(The Practical Understanding Of Worship)
TO THE BIBLE: John 4:24 AMPC
“God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality).”
LET’S TALK
In the New Testament, it may surprise you to know that the term “worship” is hardly applied to Christians.
While it appears in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), it’s crucial to note that Jesus primarily dealt with Jews in the gospels, not Christians.
The Book of Acts mentions “worship” about four times, and on none of those occasions is it directly applied to the Church.
Moving forward, you’ll find the term used only once in First Corinthians and twice in Hebrews. However, in the Book of Revelation, “worship” is employed approximately 22 times. “How could such a thing that we say is so important be missing in the epistles?” you may wonder.
The reason is that in the epistles, the Lord provides a practical understanding of worship, and shows us precisely what it is.
Recall that in John 4:24 KJV, He stated, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship (Greek: proskuneō) him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
In Romans 1:9: “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son…,” instead of using the term “worship,” the Apostle Paul employs the specific phrase that aligns with Jesus’ words in John 4:24: “serve with my spirit.”
Serving God with your spirit includes worship because worship in the New Testament is different from worship in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, it was mostly outward in nature.
But in the New Testament, worship is spiritual, even when we have outward demonstrations of it.
This is why it’s important to understand that what matters in the worship isn’t that we worshipped; it’s whether the One that we worshipped accepted it.
There’s a conditioning of your spirit through the Word of God and fellowship with the Holy Spirit, that makes you a worshipper. The Father seeks such to worship Him.
Go Deeper
Philippians 3:3; John 4:23-24; Hebrews 13:15
Pray:
Dear Father, thank you for the privilege to express my love for you. I worship you for your greatness, kindness, love, mercies and grace! You’re the Governor among the nations, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I offer to you today my sacrifice of praise, and give you thanks for all you’ve done, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading
ONE YEAR
Matthew 12:22-50, Genesis 40-41
TWO YEAR
Matthew 7:1-12, Genesis 17
Act:
Spend time worshipping the Lord today, with your heart, hands, and voice lifted up to God. You can download the LoveWorld Worship app from the LoveWorld Appstore (https://lwappstore.com) to access hundreds of beautiful worship songs.