HEARTFELT WORSHIP

When you hear the word, worship, what do you think of? Does it make you think about the portion of a church service where everyone stands up and sings? Perhaps when you hear the word worship, you think of revering the Lord or having a holy awe of Him. Maybe worship, to you, means to sing or to lift your hands. Although all of these reasons have validity to them, worship goes so much deeper than simply “doing” something during the music portion of a service. In Ephesians 5:19-20 it says,

“Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise
with voices [and instruments] and making melody with all your heart to the Lord,
At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father”

Notice it says, “making melody with all your heart to the Lord.” More than anything else, worship is about coming before Him with all of your heart. It is where the very core of who you are is fully engaged and lost in the worship being expressed.

We’ve all been guilty of doing this. We come to church and begin singing wonderful songs about the Lord, yet our soul is thinking about all of the things we have to get done once church is over. Or, we are busy looking around to see who is there that day or to see what new outfit or tie sister or brother so & so is wearing. What happens? We get occupied with the natural happenings around us that our soul gets distracted and disconnects from our heart. We are only half heartedly worshipping our Savior.

Worship is about fully connecting with Him. Let me give you an example. Have you ever met someone that you just really connected with? What happens when you get to talk to them? Do you usually lose track of time while talking? When you are with them, are you unaware of the other distractions around you?

Why is that? It is because in that connect, you are fully engaged and lost in the moment with that person. That is what Paul is talking about in Ephesians when he says we are to make melody with all our heart to the Lord. We should be fully engaged in and lost in the moment as we worship our Creator. The connect comes through fellowship… which I’ll talk about in another article. The more fellowship, the easier it is to connect.

I challenge you to begin approaching your times of worship differently. As you enter church this weekend, make a quality decision that you will catch yourself and change if you find yourself just “going through the motions” during praise and worship. Then, make the adjustment necessary to make sure that your heart, soul and voice all agree with one another. Remember that worship is to be fully given. That means it requires our spirit, our mind, our will, our emotions and the physical expression of our hands and voice all at once. Simply put it requires all of us. That is why it is called “the sacrifice of praise.”