The Purpose and Power of Worship: What Is Worship?

Hey, I’m KJ Scriven and welcome to Strengthen Your Walk™. Over the next few days, we’re going to be talking about the subject of worship. Now, we know worship is important in the life of the believer and we know that God wants us to worship Him. But what actually is worship? Is worship a genre of music? Is worship the slow songs in a music set at church? No, it’s not. And over the course of time, we’ll be talking about the importance of worship, why we worship, and the power of worship in our lives.

Watch The Purpose and Power of Worship with KJ Scriven

Webster’s dictionary describes worship as this. It says, “to regard with great or extravagant reverence, respect, honor or devotion.” David puts it like this. He says, “Teach me Your way, Lord,” in Psalm 86:11, “and I will live by Your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name.” And you know this word “fear” here doesn’t just mean to be afraid, but it is the same concept. It means to reverence. And so, he says, “Teach me Your way, Lord. And I will live by Your truth and give me an undivided mind to fear Your name.” So we know by this that worship- we can already tell that worship is actually reverence. It’s not just our songs, but worship is our entire lives. It’s reverence, it’s honor to God. And it’s the way that we do that.

John 4, God gets specific, as Jesus is talking to the woman at the well, who happens to be a Samaritan woman. And Samaritans and Jews in this time did not get along at all. And so, she says to Jesus when she has this powerful encounter with Him, she says, “Well, Samaritans, we worship God here at the well on this mountain. And you Jews believe that God’s presence is at the Temple.” And then Jesus says something really powerful. He says this, He says, “But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him.” So, we see the Lord’s desire. God is spirit. And those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. What is Jesus saying here? He’s saying that worship is not only not just a song, but worship is not a location. Worship is not at a particular building. You know, in some religions and some faiths, you have to face a certain direction to worship. You have to speak in a certain language to worship. But Jesus gives the heart of the Father here. He says, “God is looking for worshipers that will worship him in spirit and in truth.”

Now what does He mean by that? He’s saying in spirit that it’s again, it’s not a particular location, but He wants people to worship Him with authenticity, right? With authenticity from the heart and in truth based on the truth of Who He is. And again, we see this in Psalm 86. He says, “God”, David says, “God, teach me Your way and I will live by Your truth.” And so, I’m excited about the rest of these sessions because we’re going to dig into this a little bit deeper. But here’s a reality to take home with us. Whatever you worship, you become more like. So, it is actually not just right to worship God because He’s worthy, but we worship God because as we worship Him, we become more like Him. Join us again. Thanks for joining us for Strengthen Your Walk™.

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