Reconnecting With Personal Worship
During times where we can’t get together with other people to worship, we’re reminded that our worship of God isn’t limited to a church service. We don’t have to wait for a worship leader to tell us what to do, sing, or say. Our worship of God is first of all personal.
I wrote about this in my book, Do Not Attempt This At Home & Other Myths About Worship. Here are some thoughts from the book.
I sat on my bed one night, unable to sleep. I didn’t have the answers I needed for some decisions. I had looked at everything logically, but I wasn’t satisfied. So in the darkness and quiet, when the noise of life was subdued, I worshiped. It was nighttime and I didn’t sing. I spoke. I worshiped with my words, telling God that He was amazing, all-powerful, wonderful, more than marvelous, holy, worthy of all adoration. I told Him that I loved Him. I put my attention on Him, not on myself and what I needed. After some time, I was quiet.
In the quietness, He spoke. Then I knew what decisions I should make—what to do and what to say.
I worshiped alone, without a band or piano playing and someone telling me what to do or say. I spoke to God. Instead of asking for wisdom, I focused on Him and spoke about His greatness and compassion, expressing my love for Him.
Love is the basis of worship.
Worship begins in your spirit, at the center of who you truly are, and it is an expression of your devotion to God. You subject your body in reverence and adoration which can be shown through kneeling, bowing, falling prostrate—in short, subjugating your body and showing submission to a higher person/power—and your words of worship focus on the person who is receiving the worship.
So right now, I encourage you to take a minute and begin to tell God how amazing He is, how mighty and powerful, how faithful and kind, how He is everything that is good, pure, holy, and wise. Thank Him for what He’s done specifically for you. Just relax in His presence. He never leaves you; He lives within you by His Spirit. You are not distant from Him.
Worshiping God not only reminds you of who He is, but it reminds you of who you are. He created you to spend time with Him—to communicate and to be refreshed—so you can see the world the way He sees it—with love and compassion, and with justice and wisdom.
