This may (or may not) come as a surprise to you but there are many ways to worship God.
Worship is just praise, an act or an obedience towards God.
So when we tithee we worship. If God puts it in our heart to speak encouraging words to another. That’s an act of worship.
Our entire life can be an act of worship by the way we live our daily lives.
The most common form or worship that many think of is singing and raising or clapping hands before the service starts. Many are confused because they think they have to perform or act in a certain way while worshipping but this is not the case.
The most important thing bout worship is where your heart is when you are worshipping. ‘Heart of Worship’ by Michael W. Smith is a beautiful song that really shows where our heart should be.
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about you,
It’s all about you, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about you,
It’s all about you, Jesus
I had one of our youth kids make a statement one time. He was worried about not putting his hands up at the right time. Another kid told me they didn’t like going to church because they didn’t like putting their hands up at all. There are many people so worried about how they look during worship that they never enter into the peacefulness of God’s presence.
Let me tell you something…. God does not look down on you for how you worship. The point of worship is praising God. It’s having a relationship with Jesus.
If you had a friend come up to you and say, “We can’t be friends unless you wear only the color pink”, you would think they were nuts. And you’d probably wouldn’t think twice about dropping that friendship. Why would you want to be friends with someone that is putting conditions on the friendship? You wouldn’t.
So why do we think that God puts conditions on spending time with Him?All He is looking for is someone that has the heart to be there in His presence.
If you had a friend that didn’t want to be in your company eventually you’d stop hanging out with them. You can look at it in the same aspect. God wants to hang around those that want to be in His company.
God wants to hear that He is the creator of all things. He wants to hear you sing His praises. He knows the things that He does for you. But He also wants to hear it from our mouths that we believe He is great and just.
I will tell you something about my personal worship. I don’t usually raise my hands. Most people think it is a must because you are showing surrender. And that is true. But if you are uncomfortable, where does your heart and mind go to during worship? Your heart and mind go straight to how uncomfortable you are.
I don’t raise my hands simply because my arms get tired and I like to sway or move alot and if my hands are up I lose my balance and fall.
So if my hands are up, I’m only thinking about how tired my arms are and hoping I don’t fall. In reality, I should be thinking things like: “How great you are Jesus. Thank you for blessing me. This past week was tough but you got me through it and I know you will get me through the next one”.
My personal posture of worship is looking up, singing and swaying. That’s how I personally enter into God’s peaceful presence. That may not work for you. Every person is different. And God likes it that way. He likes everyone to be unique and different. So if that doesn’t work for you, that’s ok. Find what does.
Just remember that it’s not where your hands are but where your heart is.
gitgfaith 