The worship the Father wants

The worship the Father wants

SCRIPTURE:

But the time is coming and is already here, when by the power of God's Spirit people will worship the Father as he really is, offering him the true worship that he wants. God is Spirit, and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is.” John 4:23-24

OBSERVATION:

How do we worship God? What is the kind of worship that the Lord wants? What does it mean to worship God in spirit and in truth? In her meeting with Jesus, the Samaritan woman pointed out one of the key reasons for the Jew-Samaritan divide. While Jews insisted everyone had to worship at the temple in Jerusalem, the Samaritans believed they were justified in worshipping God in their holy mountain. Jesus however, explained to her that the time was coming and had in fact already come when the true worshippers would worship God neither on the mountain nor Jerusalem, but wherever they were.

The important thing was not where God was worshipped, but how He was worshipped. And it was most important to worship Him in the way that He wanted. Jesus described this worship as worshipping God in Spirit and in truth. Because God is spirit, we need to worship Him in spirit. But what does this actually mean?

Now, we know that there is a spirit inside each of us, and it is our spirit that gives life to our bodies. Our bodies are gifts from God, and by which we are able to move and act and speak and do things. And we are to worship God with our bodies, presenting it as living sacrifices to Him. However, more than that, God requires something deeper than just worship from bodily actions. We can perform the outward actions of worship with our bodies and our mouths, but have no genuine desire in our hearts or our minds may be actually far off somewhere else.

God wants us to worship Him from our spirit deep inside us. The mind is also involved here, as we need to focus on God to connect with our spirit. Then, there is the will, the conscious decision to make our minds and heart focus on God to adore and worship Him as the great and mighty living God He truly is.

Still, on our own, no matter how hard we focus on our own, or what actions we do, or how much we will ourselves to worship, it is not enough. Worship from our carnal selves cannot please God. Rather, it is only in worshipping by the Holy Spirit that we can give God the worship He wants.

APPLICATION:

Therefore when we worship, ask God to pour out His Holy Spirit into us. Open wide our mouths, and receive the Holy Spirit He pours out into us. Then praise Him freely out of the Holy Spirit He pours into us. Our human spirits will rise with the Holy Spirit to give praise to God in the way that pleases Him most. Those of us who have received the gift of languages should praise God in that language as the Spirit flows out of us. Praise Him in tongues, and in our native language. Praise Him by yielding to the Holy Spirit to lead us. Nothing on our own can please Him, but when we allow the Holy Spirit to help us worship, God is pleased.

There is an element of faith here, as we must believe God pours out His Holy Spirit into us in Jesus name, and then we must open our mouths to let the Spirit praise and worship God through us. There is a cooperation and a yielding between us and the Holy Spirit, helping us to worship God, to worship Jesus!

PRAYER:

Precious Heavenly Father, we so long to worship You in the way that most pleases You. Pour out Your Holy Spirit into us more and more. Let Your Spirit overflow and move through us, and speak out marvelous praises to worship and glorify Your name! Fill us more and more O Lord, that we might praise You more and more! You deserve all glory, all power, all praise! Teach us O Lord to worship You. Grant us fresh ways to worship You by Your Spirit day by day. In Jesus name, Amen!