I have to ask this question. So many times we have the tought that worship is the Sunday service or either the music section of the services. Worship is so much more. The Lord is leading me to study and dig into the topic of Worship. There are 2 verses that the Lord is impressing upon me. John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? What is worship in Spirit and in Truth? How do we build a house for God? PS 22:3 says that the Lord inhabits (indwells, enthroned in) the praises of His people.
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I am so ready to see the church learn what true worship is about. If we get a glimpse of God's Glory, His Majesty, His Holiness, His Righteousness, His Beauty, His Splendor, we would be forever changed. God is Everything, He is all powerful, all glorious, there is none that is above Him, there is none worthy but Him. He is exalted above all, all powers, all principalties, all nations, all kings and kingdoms, He is exalted above the heavens, above the earth, above the stars, above the angels. The earth is His Footstool, Heaven is His Throne. Yet our God seeks for a place for His resting Place! His resting place is our praise and our worship. The God of Creation, the One that spoke the Heavens into existance, the One who measures out the seas in the palm of His hand, the One who strechtes out the expanse of Heaven, desires a dwelling place with man, His creation. This is such an amzing thing. We are but dust, yet the Immortal God, desires to set His throne upon our praises!
What happened when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up? He was shown the Glory of the Lord, His Holiness. All he could do was cry out in repentance - woe unto me, for I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips! In the light of God's Glory and Holiness, his sin was revealed, not just his sin, but his condition as a sinner.
Yes, we are redemmed by the Blood of the Lamb, but in worship, it should be revealed unto us that without the Blood of Jesus, we are undone, that there is no good thing in us. This revelation will cause Godly sorrow that produces repentance. This repentance brings righteousness and holiness in our lives. In turn, this righteousness and holiness will bring the anointing of God and His power flowing through us. Too many times we seek the power of God without the cost. The anointing is very costly! It costs our lives. We must die to self, die to our will, die to our motives, our desire for fame and a "name", for there is only One Name that is to be exalted and that is the Name of Jesus!
One of the Ingredients in the Anointing Oil was Cassia. This word means "to stoop" in the Hebrew. It takes humbleness to receive the anointing - it takes humbling ourselves before the Lord in worship, in every area of our lives. The Scripture states that God resists the proud, but gives grace (charis) to the humble. Charis is a greek word meaning grace, giftings, favor. Charisma is the word found in 1 John 2:27 for anointing. Charisma comes from the root work Charis. So, the Scripture states that God resists the proud, but give his anointing to the humble. Through worship, we are humbled before the Lord as we see our condition without him. We see His Glory and Majesty and we fall at His Feet in worship. May we see the Lord high and lifted up and that we may bow in His Presence in worship with a pure heart.
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Worship. Most people have a misunderstanding of what it is. Many believe that worship is a Sunday morning service. Some people believe that it is singing a few slow songs with our hands raised. That is not what God is looking for. He is not looking for what can be manufactured or controlled.
True worship is led of the Spirit. Jesus said that there would come a day when the true worshipers would worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). Worship changes us. In my first book, I wrote this about worship, "When the priest went into the Holy of Holies, he went in one way, but had to come out a different way. In the lives of Believers, we go into the Presence of the Lord one way, but we cannot leave the same." Worship is probably one of the most awe-inspiring aspects of our walk with Jesus. When we worship God, we are showing our love for Him. Worship is a deeper, more intimate time with the Lord.
There is nothing like bowing before Him in His presence, His holiness and His majesty. As I said in the last chapter, one of the Hebrew words for praise is baruch, which means "to bow." Since we are talking about the anointing, I want to relate how worship is an essential key in receiving it. One of the ingredients in the anointing oil is cassia. The Hebrew root word for cassia is qadad, which means to stoop. Kim Clement, in his book, "The Sound of His Voice," said, "Stooping is a depiction of worship and sacrifice. So cassia reminds me that God's anointing does not come to those who refuse to bow their knee in worship or who fail to make a full surrender of their life to the Lord." God wants to anoint His people, but if we will not bow to the Lord, He will not anoint us. Only people who will bow, will be humble. God will not anoint people who are proud.
The Bible says that God resists the proud, but He will give grace to the humble (James 4:6). The word "grace" is the same word in Greek as anointing. That verse could be paraphrased, "God resists the proud, but He will give His anointing to the humble." Two verses later, the Bible says, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:. I just pray that God would reveal Himself to each of you in a mighty way. That He would take you each up into that Secret Place with Him and show you His Glory. Just one taste, man, I know that I will never be the same!
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I have been thinking even more on this since we am teaching our kids in 2 weeks on worship. Thing is - I have to break this down to where a 3 year old can understand it. I think the teaching on worship could be a 2 parter also (praise is turning out that way too).
One thing that is on my heart is the life of worship - everything we do is "unto the Lord", whether it is washing dishes, taking out the trash, cleaning our rooms (this is for kids). reason this is worship is the fact that it is obedience - Obedience is better than sacrifice and to harken than the fat of rams. In being obedient and learning to be obedient, we are worshipping God - we are saying to the world around us and to the devil, that our lives belong to God and we are His, He rules and reigns within us, conforming us to His Will.
The 2nd thing is worship in spirit and truth - I am going to focus on Truth right now (we have a kid that lies a lot!) When we speak the truth, no matter if it hurts or we are going to get in trouble, we are confessing to others our sin and that brings release and healing. It is an act of worship because we are choosing the nature of Father God over the nature of satan. We are saying that we want to walk in truth, because our God is Truth. It is worship because we are surrendering our fleshly nature to the Nature of Christ, giving Him Lordship over ourselves.
Of course, I am going to teach on why we worship God (His nature, His character - not for what He has done for us). So many times we worship God because He is good, merciful, loving, ect. Yes, we should! But, we should worship God because HE IS! He is El Elyon, HE IS Elohim, HE IS Jehovah Tseboth, God is God!
That is the reason we should worship Him. He is creator, sustainer, and finisher. It is wonderful that our God is good, merciful, and loving - but if not, then He is still worthy of all our worship, praise, and adoration - just becuase there is NO OTHER GOD!
Once we get that through our head and deep into our spirit, then there would be no reason for us to say, I don't feel like worshipping. I worship, not because I feel like it, but because God is worthy. I am actually to the point that I want to ask my pastor to stop the "regular worship service", you know, the music, for a while.
So many times that music time is a time where we get ourselves out of our "spiritual slump" and get cleaned up after a weeks worth of junk so that we can have ears to hear during the sermon. I think we really should take that time that is scheduled for "worship", ie music, and use it to read the attributes of God, His person, His nature. That would inspire true worship, more than any music could ever do! We need to teach this more often in our churches - I am in a pentecostal church, yet so many don't have a clue what worship is about. Sadly, what we are teaching our kids right now, the parents don't even understand.
My heart is so much in this. There is only 2 things that seem to be in my heart - to teach on worship and to lead the church into repentance - and I see these totally linked. To the world though, worship is still key. It is through worship that the Presence of the Lord comes and people's hearts are convicted and brings conviction. Tie that with the prophetic and evangelism. Prophetic worship leading into prophetic evangelism = souls being saved and delivered from the grip of satan! I need to go for the night, but I just can't seem to stop.
This is buring so strong in me. I just wish the Church would see God and truly worship! God longs for those that will worship in Spirit and in Truth - those that know what worship means and what it is about. I think in my own life I am just learning this. It seems that as I type, my fingers are working from the Spirit of God while my mind is sitting back learning - sounds weird I know. Some of this, I have been trying to figure out for years, but it is being explained to me as I write. I love when God does this!!
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