What is worship?
Part 1.
I don’t know if you ever think about questions like this one, but I do. I also wonder what prayer is, what discipleship really means, how extensive is our salvation, and a bunch of other questions. I find that if I can’t explain it, then maybe I don’t really know.

Let me start with a simple answer to that question and then develop that answer from there. Worship is a heart adoring God. Is that simple enough? I hope so. The simpler the better, I think. But let’s flesh that out a bit.

First, it means that worship is not the merely ‘going to church.’ By the way you can’t really ‘go to church’ anyway. You either join a church, or you fellowship with a church. What we mean is ‘going to the worship service of a church.” But attending a worship service isn’t worship either. An atheist might attend a worship service, just out of curiosity, but he wouldn’t be worshiping, since he doesn’t know or believe in God.

That was simple, now the next one: worship is not singing songs or saying prayers. Once again our atheist might actually sing the songs that are sung, or way the prayers that are said (in a worship program, or overhead, e.g.), maybe out of embarrassment (not wanting to stand out). But he wouldn’t be worshiping, would he. His heart isn’t in it.

So much for the atheist. How many believers attend a worship service, but don’t worship? I suspect that we’ve all fallen into that trap at one point. What about you? When you sing, is it an expression of a heart adoring God, or merely an expression of musical ability?

If you’re like me, there’s a bit of a mix going on here that can sometimes be difficult to sort out. Since I have some musical ability, and genuinely enjoy music for it’s own sake, it’s pretty easy to sing without actually worshiping. In fact, many times I almost have to do that to learn a song, or in practicing with others the first time to lead the song in a worship setting. But it’s too easy to be caught up in the music, even in the worship setting, and forget to actually turn my heart toward God in adoration.

It’s also possible for the opposite to be true: namely, I so dislike the music, or am so distracted by the poor skills of the musician, that I find my distaste in the way of my heart turning toward God in adoration. In this case, I acknowledge that the problem is not the music, or the musician, it’s me.

What about you? What draws your attention away from God in worship?

Without blaming anyone else, what heart issues are at work in you in this area?

Father God, send your Spirit into us to ‘tune our hearts to sing Thy grace.’ Lead us into genuine worship and empower us to leave behind our petty distractions and focus our hearts fully on you. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.