It was actually why we were made in the first place! But what exactly is worship? Worship is an overall lifestyle of serving and glorifying God and showing His glory to others through our life. Basically praising God and being obedient.
That basic definition shows us that worshiping on Sunday morning is great, BUT we need to worship with our lives and life happens on days other than Sunday. We need to find ways to praise and glorify God each and every day. Worship is a way for us to connect with God and deepen our relationship. It’s meant as time for us to not just think of ourselves and what God can do for us, it’s our time to think of how great He is and what we can do for Him.
Your personal worship will be mostly unique to you. There really isn’t a wrong way to worship, other than doing it with a selfish motive (like thinking that if you listen to more Christian music that God will bless you more). It’s something that you have to want to do because of just how wonderful He has been to you and if you go to it with that mindset, then pretty much anything goes. There are some standard things like listening to more Christian music, getting into a deep bible study/meditation, thanking Him regularly for your blessings, singing along to your favorite worship music on the way to work, etc. And all of those are a great place to start.
But you do have to make it personal. It has to be YOU praising HIM. If listening and singing along to worship music is for you, then make sure that you can pick some music that you connect with on a deeper level than just what’s randomly playing in your streaming playlist. Make a special one just for that purpose to kind of pick the songs that touch your soul in some way.
If it’s bible study, take some time to research what it is that you really need to hear. Are you struggling with your faith? Are you new to your faith? Are you struggling with sin? Do you have trouble letting God lead your life? There are plenty of topics in the Bible to spend time studying, make it personal to what is going on in your life and heart.
Do you struggle with feeling blessed? I know that I do quite often. I look at my house and see the repairs that need done. I see my vehicle and wish I had something new/better/more my style. Some days I wish we were having steaks for dinner more often. But if you look past the things that you want, you can see what you really do have. I have a house for my family, not just 1 but 2 vehicles for us to get where we need to go and I get to eat each and every day! It may be a struggle to see the blessing through some of the noise of life, but they are there and it’s easy to praise God for what you actually DO have if you take a moment to really look. And isn’t that worth praising Him?
And then there are some of the less obvious ways to worship and connect with God. I’m a fisherman at heart. I’m not any good at it, but I sure love to get out on the water and cast my line until my arm is sore. Those days when I get to put my kayak in the water and spend a few hours on a lake or river really recharge me. I am able to bask in the beauty of what He created. I can have some quiet time to open my heart to Him and know that it’s just the 2 of us out on the water. When He blesses me with a fish, I am able to see what a beautiful creature (except hagfish) He created and put in my path that day. The fresh air, the cool water, the sounds of waves gently crashing, the birds flying over looking for some easy fish to catch, all of it just relaxes and exhilarates me and makes me feel close to the Creator of it all.
I have some friends who hunt for the same reason. The time alone with God gives them an opportunity to worship Him in a way that is truly personal and unique to their soul. Some people hike, some people sit quietly in a room. Others may see time with loved ones as that special worship. Anything that makes your heart happy and helps to give you some sort of closeness with God is worship.
And like the definition I gave at the beginning says, your life is an act of worship. I have a hard time with this one. How do you treat others? What words are coming out of your mouth? Does it look to others like you love God? Are you selfish with your time, finances and kindness? Do you serve anyone other than yourself or immediate family? All of those things, and many others that I didn’t write down, show people who God is to you. Is He a kind and loving God who would sacrifice His son to save you for eternity or is He an angry, jealous and vengeful God, looking quite like the nastiest of dictators?
The way that you choose to live your life each day, both while at work and in your personal life, reflects His character to the world and by showing the world how wonderful He is, you are worshiping Him and praising His name. And by living this way, you are also living out the Great Commission and bringing the Good News to the world and bringing people to Him! You can be a fisher of men just like Peter and the boys!
Now, you may not be able to worship your favorite way as often as you’d like. I don’t get nearly enough time on the water fishing. However, you can worship in so many different ways that you are able to praise Him no matter how busy your life is at the moment. It helps you to appreciate your special worship time that much more. Your life may be too hectic to spend time in nature (or it could be winter and you may not want to be in nature), but you can listen to music and sing along. You can spend time with people that you love. You can make it a point to do something to serve others.
If you’re not used to it, you may have to be intentional about worship at first. You might need to schedule it in on your calendar. From 1-2PM time with God. And make sure that you actually do it! It may feel a bit forced at first, but if you can get in some time with God each and every day, it gets easier and more meaningful. It becomes an important part of your day and something that you look forward to.
There are so many things fighting against us having a relationship with God that we must be intentional about it. We MUST spend time praying. We MUST spend time reading scripture. We MUST spend time in worship. The enemy knows how to distract you. It’s as easy as “Today was a busy day and you’re tired, He will understand if you take a day off from spending time with Him.” He likes to whisper little things like that in your ear to get you to not focus on worship and building your relationship with God. The enemy knows that if he can do it today, then he can probably do it tomorrow or the next day. And soon, you won’t be spending any time praying or worshiping and you’ll be easy fodder and that is his goal, keeping you apart from God.
Worship alone will not build that super strong relationship with the Father, but it’s a great and necessary time for us to spend with Him. We also need to spend time in prayer, including time to listen and not just speak. And then there’s spending time in scripture, which is a great way to learn more about God and who He calls us to be. I know that I’m not perfect at any of these, but the more that I do them and focus on my relationship, the better that I get at it and the closer that I feel to God. I can see more of how He impacts my life each day and looking back over the course of the last year or so, He has changed my heart drastically. And He wants to do that for you too, He just asks that you spend time with Him.
Journey Through Faith 