The Value of Worship
Good morning, friend! Do you have a practice of worshipping God during the day? Or is it something you associate with music in a worship service, which is definitely a great place to worship.
Imagine yourself reaching down into a cold, clear mountain stream to search for a precious stone in the middle of the gravel. You spy one that stands out, and it’s so beautiful, it looks like a nugget of gold. You have it examined and assessed by a professional and find out that it is true gold. Worship is the valuable piece of gold in the Christian life.
I was scrolling Instagram one night while on vacation, and Beth Moore’s post on worship caught my eye. She said she thinks of it as focus. “Seems to me anything we do with focus deliberately set on God is worship. Singing. Praying. Bible reading. But also walking, sitting, laughing, cooking, feasting, recreating, dancing, ailing, dying—ever Godward, ever grateful.”
I thought that was a creative way to apply the concept of worship and I, too, think of it as something we can do in any situation, during the day or night.
What is worship? Someone has said that it is our response to who God is and what He has done.
Carol Tetzlaff, a writer and speaker friend of mine sums up worship in the verse, Romans 12:1.
“. . . present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” She states in her Bible study book, Ezra (Unleashing the Power of Praise), “. . . it is you and me placing our lives on the altar of surrender and submitting to God and His perfect will.”
Doesn’t that sound so lofty and unreachable though? It’s not. Anybody who has taken that step to believe in Jesus for eternal life can practice it.
Since I always want to bring everything back to our mental illness challenges, what does worship have to do with that?
Picture yourself in the depths of your sorrow. What do you feel like doing? You can’t pray, you can’t smile, you can’t be thankful. Your mind may also be full of questions like, will I ever feel better again? I don’t feel like doing a thing. I feel helpless. Everything I’m doing to improve my situation isn’t working. God please help me!
In those moments, you can worship. It doesn’t require a lot of effort or even emotion.
You can bow down in your heart and give yourself to Him and say God I worship you. You are holy, you are mighty, you are worthy.
He is pleased. He is blessed. Not that you are trying to earn brownie points to win His favor. Instead, you are giving yourself back to God voluntarily. After all--you belong to Him.
It can be the most natural thing to do when you think about who He is and what He has done for you. It’s an act of faith. Of obedience.
What does this do for me? It takes my mind off myself and sets it on God. It tells Him I love You.
If it is the only thing you can do to communicate with God today, it’s worth it. You don’t have to be sitting down. You can be driving in your car, or waiting in the doctor’s office, or scrubbing pots and pans, or walking down the street. I am changed. My focus is not on me.
I love this song from the early 2000’s--Here I am to Worship. You may be rolling your eyes at me if you grew up listening to it being sung over and over again in church. But if you don’t know it, you can find it on YouTube. Here are some of the lyrics.
Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes let me see
Beauty that made my heart adore you
Hope of a life spent with You
Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You’re my God
You’re altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me
King of all days
Oh so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came to the earth You created
All for love’s sake became poor
Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You’re my God
You’re altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me….
What is the most meaningful way you worship God?
- Marilyn