Here some shocking reasons why we should worship God. This has changed my life forever.
Have you ever sat and wondered what on earth we are doing here? Each day, it is the same old monotonous grind. We are pushing one foot in front of the other to get the day over.
Well, just like you, I have the same thoughts, but there is one thing I know for sure: before I am a wife or a mother, I am born to worship God. My primary purpose in this life is to worship God. When I got this right, I believe that everything else around me began to fall into place.
Webster’s Dictionary defines “worship” as:
- to honour or show reverence for a divine being or supernatural power
- to regard with great or extravagant respect, honour, or devotion.
In Hebrew and Greek, there are two categories of words for worship. The first is about body language that demonstrates respect and submission: bowing down, kneeling, and prostrating oneself. The second is about doing something for God that shows sacrifice and obedience: offering and serving.
Genesis 24:26 says, “And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.”
Psalm 29:2 says, “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”
Psalms 95:6, “Come; let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”
Worship is like breathing for me, but it has not always come this easy. It was in the most broken time of my life when everything around me made no sense, and the life I once thought was a fairy tale let me down and shattered my 19-year-old young self. I could not pray or ask God to help; all I could do was lay on my face, weep and pour out my broken heart in worship before Him. It was during this time I understood what true worship was all about. Psalms 51:17 became real: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Here’s the shocking truth about why we should worship God:
1. We took the devil’s place
The worship story began with our enemy, the devil – Satan, Lucifer himself. Yes, you read that correctly. Satan was known as the Angel of Light. Like Gabriel and Michael, Lucifer was an anointed guardian cherub (Ezekiel 28:14) who God created for worship. He walked in heaven once, worshipping God both day and night.
Ezekiel 28:13 NKJV says, “The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.”
God created him with built-in musical instruments; he did not need to pick up a timbrel or a flute. He was the music. So, every time Satan opened his mouth to praise and worship God, Satan must have sounded like a symphony. He was the worship in heaven.
Lucifer not only sounded like an orchestra; he was stunningly magical and beautiful as well; he was covered with precious stones (Ezekiel 28:13). Can you imagine how he must have shone when he stood in front of the Son of God, reflecting all of God’s light? (Rev 21:23)
He was blameless from the day God created him till the moment wickedness set in. His heart became proud. It was his beauty and splendour which corrupted his wisdom. And God drove him out, expelling him, and threw him on earth (Ezekiel 28:14-19; Rev 12:7; and Isaiah 14:12-15).
Worship is your weapon against the devil. His purpose is to stop you from doing the one act he was made for. You took his place, and he hates that about you. He will try all means to prevent you as he knows that you will surely be better at worshipping God than he ever was. Therefore, this should give you more reason to worship Jesus and beat the devil at the one thing that frustrated him the most. When he shuts your mouth from worshipping God, he wins and succeeds again. So, worship on!
2. God loved you first
Christianity is unique because it is a religion where God pursues you. He chases after you, and He will look for you like the lost coin, the lost sheep and the lost son (Luke 15).
No matter how horrific your sins may be, He is not fazed by their darkness. He forgives you. Therefore, show your gratitude by offering Him worship, for He has remitted your sin. He desires our worship.
Lamentations 3:22: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.”
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
3. Your Gift to Him is your worship
When Jesus was born, wise men came to Jesus, bearing gifts. They bowed before Him in worship, opening their ‘treasured’ gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were their gifts. What are your gift offerings of worship and what of you is God unwrapping?
Matthew 2:10-12 (NKJV): “ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
We do not need to offer gifts, animal sacrifices, or burning offerings to Jesus; our worship and our lives are all the gifts and sacrifices He requires (Romans 12:1).
Whether through moans, tears or song, your worship is like a gift of sweet incense to God (Psalms 51:16).
In John 12, we read about how Mary of Bethany worshipped Jesus; she anointed Jesus’s feet with pure spikenard (a costly perfume). The fragrance from Mary’s perfumed filled the entire room. She wept on Jesus’s feet and then dried them with her hair; though the disciples felt that she was being wasteful, Jesus was pleased with her. When we adorn Jesus with love through our worship, our worship ascends to heaven as a sweet sound. So, love on Him, your life is a gift.
4. You are the temple of God, and temples are built for worship
There is another reason I love Jesus so much; we do not need to build temples to house the presence of God; we are the building devoted to God’s worship. Is this not reason enough to bow down before Him?
1 Corinthians 3:16, says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”
1 Corinthians 6:19- 20
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your bodies.”
5. Worship is our love language to God
Worship is an expression of love and adoration towards God. It is as simple as that! So, if you are going to church to feel pumped up and excited and think that it is a free ticket to a gospel concert, then you have not worshipped God. If you believe it is about how great a musician you are or how many compliments you get after the morning service, then I have news for you: what you did at church was only performance and not worship.
Worship is to the audience of ONE, and that is to Jesus ONLY. Our love language to God is worship; therefore, this is not for our entertainment.
Psalms 29:2: “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness.”
Luke 4:8 says, “Jesus answered, ‘It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ “
6. Worship is a weapon
Do you feel beat up, knocked down and crushed? Are you curling yourself into a ball and hiding under the sheets? Then this behaviour and attitude will keep you there; why not raise a hallelujah? Why not turn your mourning into dancing and worship God in your darkest hour? (Psalms 30:11)
We read of the life of Job in the Book of Job; he lost it ALL; he could have followed the instruction of his wife and cursed God and died, but instead, Job fell to the ground, and he worshipped God.
Job1:20: “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
You confuse the devil when you worship God. When you feel trapped and hopeless, lift up your worship as a weapon and watch the enemy flee. Paul and Silas were wrongfully imprisoned; we read of it in Acts 16: 25-26: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once, all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.”
Psalms 100
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.