Are you Genuine or Insincere about Worship?
This topic just started to weigh heavy in my spirit. Every morning I listen to different christian podcasts to get myself in the right spirit, mind frame and to start my day off right. One of the podcasts' that I was listening to was speaking on the topic of worship. The man of God asked a question, and the question was " When you sing unto God what is your heart's posture? Are you genuinely singing to God, and mean what we say? OR are you just singing because you know the words? that is your favorite song? you like the beat?". That was a question that I had to ask myself because I'm a Youth Praise and Worship Leader, so I had to evaluate my worship.
I've come to church not in the greatest of moods because I had a rough day and when I come to church I find out that I have to sing. I honestly don't feel like singing, but I know that as a Praise and Worship leader it is my duty along with the body of Christ to set the atmosphere for God to come in and also help set the atmosphere for our Pastor to come and deliver the word of God. This is why it is important to:
- Worship before getting to the house of God. Get yourself pumped and excited for what God is about to do in the service.
- Center you Heart before worship Whatever you went through before coming to church leave it outside and come in to the house of God with a spirit of expectancy.
- Arrive early. Get to church on time so you can pray and get yourself in the position to where God can come in and speak to you, move through you, break and transform you.
So before I step my foot on that stage I pray "Lord all of you none of me! Whatever emotions that I am feeling that are not of you take it out of me. I want you to get all the glory and honor and I want people to be able to sense your presence. I repent for coming into your house with the cares of this world, create in me a clean heart so I can worship you in spirit and in truth". Now of course this prayer may change from time to time, but the Word Of God says we need to kill our flesh, so I make sure I am right in my spirit before worshiping God with a tainted heart.
Before we get DEEP! let me define what worship is. Worship is having reverent honor to God. For those of us who are not sure what reverence means, its deep respect for someone or something. Coming to church and singing slow songs is not worship. The way we live, determines whether or not we are worshipers. The reason why I say that the way we live our lives determines if we are worshipers or not is because, God looks at our hearts posture. Praise and Worship originates in our hearts, If your worship is not pure than it means nothing to God.
John 4:24: God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hem5JuLKiII
True Worship Vs Familiar Worship
True Worship:
John 4:24 (KJV); God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
When you TRULY worship God from your heart, there is no way that you can worship him with no emotion or feeling. Worship has true emotion behind it, you feel an emotion where sometimes you cannot contain yourself, you start crying , speaking in tongues, you let the Lord move as He please.
To get an idea of worship and the emotion think of it as falling in love with someone that you cannot visualize not being with for the rest of your life . When a man is getting ready to propose to love of his life they usually have this nice speech prepared. The speech is usually the man telling his Lady how much they mean to them, the journey and the transformation of his life, how he couldn't see a future without her ( something along those lines).
The guy may get choked up and start getting emotional and cannot contain himself because they are overwhelmed with emotions that are explainable. Worship is just like that. You love God with all your heart, you have these love songs (worship) dedicated to Him expressing what He means to you, how much you love Him, how you're not complete without Him, you don't know where you would be today if you never met him.
Worship is also a form of intimacy with God. When I worship God sometimes I think about the overall goodness and greatness of God, his grace and mercy on my life. I start to feel an emotion that is explainable sometimes I feel chills or I just start to smile, I can't contain myself. You don't have to be all over the place, falling out , screaming, laid out, for people to see or think that you're in the spirit. Let it happen naturally.
I always keep in mind that in order for our worship to be effective we must have a pure relationship with our Lord. I try to stay in the spirit of Worship at all times good days and bad days, in and out of church. That is a MAJOR KEY!
Psalms 51:1-11 I encourage you to read and get into your heart, you could even pray this prayer as well.
Familiar Worship:
Familiar worship is more so like a ritual, they sing the same songs every service, your singing because they asked you to join in and participate. It's not genuine or pure, your only singing because you "feel" you have to or because you were asked. Personally I see a shift when the songs are upbeat and you can move (that's called praise) . If its a "popular song" or a song with a nice beat we tend to participate more and you don't have to ask them to clap, open their mouths and sing. God wants you to WANT to worship him because you LOVE.
God is a gentleman he will NOT force himself on no man.
We as the body of Christ should not want the spirit of familiarity on us. That causes problems in the future.
What is your heart's posture?
"It is not the body's posture, but the heart's attitude that counts"
An Obedient Heart- Obedience in itself is an act of worship. True Christian obedience flows from a heart of gratitude for the grace we have received from the Lord.
( Romans 12:1 )
An Expectant Heart- A person will never receive beyond their expectancy! Expectancy is the key to the doorway of receiving God's blessing. Expectancy opens your heart to hear and receive from the Lord Jesus Christ. ( Hebrews 11:1)
I want to ask you a few questions? Think about it, you don't have to write it down you can just answer out loud or in your head:
- Do I genuinely care about the people in the room, as God cares for them?
- Am I transparent before the Lord about my own brokenness and shortcomings?
- Am I humble? Am I gracious? Am I genuine?
- Am I holding on to bitterness or hurt feelings?
- Have I taken in more of the world and less of the Word of God?
- Release the sin through confession.
- Receive God’s forgiveness and restoration of the joy of salvation.
Different Types of Postures for Worship.
- Prostrate - 1 Corinthians 14:24-25
- Dance- 2 Samuel 6:14-15
- Bowing- Psalm 5:7
- Walking and jumping.-Acts 3:8
- Lifting hands.-Psalm 28:2
Conclusion :
Worship isn't about people. Worship isn't even about the music. Worship is about giving God the honor and glory he deserves. The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of the pain, thanking God during the trials, trusting Him when we're tempted to lose Hope and LOVING HIM when He seems so distant and far away. At my lowest, God is my hope. At my darkest God is my light. At my weakest, God is my strength . At my saddest, God is my comforter.
xoxox... Z.M.