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The meaning of the New Testament Greek word most often
translated “worship” (proskuneo) is “to fall down before” or
“bow down before.” Worship is a state (an attitude) of spirit.
Since it’s an internal, individual action, it could/should be
done most of the time (or all the time) in our lives, regardless
of place or situation (John 4:21). Therefore, Christians worship
all the time, seven days a week. When Christians formally gather
together in worship, still the emphasis should be on
individually worshiping the Lord. Even in a congregation,
participants need to be aware that they are worshiping God fully
on an individual basis.
The nature of Christian worship is from the inside out
and has two equally important parts. We must worship “in spirit
and in truth” (John 4:23-24). Worshiping in the spirit has
nothing to do with our physical posture. It has to do with our
innermost being and requires several things. First, we must be
born again. Without the Holy Spirit residing within us, we
cannot respond to God in worship because we do not know Him. “No
one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1
Corinthians 2:11b). The Holy Spirit within us is the one who
energizes worship because He is in essence glorifying Himself,
and all true worship glorifies God.
Second, worshiping in spirit requires a mind centered on
God and renewed by Truth. Paul exhorts us to “present your
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which
is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:1b,
2b). Only when our minds are changed from being centered on
worldly things to being centered on God can we worship in
spirit. Distractions of many kinds can flood our minds as we try
to praise and glorify God, hindering our true worship.
Third, we can only worship in spirit by having a pure
heart, open and repentant. When King David’s heart was filled
with guilt over his sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11), he found
it impossible to worship. He felt that God was far from him, and
he “groaned all day long” feeling God’s hand heavy upon him
(Psalm 32:3,4). But when he confessed, fellowship with God was
restored and worship and praise poured forth from him. He
understood that “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a
broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51:17). Praise and worship
toward God cannot come from hearts filled with unconfessed sin.
The second part of true worship is worship “in truth.”
All worship is a response to truth, and that which is truth is
contained in the Word of God. Jesus said to His Father, “Thy
word is truth” (John 17:17b). Psalm 119 says, “Thy law is truth”
(v. 142b) and “Thy word is true” (v. 160a). To truly worship
God, we must understand who He is and what He has done, and the
only place He has fully revealed Himself is in the Bible.
Worship is an expression of praise from the depths of our hearts
toward a God who is understood through His Word. If we do not
have the truth of the Bible, we do not know God and we cannot be
truly worshiping.
Since external actions are unimportant in Christian
worship, there is no rule regarding whether we should sit,
stand, fall down, be quiet, or sing praises loudly while in
corporate worship. These things should be decided based on the
nature of the congregation. The most important thing is that we
worship God in spirit (in our hearts) and in truth (in our
minds.)
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