The root word of worship is worth. The core of worship is what we assign worth and value to. Whatever you value and love most is what you worship most. I would dare to say that whatever you’re spending the most time doing and thinking about is what you’re worshiping. Our ultimate call and goal in worship is to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind and soul (Matthew 22.37). He wants us to give him every part of ourselves! So what does it look like to truly worship God from the depths of who we are?

         In John 4.24, Jesus gives us a basis for what true worship looks like. He says “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The first part of worship is worshiping in spirit. Often times, we settle for worship that only scratches the surface. How many times have we gone to worship services and just sang songs because that’s what you’re supposed to do? God desires for us to go deeper and deeper in giving Him our whole hearts and entire beings in worship. Worship in spirit looks like Psalm 42.7, which says “deep cries out to deep”. God wants more than our words or songs! He wants the depths of who I am to connect and interact with the depths of who He is! He never wants us to just “go through the motions”, but to actively engage in His Spirit with ours! The second part is worshiping in truth. I believe that means to worship with belief and awareness of the truth and power of His Word, works and character. For example, when we’re worshiping (all the time), we shouldn’t worship out of defeat, powerlessness or striving because we know from the promise of Scripture and what Jesus has already accomplished on the Cross that victory is already freely ours! We also know that we can always worship in freedom because wherever the Spirit is there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3.17). We need acknowledge the promise and reality of God’s Presence and nearness when we worship. We need to approach worship knowing that there’s nothing we can earn or work for because grace (Jesus) has already purchased and freely given them to us! If we approach God believing that He is angry and disappointed in us and wants to punish us then we are not worshiping in truth! We must know the Word and promises of God if we are going to worship Him in truth!

         I believe that there are three main parts to worship – Revelation, Recognition and Response. Revelation is simply God continuously revealing and showing Himself to us in a powerful way. It looks like what Paul prayed for the Church in Ephesus when He prayed that the Lord would “give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened (opened)” This is essential because knowing God is the heart of worship and we have to see and experience Him to truly worship/know Him. We must continuously make ourselves available to the spirit of revelation working and operating in our lives. We know through Scripture that the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth because He was sent to lead us into all truth (John 16.13). We can’t just be satisfied with what we’ve formerly known, experienced and encountered because there is always more of God to know and see!

          The second part of worship is Recognition. We have to be actively aware of who God is and what He’s doing. Unfortunately it is possible for God to reveal Himself to us and for us not to realize or notice it. Let us not be like Jacob in Genesis 28.16 who said at the end of His encounter with Heaven, “surely God was in this place and I did not know it”. The key to recognizing God is maintaining an acute awareness of His Presence and nearness all the time. Intentionally and randomly take time out of your day to just stop and sit in the reality of God’s Presence in you and all around you. There are times when you just need to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46.10). I guarantee that this will change the way you live and worship!

         The third and most important part of worship is response. I believe that the response is the majority of our call in worship. If we’ve truly seen the goodness of God and realized what He’s done for us it’s impossible for us not to respond and give Him everything we have and everything we are. I think a good and simple definition of worship is “rightfully responding to God”. Every time God moves in our midst, He longs for our hearts to move and respond back to Him! A good example of responding is 1 John 4.19 where it says that “We (can) love because He first loved us”. Worship is a beautiful process of receiving the love of God and in turn pouring all of our love back to Him!         

         So what does a life of response look like? I believe that a life of worshipful response looks a lot like Romans 12.1, where Paul exhorts us to “present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice” to God. He doesn’t just want our word or songs, He wants every part of our lives – our thoughts, actions, decisions, etc! Live your life as a burning sacrifice and altar of worship to God!  I want to assure you that your sacrifice is most definitely worth it. I’m reminded of a Bill Johnson quote where he says that “there’s no better trade off than me giving all I am to receive all that He is”. This is so true – there’s no better deal than surrendering my life to receive the fullness of His life! The world will try to lie to you and get you to believe that giving your whole life in worship to God isn’t worth the cost. The world will try to convince you that you’ll miss out on all the pleasure, fun, excitement and what not, but we know that in Jesus all of our desires and needs are completely satisfied and fulfilled! His love is better than the wine (pleasure) of this world (Song of Solomon 1.2)! Jesus is everything but boring! What the world has to offer is only but a counterfeit of true life found in Jesus!

         I want to encourage you to live a lifestyle of worship. It’s so incredible! Don’t just look at life with Jesus as a checklist of doing good things or just being “a good church-attending believer”, but radically lay down your life and give all of yourself to Him! Practice His Presence every day! Experience His goodness wherever you’re at! It’s a shame if we think that all God wants is our attention and worship in a 2 hour church service every week. What are we doing to commune, worship, love and experience God the other 166 hours in the week? Live a Psalm 34.1 type of lifestyle that shouts and proclaims “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise will continually be in my mouth!” Worship is what we were created to do! It should be the most natural part of our life. Don’t look at it just as a commandment or obligation but as a delight!