True Worship
What is True Worship? The dictionary of man defines worship as the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity. We as a church sing songs to God, pray, praise, exalt and thank God and call this worship - but is this what the Bible says worship is? The Bible uses the word worship in many different places using two Greek words (that I found) for the same word for worship. "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24, NKJV). The word worship here is translated as Proskuneo which means meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master's hand); to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence 2) among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence 3) in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication 3a) used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank. By this we see that worshipping in Spirit and truth is when we get to that place of total submission knowing who our master is. Literally getting on our knees and bowing to our creator is something I think we should all be doing. We need to actually get our hearts into the same place as our literal act - submit and trust that He is in control no matter what the circumstances. Worshipping in Spirit and truth is when our self-will is willingly given over to God in total obedience. God gave us free will so we can make that choice - our will for His will. How many times in our walk do we dictate our terms and conditions to God? How many times are we deciding our way is better and we need God to do it our way? This is false worship. Are we every day on our knees bowing down in submission and total reverence to our creator and confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord? We need to truly get in that place and meditate on what He has actually done for us. He is a hugely superior being to man yet He humbled Himself and became a man and died a horrific death for us so we could be set free. He truly deserves to be worshipped in this way! He once told me that if there was only one human on the earth (me or you) He still would have come and died for that one person. When we are in that place of true worship it truly carries the most power because we are in that place of total submission. What can the enemy do when you are in that place with God.
The other place in the Bible that talks about worship but translated differently is Acts 7:42 - Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:‘ Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? Worship in this Scripture is translated in Greek as Latreuo and means from latris (a hired menial); - serve, worship, do the service, worshipper 1) to serve for hire 2) to serve, minister to, either to the gods or men and used alike of slaves and freemen 2a) in the NT, to render religious service or homage, to worship 2b) to perform sacred services, to offer gifts, to worship God in the observance of the rites instituted for his worship 2b1) of priests, to officiate, to discharge the sacred office. So this form of worship is being a servant for God. It is offering yourself to God for Him to use you for His service. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1, NKJV). When we put our needs ahead of our purpose in God this is also False Worship. See: Cup of Suffering
The third place I found worship translated differently again was Psalm 66:4 - All the earth shall worship You, And sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name". The word worship here is shachah and is in Hebrew which means a primitive root; worship, bow, bow down, obeisance, reverence, fall down. We see also that the Bible always mentions to 'Fear the Lord'. Fear in this sense means total reverence which is the highest form of respect. Do we really give God the respect He deserves or do we treat Him haphazardly at times moaning and groaning for what we don't have? What I found was that none of these translations of worship were even remotely close to what man does today in Church services through their form of worship. What we do in Churches is praise God, exalt God, thank God and show Him adoration. This in itself is great as the Bible tells us to offer our praises to God in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs but it is not what the Bible defines as true worship. We need to praise (as we are doing) but also worship (put our needs second to Gods purpose and literally bow down on our knees in utter submission to our creator. This needs to be literal as well as physical. Since I found the true meaning of worship I have no problem with getting on my knees in total submission and confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father and telling Him that He is my master and there is none greater - however I am still working on the actual submission thing - letting go totally of self-will and adopting Gods total will but with Gods help I know that I will eventually get there.
When you understand the true meaning of worship it certainly makes the following two Scriptures have a lot more meaning. But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:6-10, NKJV).
And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12, NKJV). It is time to get back to true worship - to bow down before our creator in true humility whilst singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
I remember when I was once in a Church service as a brand new Christian spending time praising and singing to the Lord and asking God why He needed us to worship and exalt Him (as I found it all quite weird and egotistical on His part). His answer to me back then was that praise was a weapon that He had given to man. Praise for Him as our creator dismantles the enemy in our difficult circumstances enabling God to supply us with what we need. This really helped me to continue in it but recently God showed me that I had been at times entering into false praise. It is always about the motive! Initially I never wanted to worship and praise God in front of others as I found it embarrassing. Once I got over this I went the other way and went overboard so I could prove to others how much I loved God. Other times I entered into praise and worship in the hope of getting God to release something for me. The motive was wrong - I wanted something out of my praise and worship instead of simply doing it for Him. Using it to dismantle the enemy is fine as it is a weapon given to us for this but doing it to twist Gods arm - not so much! Using praise and worship for any other reason but a weapon against the enemy and showing Love and reverence to God is false praise and worship.
