by Pst (Mrs) Christiana Idagbe

John 4:24 “For God is spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

To worship means to regard with great respect, honor and devotion. It also means reverent devotion and allegiance pledged to God. Psalm 29:2b “worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.” (NLT)

True worship is God centered worship made to Him in spirit and in truth according to the word of God. Many people over time have being worshipping God but not in the right way and I have come to realize through scriptures that it is not all that we give God that is acceptable to Him even our worship. People tend to get caught up in where they should worship, what song they should sing in worship and how the worship looks and sound to other people. Focusing on these things completely misses the point.

Worship and praise are reserved only for God. Only He is worthy. Worship is done for God and God’s pleasure alone! We shouldn’t worship for the expectation of something in return. Psalm 95:6 “Come, let us kneel before the LORD our maker, for he is our God.” (NLT) A man came back from work one day tired, and his son naturally ran to him calling him daddy, daddy, daddy welcoming him, Knowing who children are(always asking for something) the father responded saying “ what do you want”, and to the fathers greatest surprise the son responded “I just want to tell you I love you”. This is a picture true worship. The boy ran to his father not because he wanted anything but to express his love to his father. True worship is felt inwardly and then comes out through our actions. God can see through all the our motions and He hates heartless worship. Amos 5:21-24. (NLT)

As for worship, King David was an outstanding example for all of us. He had a pure and grateful heart towards God and worshipped Him with the entirety of his being. Many of the psalms reflect David’s passionate heart for worship. No wonder David was referred to as man after God’s heart. Acts13:22. What more would I and you desire, sure to be a man and woman after God’s heart, then let us worship God with the whole of our heart. Psalm 92:1-2 “It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to your name most high. To declare your loving kindness in the morning and your faithfulness every night.”  Psalm 145:3 “Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 18:3a “I will call upon the LORD who is worthy to be praised.” David was a man after God’s own heart because he truly glorified God in his heart!

True worship is not confined to singing in church or open praise (although these things are both good and we are told to do them in the bible) but it is the heartfelt acknowledgment of God and his power and glory in the things we do. To truly worship God, we must know him and not be ignorant of his good and glorious nature Acts 17:23 “For I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’this whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.” In a nutshell, worship is to glorify and exalt God; to show our loyalty and admiration to our heavenly father. Shalom!!!