Fighting to be a true worshiper!!

Wow...it's really been a long time since I last blogged. So here I am again...talking about WORSHIP!!

Have you ever thought about what it means to truly worship God? I mean, what is worship about? Do you know how to worship? Is worship just something that you do on a Sunday when you go to church and jump around and wave your arms in the air...?? That's great to worship that way...I'm pretty expressive myself when I worship. But I've had to ask myself recently 'Do people see that same act of worship in my everyday life? When people see me worship in church they might assume that I have it all together and that I must be really close to God because I can worship in such an open and expressive way...but when they see me outside the church doors, do they feel as convinced that I'm in a great relationship with Christ and that I'm living every moment of my life in heart felt worship? Do I worship God as the Scriptures encourage...in spirit and in truth?" Well, my friends, I'm ashamed to say this, but challenged enough to admit it, alot of the time my worship does not enter my everyday life.

Last year I spent a little bit of time at The Salvos 'Street Level' in Sydney. Street Level is a place where the homeless, drug addicts, prostitutes, transvestites, etc come to find love. Basically, they provide internet services, meals, church, groups activity's/programs etc. It really is an awesome place. It's a place where they find love and acceptance in the middle of a city that doesn't want to know about them. While I was there serving meals this one Friday night, I remember sitting there thinking 'Wow...this is so sad...these people are so poor...wouldn't it be great if they had so much more and if they could do something in life.' I remember standing there thinking that in some way I was better than these people because I had more than them and I had come further in life. Man, what an attitude!!! God was soon to break that!

I led worship in their chapel that night and I was so filled with the Holy Spirit and felt so convicted about my attitude. Watching these people worship God was so truly amazing. They were bringing a TRUE act of worship. I worship God for all that I have. For all that He's made me. For all that He's done in my life. For His provisions. And yet, these people left my worship for dead. These people worshiped God even though they had nothing. No money, no home for some of them, no family, only a few sets of old dirty clothes, no life skills and yet here they were throwing their arms up to God in worship to Him. Here they were dancing and singing at the top of their voices about how great God is. The Holy Spirit moved in that place in such a powerful way and I could just sense the anointing He was pouring out on them...yes, He was anointing these sinners...these people who the rest of the world thought were nothing. And even though they knew what the world thought of them, they still joined together and worshiped the Lord with all their heart because they had discovered the truth of Jesus.

You know I was so ashamed that night and at the same time it was one of the best times in complete worship I think I've ever experienced. But you know when the real test comes? It comes when you turn off the music, lose the emotional high that the music creates and you leave the church. Then what? Do you continue in worship or do you wait till you hear the music again? This is one of those things that people are continually confused about. When you say 'worship' people straight away think about music and singing...but that's not what the Bible says. It doesn't say 'Singing will be your only act of worship EVER!' Worship is a life style thing. In her book, Extravagant Worship, Darlene Zschech says:

Worship is a verb, defined as "regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion." It is an active expression of our love toward God. It is vibrant and visible by our deeds and not only by the words we speak. Worship involves the giving of ourselves totally to the Lord. Worship is neither a ritualistic activity nor a musical emotion. It embodies and reflects the selfless generosity of Christ. Worship is a movement of our hearts, our thoughts, and our wills toward God's heart, thoughts, and will.

What a great definition of what worship is about. I think that sums it up really nicely actually. We need to stop thinking that worship is all about the right kind of music and the right words in a song. That is only one part of what worship is about. There are so many other things that we need to do to engage in true worship. Worship is a selfless act in which we hold NOTHING back from God and we pour ourselves completely into His will. Darlene also says in her book,

To practice extravagant worship, we need to get good at saying, "I lay down my life." Come to Jesus with a grateful heart, and in everything you do live a lifestyle filled with extravagant worship.

The number one thing that we need to do is to lay our life down. That's our first and most important act of worship. To lay your life down means that you are being completely selfless in your worship and it means that you recognise that your life and your worship to God has little to do with you, but infact it's all about God. He gave us life and He promises us eternal riches...I think the least we can do is to give our lives back to Him for His service and in a complete act of worship.

Worship is not just about taking time to sit down and read your Bible and pray and sing a few songs on your own or corporately...as Darlene Zschech puts it, worship is a VERB and is visible by our deeds! Hanging out with mates, cleaning a toilet, playing games, assignments, playing sport, shopping...you can worship God in all of these things. The way that you behave, the things you do, the things you buy...are you doing those things in worship to God?

We need to offer ourselves and our lives to God in all things. In everything we do. The kind of worship that God wants is WHOLE HEARTED EXTRAVAGANT WORSHIP! Be over the top in your worship...trust me...even then it's not as much as He deserves...so keep giving more and more. I see too often when we worship God and we have an awesome time praising God with our singing and our church service...the message we hear, the tithe we give...we do our weekly duty...but then we leave and for the rest of the week we live as if we never worshiped God to start with.

Let God challenge you...be challenged to give MORE in your worship. Be challenged to make your life a COMPLETE and TRUE act of worship. Worship Him in spirit and in truth.

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" John 4:23-24