Worship
Worship is associated with attributing honor, reverence or worth to God just because He is God. Worship is the occupation of the soul toward God Himself. As we offer worship to the Divine God, it is adoration in word, gesture, prayer, confession and songs of praise and thanksgiving; that extols God the Father and Jesus the Son. Songs of Praise should contain ministry about our God as well as toward God; but Songs of Worship should be directly to God unswervingly and only God; so that He will be blessed and reverenced and no other.
In the New Testament Church, worship is that of joy and thanksgiving in the face of God's gracious redemption of mankind in Jesus Christ. We worship for the past, present and future in combination; because God was, is and is to come in present with His people in worship. For as Jesus expressed through His Apostle John to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation, He said: ".Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne." Therefore, we should praise and worship God for what He has done, is doing and will do for us in the future.
In St. John 4:20-24, Jesus describes and makes clear the definition of worship to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. The Samaritan woman mentioned a place of worship in comparison to the Jews worshipping at Jerusalem and Jesus' told her that the location had nothing to do with genuine worship. The worship that God seeks is the worship that is in Spirit and in Truth from the heart. Religious worship usually puts God's people in a box and their worship
becomes ritualistic and traditional rather than after the rudiments of Christ. When the location or a church building becomes more important than just invoking the presence of God, this worship can become hypercritical and eventually role play. Our entire aim and whole focus should be targeted to Jesus because He should be the only recipient of Worship. Our intentions, plans, and endeavors in Worship should be Jesus only. We should enter praise and worship with our sights set on Jesus, aspiring to have an encounter with Him and offering our sacrifice of praise to God by proclaiming the glory of Jesus' name and giving Him continual thanks.
Only when the spirit of a man communes with God, does true worship take place. When we commune with God, we converse and feel at one with
Him as in a relationship. We connect and communicate with Him, conveying words of love as we fellowship with Him. When we are worshipping, we should focus and listen carefully for our master to speak to our hearts. We must pay close attention to the move of God and all ears should be open to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say to the church. We must be alert, not slumbering or talking to our neighbor or allowing any other distractions but tunneling our vision upon the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who is God Almighty.
When we address God in Worship, we speak and acknowledge Him for being Lord, King, and Majesty. Worship is strictly to God. When we address Him as Lord, we realize He is in authority over us, and everything we are, have and do, whether it be in the past, present or future. When we address Him as King, we have an understanding that He is of prime importance in our lives and is number one to us. When we concentrate on Him as Majesty, we have come to realize that He is the reigning influence that rules our entire existence. The Father seeks genuine worshippers who will worship Him in Spirit, and in Truth.
Worship is given to God alone and not to man. True worship is when man, through his spirit, arrives at a place of a relationship and intimacy with God. The spirit man is invisible and immortal, and God is invisible and immortal. Proverbs 20:27 says "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly." I believe, when we are truly worshipping in Spirit and Truth, our candle is lit and because God seeks such to worship, the brightness and glow of the candle, even during congregational worship, is ignited and will begin to burn with passion to draw nigh to God. Once we draw nigh to God, He will draw nigh to us and in this process our hands and hearts will be cleansed; and as a result, the intimacy begins.
There are three Greek words for Worship which are:
- Latreuno - meaning public
- Sebomia - meaning to Reverence in Awe
- Proskueno - meaning to Pros (toward) - Kueno (to Kiss); # 4352 Strong's Concordance means to adore, to do reverence, to pay homage to: ...for the Father seeketh (Prosknuneo) such to worship him. Proskunetes ("pros-koo-nay-tace") #4353 Strong's Concordance means worshipper - "...the true worshippers(proskunetes) shall worship the Father in sprit an in truth (St. John 4:23)
Proskuneo in the English language eventually became worth-ship. The word "worth" has to do with "value." The suffix "ship" denotes a state or condition. Proskuneo is to value our Lord in a state of dignity as we honor His position as Lord. Worship is an art and God looks at us as His art of creation. As we worship, we are placing an importance and merit upon our God that none other deserves.
If we had to compare the origin of this word "Proskuneo," we could compare it to words such as courtship, friendship, or fellowship. Proskuneo has an Eastern usage describing kissing the ground in the presence of a potentate or bowing in obedience before a ruler. At one time this word was a word of warm affection describing a puppy kissing the hand of his master or crouching down at the feet of his master. Strong's Concordance relates worship to reverence, holy and hallowed things - to adore; bow to; honor.
Therapeuo (ther-ap-yoo-o) #2323 in Strong's Concordance means to serve, to wait on, to attend, and to do service to deity. In the King James Version, the word for worship means supply; minister or serve. Latreuo ("lat-ryoo'-o") meaning to serve, to be bound to, to minister to the Lord, to render spiritual homage. We are to serve God as if we are waiters or waitresses; not as though God needs our services, but because we reverence Him.
Worship is therapeutic and can be described as a form of therapy; because praise and worship can be beneficial to us even as an instrument of healing. It will uplift and sooth our entire being and is like a treatment to our souls. When we invoke the presence of God into our situation His attributes show up. One of His attributes is healing; He is Jehovah Rapha/Rophe/Yahweh Ropheka the Lord who is the healer. Jesus is the Great Physician and is the one who can heal both body and soul. As we worship, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings for the people who reverence and respect His name and His people will leave His presence healed (Malachi 4:2). Worship can also be the remedy toward rehabilitation to good health because in the presence of the Lord is the fullness of joy and the joy of the Lord is our strength; once joy has been manifested, which is in unison with a merry heart, worship becomes medicine to our bodies, minds, and souls (Psalm 16:11; Nehemiah 8:10). Proverbs 17:22 says: "...a merry heart does good like a medicine..." In Exodus 15:26, God said, "If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your Healer."
Joy is an emotion often expressed audibly and is usually a noisy worship; we are to make a joyful and loud noise unto our God with rejoicing, singing and praise. When the word instructs us to be joyful in glory and sing aloud, it is endorsing us to be joyful in God's glory; nevertheless, we can choose to be joyful and sing or reject the offer. (Psalms 98:4; 105:43; 149:5)
Joy in the Hebrew language is Rinnah (Ree-nah): a shout of rejoicing; shouting loud; cheering in triumph; singing. The word describes the kind of joyful shouting at the time of a great victory. It describes the jubilation of the righteous when the wicked is eliminated and says God danced over His beloved people, with singing or a shout of joy. Joy can be expressed because God's people know the outcome is controlled by the Almighty God. In the lifestyle of Praise and Worship, we must come to the realization that the Joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 8:10).
Praise is associated with speaking well of God and to Him and others for what He has done, is doing or will do. With exuberance and enthusiasm, we thank God and tell others of His goodness and Praise Him for His deeds and actions. A praise gathering is a celebration of God's might, power, and purpose. In Psalms 148 we find that the entire creation is commanded to Praise the Lord for He is the Creator and Sovereign King of the world. He has made his people victorious and given all his loyal followers specific reason to praise. One reason is that we have been redeemed from the curse of the law and the word instructs us in Psalms 107:2: "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary" (NASB). In other words, if you have been redeemed from the power of the enemy, speak out and tell somebody about the goodness of the Lord. Speak out and tell God how good He is, has been and will be. As we begin to speak out into the atmosphere the praises of God and openly declare His praises, the aroma of our...
