What is "worship" anyway. We all have our preferences when it comes to worship, but a truth is that worship is never about the outer form or the style of music.... Worship is about the heart of the worshipper.
Whenever our hearts are more concerned about what is on the outside than the whole-hearted devotion on the inside, we need a revival. Real worship, whatever else it might be, is genuine, heartfelt, and surrendered on the part of the worshiper...other than that, I don't think there aren't a whole lot of "rules"...at least not from God!
One idea that the Bible says is essential to genuine worship shows up in the story of Abraham who, when he stood at the foot of Mount Moriah, had waited for 25 years for his son Isaac, raised him for another 13 years, and now he’d traveled three days to a mountain’s name whose name means, “God will see,” to offer him, at God’s request, as a sacrifice. Abraham's faith was about to get very costly.
Abraham said unto his young men, "Stay here with the animals. The boy and I will go a way and worship, and come again to you." (Gen 22:5) Abraham’s worship included:
- Obeying God, without hesitation.
- Going with the full intent of sacrificing his son.
- A faith and relationship with God that was so deep, he knew that Isaac was the son that God had promised.
- Intending to kill his son, not to please God, but to obey him
- Knowing that he would also return with his son, because God is faithful to keep his promises.
Abraham learned the lesson by obeying God and trusting him with the results. David also said that he wouldn’t offer a sacrifice that didn’t come at personal cost to himself, and he learned these hard lessons the same way – by what he did.
"And when Araunah looked down, he saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Araunah went out and paid homage to the king with his face to the ground. And Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David said, “To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be averted from the people.” Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king, “May the Lord your God accept you.” But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver." (2 Sam. 24:20-24)
Genuine praise, worship and prayer aren’t about how we feel. These essential pieces of a Christ-centered life aren’t about the environment around us or the music we listen to. Genuine worship flows from a heart that’s surrendered to God, loves Him, and follows wherever He leads. Where ever you are, what ever you are doing, if this is the attitude of your heart, you are a true worshiper of God.
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