Worship. What comes to your mind when you hear the word? Perhaps the following excerpt will help:

What does it mean to worship God? Jesus states to the woman at the well that the worship of God must be in “spirit and truth” (John 4:24). How is this accomplished? As one attempts to describe true worship, our answers tend to confuse external ritual with the more basic internal truth of worship. Our experience at church on Sunday is only the outward expression of worship. The singing of hymns, responsive readings from Scripture, corporate or private prayer, and the preaching of a sermon are all parts of worship, but true worship begins in the heart. A proper understanding of the Hebrew word shachah, translated “worship,” will help convey this fundamental principle.

Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: 200 Greek and 200 Hebrew Words Defined and Explained

Please note carefully the statement, “As one attempts to describe true worship, our answers tend to confuse external ritual with the more basic internal truth of worship.” Note the distinction between external action, and internal truth. Let’s consider those two concepts with the desire to come to a better understanding of true worship.

First, think about the external ritual of worship. From this perspective, we could make a summary statement that defines worship as something we do. It could be thought of as an action in which we involve ourselves at certain times, and in certain places. For example, it has become commonplace to hear people refer to certain segments of a Sunday morning church service as “worship.” The “worship leader” stands before the congregation and invites everyone to “worship”, which is an invitation to sing the words of the songs prominently displayed on the huge screen at the front of the auditorium. This part of the Sunday morning experience is called “worship”. This would present the idea that everything else done during that experience is something other than worship.

If worship is something we do, then it is nothing more than external ritual. We have worshiped if we have engaged in certain activities that are identified as worship. But is that what we are to understand worship to be? Are we to live under the premise that we can worship God by engaging in certain activities, and thereby fulfill our obligation of worshiping God? Or is there more? Does true worship entail more than the engagement in external actions that are described as being “worship”?

To answer that question, let’s turn our attention to the matter of internal truth. It has long been my understanding that worship is not something we do, but rather it is who we are. Worship is not external actions that can be done, and then checked off our list of things to do. Worship is who we are – it is our whole being.

Of course the internal truth of worship will produce in us certain external actions, but engaging in certain external actions does not necessarily mean that we have truly engaged in worship. I can stand at the invitation of the worship leader, and I can sing the songs as they appear on the screen. But does that mean I have worshiped? Maybe, and maybe not. The external action has to be borne out of an internal truth. I can sing, “Oh, worship the King”, and my mind can be a million miles away. In reality, this is not worship at all. Rather, it is as Jesus said:

Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Matthew 15:7-9

It is obvious from these words that it is possible to engage in external acts of “worship” and yet never truly engage in worship. Worship is not merely attending certain events at certain times and on certain days. It is not having a set time and place for a daily “devotion” during which I read a portion of Scripture and go through a prayer list lifting individuals and situations to the Lord’s attention. It is not attending a mid-week Bible study fellowship, where I engage in lively discussion with others about key Biblical truths.

Worship is not something we do, it is who we are.

Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying. Each of those things could be worship – true, sincere worship – but just the act of engaging in them does not equate to worship. Worship is not an action or activity, it is a state of being. Worship is not something we do, it is who we are. It is that state of being that leads me to be mentally and spiritually aware of His presence at all times, in all places, and with all people. It is that state of being that leads me to spontaneously burst forth with praise as I become aware of His closeness.

The external acts of “worship” become acts of true worship because in them we have a personal encounter with the living God of the universe. Let’s not be guilty of simply going through the motions of ritualistic worship in which we worship with our lips while our hearts are far removed. Let’s be true worshipers, worshiping out of our state of being, living our lives for His glory.

Blessings!