Reasons Why You Don’t Worship.
“Too Shy”
“I am too shy for worship… I don’t want people to stare at me. What will they think of me? I look ridiculous.”
These are what I like to call excuses for not worshiping. For not lifting your hands in praise to our King. One thing we have to get straight is WHO CARES? When we worship, it should not matter what others think about you. You are not worshiping for their sake, so they can see how “holy” you are. The only reason for worship is to lift up the name of Jesus and magnify the Lord, and to let His praise ever be on your lips! Why are you shy? Why is it hard to lift your hands? Why does it feel embarrassing to worship and let loose? These are questions I once had before my true encounter with the Lord.
Why Is It So Hard?
What I want to point out is, it is not hard. All the feelings you have of fear are not of the Lord. You are thinking too much about pleasing people and not about what the Lord sees in you. He delights in YOU. He delights in dancing over you and seeing you sacrifice yourself for Him. When we lift our hands in praise it is a sacrifice to God because we are denying the feelings of embarrassment and pleasing others to worship Him. When you lift your hands things happen. When you deny yourself chains inside begin to break and you begin to feel His presence, you begin to feel set free.
the Bible says,
“May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” Psalm 141:2
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:6
Reasons To Worship
He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords! Why not praise Him? He deserves it. He is worthy of all our praise and worship, isn’t He? Worship is like showing your affection to Him, showing your commitment, showing your love for Him. When I worship I just begin to thank Him for all He has done for me. He fights for me everyday even when I am having a bad day and I do not talk to Him at all. He still blesses me and He still loves me, so how can I not praise Him? Worship is the closest thing to Heaven on earth. That is what I can compare it to. I love the lyrics to this Hillsong song called, “What A Beautiful Name”. It reads,
“You didn’t want Heaven without us, so Jesus You brought Heaven down. My sin was great, Your love was greater, so what can separate us now?”
I just love that verse. Jesus did not want Heaven without us and that is why He died for us, He wanted to be close to us because He loves us. When we praise Him we are thanking Him for the things He has done, for what He did, and what He is going to do in the future.
Worship In Everything
I was listening to a interview the other day of Jenn Johnson and she was talking about worship. Her father in-law was in the car with her and she was frustrated with her kids and she said, “Mommy hat off, worship hat on.” In an instant her father in-law replies, “The problem is, is the worship hat never should have come off.” I love that. No matter where you are, you are always in a state of worship. We do not just wait to be in His presence when we go to service once a week or a prayer meeting, the worship NEVER ENDS. I talk under my breath constantly… I am always praying. I am always communicating with my King because I do not know what to do without Him. I come to my church expecting to meet with Him and the Father wants to meet with us. So when I come, I come ready, I come already filled with His spirit, I come expecting to be healed, to be set free, to be filled with the joy of His presence. In everything, praise the Lord. When I wake up the first thing that should come out of my mouth is “Thank You for waking me up this morning and breathing Your breath into my lungs.” Let your day be filled with thanksgiving for the things God is doing in your life. He is always doing something for you whether you know it or not. Especially if you’re a worship leader or on the worship team. Our job is to usher in His presence and lead the congregation into worship by demonstrating worship ourselves. Our job isn’t to be seen or put on a show, but to invite the Holy Spirit to come and to lead with authority and anointing.
Worship Setting
There is so much joy involved in being apart of a worship service with other people who are expecting to meet with God the same as you. The most beautiful sound in the world, in my opinion, is the sound of a new song being sang from God’s people in a state of worship. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, a new song is a term used for a spontaneous song from the Holy Spirit. It is the stillness between songs, the moment when the music continues but all you hear is new songs coming from peoples hearts as they lift their praises and prayers to the King. It is so beautiful. Worship changes your life, your attitude, your mind… Everything you do will change because of worship. Your health will even be changed. When you are in a constant state of joy and peace you will physically feel good and healthy. If you’re always sad, always downcast, not full of hope, not full of joy, your bones will ache and your heart will sting with bitterness and depression.
Worship Sets You Free
Worship will set you free, because Jesus is invited in, the Holy Spirit is flowing through the place you are worshiping and touching people. Have you seen altar calls? People who go to the front of the stage and bow down to God to give up things that is not of Him because they desire to be closer to Him, they desire to be set free. Or to be healed? Usually others feel led to bow down, or someone will feel led to go up and pray for those who are asking. As a body of Messiah we work together to help each other to be set free from bondage. Jesus can set you free from sickness, depression, anxiety, fear, worry, sexual addictions, lust… All these things you lay down at the feet of Jesus.
“When you meet with Jesus face to face are you gonna shake His hand or lay at His feet?”
That line says it all. This is how we need to treat worship. When you worship you are coming to meet with Jesus, and to lay yourself down in surrender. To not think of what everyone else thinks and think of what God must feel to see His children laying at His feet in awe of ALL that He is and thanking Him. What joy He must feel…
Scriptures About Worship
“Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago” Isaiah 25:1“Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you.” Exodus 23:25
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:6
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:24
“Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” Psalm 103:1“You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1“My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.” Psalm 71:8“Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk 3:17-18“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
“How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.” 2 Samuel 7:22
“Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.” Psalm 68:4-5“For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.: Romans 11:36“Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” Psalm 95:6