Praise and Worship – Essential Elements for Renewal

In heaven, we see the great essential to spiritual renewal being carried out continually – praise and worship.

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

                  “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

      who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:8 (ESV)

Praise is nearly synonymous with worship. In original Hebrew and Greek, it means to lift our hands, rave, make a show, give glory and magnify.

What is worship?

According to Webster’s Third International Dictionary – to honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power; to regard with respect, honor or devotion. The English word derives its meaning from the idea of being worthy or have great worth.

The biblical words for worship, both in Hebrew and Greek, are to prostrate or bow down. It is a physical position of surrender, respect and awe.  

Praise and worship are emotional and volitional and spiritual.

Joy, exuberance, and other expressions of worship will always involve our emotions (sometimes more, sometimes less).

Worship is a decision and willful act to honor God, our minds are involved as we worship, we know what we are doing!

And it is absolutely spiritual. We worship in Spirit. Since we have spiritual life, since God is Spirit, we worship from our spirit to his!

What detracts from worship?

The prophetic books of the Bible are full of words of condemnation for those who participate in empty worship rituals. We would do well to heed their warning.

Perhaps the most obvious detraction from worship is hypocrisy – claiming to be a follower of Jesus during the worship service but living like the devil the rest of the time.

Self-centeredness is another detriment to worship. When we come to worship consumed with ourselves, we won’t truly worship. There are certain realities in our lives that we must surrender to God in order to truly worship. We cannot cling to our problems, disappointments, expectations, anger, bitterness, insecurity or even personal comfort and worship as we ought.

A big problem in the church today is a performance mindset. When we are thinking about the performance as we worship, we are focused on the wrong thing.

Sometimes our quest for a church becomes a search for the best Sunday Morning Religious show! Consumerism is not about worship but about satisfying the desires of those who make those choices.  

In worship, we cannot be focused on the wrong object – the expression of worship, rather than on God. In ‘worship wars’ we battled about the type of music to be sung. We were distracted from God to fight about what we would sing!

All of these things keep us from expressing and experiencing true worship and all of its benefits.  

What inspires praise and worship?

The inspiration to praise and worship has many sources. Here are a few.

Thanksgiving

What are we thankful for? Remembering that every good and perfect gift comes from God, we can begin to recite so many blessing in our lives that we are grateful for.

Spiritually we are thankful for salvation, sanctification, the glory of heaven and God’s abiding presence. We cannot forget God’s Word and the love he lavished on us. Many of us also have an overflow of material blessings. We are blessed with good relationships, health and strength and many other little things.

Remembering

It is important to remember all that God has done. He cares for us in times of need; he has done miraculous work throughout history; he has continually provided a path for salvation for his people. Abraham, Moses, Jesus and the Holy Spirit – along with so many others have revealed this path.

We also must remember who God is. He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, all-glorious, infinite, compassionate, gracious, merciful and love.

Authenticity

We worship in spirit and in truth. When we come to worship with absolute sincerity, with our hearts pure and devoted to God. We worship, knowing it is the right thing and that God is truly worthy; we worship from the heart and the head!

Love

We are inspired to praise and worship when we are living in the love of God. Love is received from God with superabundance; it is given back to God without reservation.

Surrender

This is the true starting point of worship.

 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 (ESV)

How do we worship?

Worship is an act of giving. Whenever and whatever we give to God becomes an act of worship!

With our voices

We commonly think about one way to express worship: by song. This is very good but not the only way we worship with shouts, words of praise and glory to God. We also worship when we pray aloud.

With our bodies

Worship styles vary widely from culture to culture. Some won’t be surprised at worshiping with our bodies – clapping, kneeling, bowing, prostrating ourselves! These things might make some uncomfortable. But we see these things and more – even dancing – in the pages of scripture.

With our spirits

Sometimes what worship requires is beyond our normal avenues of expression. Awe, wonder, adoration are experiences that we have that can only be adequately expressed from our spirit to God.

With our ears

Part of worship is hearing God’s word and his voice, prompting us to respond in worship.

What does worship do?

Redirects our attention

In life we become distracted by the world, engaged with the world, obsessed with the world and, finally, we become like the world!

In worship we give ourselves to God, engage with God, become consumed with the reality of God, comprehend the essentials of God and, finally we become one with God!

This makes it vitally important that we worship frequently.

Ushers us into God’s presence

God is omnipresent; this we know. But God gives himself in manifest presence. We see this dramatically in the Bible at the dedication of the tabernacle then the temple and at Pentecost.

He does this according to his promise and purpose as illustrated in Genesis one and two.  

I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God. Exodus 29:45–46 (ESV)

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:16–17 (ESV)

Magnifies God

When we worship it minimizes us and our problems. True worship helps us see how big God is (we cannot make him ‘bigger’ – he is already everything).

All his attributes become greater to our perception. Worship helps us perceive and experience his mercy, grace, love, compassion, power, glory and radiance.

What are the environments of praise and worship?

Corporate

When we think of worship, we naturally think about worshiping together with God’s people. This is biblical. It is powerful and essential. Corporate worship blends fellowship with each other and God; this adds encouragement and the strength of many voices to our experience.

Personal

But personal worship, one on one with God is also vital for our spiritual health and renewal. This should be daily. It is a sacred time of prayer and devotion in the his word. It should also be a time of submission and adoration.

Lifestyle

Our lives should be lives of worship. It means we have a constant awareness of God. We see his handiwork in creation and respond with a moment of adoration and worship. We experience a blessing and spontaneously give thanks and worship.

Your Spiritual Renewal

Just as prayer is vital to your spiritual renewal, so is praise and worship. What do you need to do today to praise and worship God and allow him to lift you up? Do it!