Another mistake I made was getting into a mind-set of only praising and worshipping God when I wanted to hear from Him. When I was first saved and filled with the Holy Spirit I learned that whenever I worshipped God and spent time with Him He would always talk to me. I became accustomed to hearing from God in this way, so I would frequently put on songs of worship and then sit in His presence and ask Him to talk to me. This worked well for me as this in itself is another form of worship – setting aside time to sit in His presence to hear from Him. When Mary sat at His feet to hear Him speak instead of running around like Martha this pleased Jesus greatly. The problem is however there is a balance. Sometimes we become hyper focused on one way which upsets the balance. Without realising I had stopped praising and worshipping Him simply because I loved Him instead praising and worshipping Him to activate His presence to hear from Him. For many years this method worked well for me but after a while I stopped hearing from the Lord in those times and kept hearing from the enemy mimicking the Lord instead. How did I know it was the enemy? The words I received in this time were never confirmed or were slightly twisted and didn’t line up with Scripture. Not understanding and feeling grumpy that I was setting aside time to talk and listen to the Lord I was complaining to my Father in law how the enemy would talk to me in my God times instead of God and I was getting fed up with it. He asked me a question, “Do you hear these messages from the enemy when you are actively seeking to hear from God or just out of the blue?” I pondered and realised I was hearing from God more out of the blue, and hearing from the enemy when I was seeking God. My Father in law said “Maybe you should change tact and worship and praise God just for Him and not for wanting to hear from Him.” I got off the phone and immediately the Lord spoke and this is what He said “You are not praising and worshipping Me for Me – you are praising and worshipping Me to hear from Me. You have developed a mind-set. True worship is about giving and not receiving. I am looking for those who worship in Spirit and truth – those who worship Me for Me and not for what they can get from Me. There is a time where I test your heart to see if you really love Me. Worship and praise weakens the enemy – when you worship Me from a place of love and adoration the enemy loses his foothold. Now is the time to worship Me like you have never worshipped before. When you put aside time to spend with Me I am always there. When you put aside time to spend with Me I will always put aside time to spend with you. When you expect something from Me be expectant as I died to give you an inheritance but this inheritance is released in My timing when I know you are ready to receive it. In your God walk there are times to seek, there are times to sit and rest and cease from all works, there are times to give and there are times to receive.” I again went to the Scriptures and after reading what true worship was I realised that there has to be a balance of all things in God. I now set aside time to read the Bible, pray in tongues, help others, worship and praise just for Him, and other times simply seek Him and sit in His presence to receive and hear from Him. Another form of worship is obedience to Gods commands. By hearing what He is saying to you and making changes accordingly this too becomes a part of the whole picture of worship. God is looking for those who worship in Spirit and truth. Worshipping in Spirit and truth as we have discerned is not just one thing – it is a multitude of many things each of which shows God our loyalty and desire to serve Him. He is looking for those who are willing and ready to make sacrifices to Him so He can use them for His purposes. Be willing, be obedient, be subservient and He will open up a whole new world for you.
(PRAYER) - "Heavenly Father in the name of Your son Jesus Christ I repent for offering You false praise and false worship. I repent for all false sacrifices and burnt offerings given from all those within my bloodline that was an offence to You. I am sorry for ever worshipping and praising You to get something from You instead of simply using it to show You that I love You. Worship and praise is also a tool You have given to us when we are under attack and I repent for not using it in the correct context that it was given to me. Thank You for this powerful tool - I would ask that You would remind me to use it when I need it. I am sorry for ever being to embarrassed to worship and praise You in front of others and for the times I did the complete opposite and deliberately over-worshipped and over-praised You to impress others. I am sorry for falling into man's idea of worshipping You which was actually not worship but praise. Teach me and help me to praise and worship You correctly. I repent for not showing You 100% reverence and respect instead moaning and groaning to You trying to teach You how things should be done."
(PROPHETIC ACT) - Get down on your knees, bow to the ground and pray: "I bow down and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I humble myself before You Jesus Christ as a lowly servant and declare You as my Lord and master; there is no other. You are the potter and I am the clay. I submit myself to You in total reverence and awe for You to use me for Your good works and purposes. I exalt Your Holy name. Thank You that even though You are a superior being You humbled Yourself and became a man. You came to earth and died on a cross for me - thank You, Amen ".
By Tania Francis