by Benjamin Fech

What is worship?

The Old Testament picture of worship is described by the Hebrew word Shachah, which means to bow. The New Testament picture of worship is described by the Greek word Proskuneo, which means to adore by prostrating yourself and kissing towards. The word Worship itself comes from the word worthship, which means appreciation. Therefore, it is safe to say that our worship shows our appreciation towards God and involves our body posture.  In fact, worship in and of itself has nothing to do with music at all!

What does your appreciation towards God look like? Do you appreciate Him only when you go to church, or do you appreciate Him in everything you do? Take a minute to think about this…

Worship in everything I do

Worship begins with an attitude, but it affects every action in my life. Worship is not just about what I do or how I sing – in fact, worship is everything.

A few years ago, I had promised my sister to clean her car but during the day plans changed and my sister had to leave earlier than planned. I, however, had not yet cleaned her car. When only 15 minutes to clean the vehicle, I was not in the mood, annoyed and stressed because everything was so rushed. I put on worship music and started cleaning the car, and then the Holy spirit spoke to me and told me that He was not receiving my worship. Firstly, I didn´t understand what he was saying but after contemplation I realised that he was not speaking about me singing to the music, but about my negative attitude. In that moment I had a revelation that it is not what I do but how I do things that bring worship to God. I instantly prayed and repented for my wrong attitude. Immediately joy filled my heart, and I learned a big lesson for the years to come.

In that moment I had a revelation that it is not what I do, but how I do things that bring worship to God.

Benjamin Fech

“But a time is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit [from the heart, the inner self] and in truth; for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers. God is spirit [the Source of life, yet invisible to mankind], and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24 (AMP)

In the context of this passage, we see that Jesus talked to a Samaritan woman at a well. This woman came for water at an unusual hour, and she came alone. Typically, women came for water earlier in the day and they came in groups. Perhaps there was a sudden need, or perhaps she was a social outcast, shunned by other women in the community. “By tradition, a rabbi would not speak with a woman in public, not even with his own wife.  It was also very unusual for a Jewish person of that time to ask a favor or accept a drink from a Samaritan’s cup. Jesus’ request genuinely surprised the woman.”  (Source: https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/john-4/)

Jesus spoke to that woman because he was more interested in her soul than pleasing the tradition. The same applies to us today – Jesus is more interested in our heart attitude than in what our traditions tell us to do. 

Jesus spoke to the woman about worshipping in spirit and in truth but what does that mean?

Worship in Spirit

Jesus is looking for worshippers in Spirit which has nothing to do with journeying to some temple or church, or speaking in tongues but to be engaged with your whole soul, mind, feelings, emotions and desires to worship Him. A heart that is full of worship for God will spend most of the time talking and thinking about God.

Worship in Truth

You will never worship past your understanding of the word of God. The most passionate, radical worshippers are the ones with the most extravagant revelation of God’s worth. Worship is all about the agreement of who God is. When we worship God, we look for a dialogue and relationship with him. We want to be in agreement with him.

I like the illustration that Rick Pino used when he said that every heart has a throne in it and only one person can sit on that throne. When fear is sitting on that throne your whole perspective is in agreement with fear, but when we worship God then our words come into agreement with who God is and our world comes into agreement with God’s world.

God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth and that must be demonstrated.

Worship is demonstration

Heaven & hell both know about the cross, but they are looking at us to see how much we love Christ. How many times we say “I love you Jesus” is irrelevant. Heaven and hell measure our love for Christ by our worship.

Think about your own life. Does it demonstrate the value and the worth of the son of God? How engaged are you with your soul, mind, feelings, and emotions when you worship? Who is sitting on the throne of your heart right now and how much do you agree with God’s word when you worship?

I am not judging anybody. It surely isn’t easy, and I often fall in a trap where I make worship something on my daily check list and when it is ticked, I move on to other things.

May we continue to desire the understanding that worship is not about what we do or how long we do it for, but that everything we do is worship.

“So then, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of [our great] God.” – 1. Corinthians 10,31 which translation

Worship must be the cornerstone of our relation to Jesus. From a place of worship we understand the character and the desires of the Holy Spirit – not only for our lives but it brings us into the arena of the Prophetic to minster the heart of Jesus to others and become practical in our lifestyle as a Christian.

– Dr Gayle Claxton