Music is a small fraction of the true essence of worship. Worship is about living a lifestyle that pleases and honors God. This is not to discredit singing praise and worship songs to God because that also plays a vital role in the life of a believer.
You can worship God even when we don't have access to your worship playlist on iTunes. Worship isn't simply one area of your life; it is your life. Start right this moment by surrendering your life to God. Then spend the rest of your life learning to worship Him more fully.
Worship is the process of surrendering your entire life into God's hands. Everything you do can be an act of worship. God designed us to worship Him with our whole lives, and there are actually spiritual habits that we can build into our lives that help us worship God more deeply? Here are ten habits that will build worship into your life on a daily basis.
1.
A life of
purpose God has a reason for your
existence. He has five reasons: fellowship, discipleship, ministry, evangelism,
and worship. You please God when you live in step with His purposes. God
doesn't want you to waste your life. You were designed for God's pleasure.
The purpose of worship is the foundation of the other four
purposes. Fellowship without the spirit of worship just exists. Discipleship without
worship is nothing but a fruitless mental exercise. Ministry without worship is
useless. Evangelism without worship is misplaced.
2.
Deep
relationships with other Christians
The Bible teaches that God designed
us to live in community with other Christians. We bring God pleasure by getting
to know others and being known by them. The primary way many churches do this
is through small groups.
3.
Obey God We worship God when we obey Him. We all need to build the
habit of obedience into our lives. Take practical steps to see that this is a
part of your life. Whenever you sense God is speaking to you, make it a regular
practice to respond immediately. Don't let procrastination weigh you down. If
you can't do it immediately, write down whatever God has been putting on your
heart, so that you can do it soon.
4.
Prayer We often miss this important component of our prayer life.
Think about the issues you usually pray about. How much of your prayer life is
about you and how much of it is about God? Without a doubt God wants us to be
able to share everything that is going on in our life. He also wants us to get
to know Him better.
When we affirm
who God is through our prayers, we put our prayer life in proper perspective.
Prayer starts with God. Consider including in your prayers a time of focused
attention on who God is.
5.
Regular Bible
reading How can we ever worship God without
a clear understanding of who He is? The truth about God is essential to
worship. Pay special attention to the book of Psalms. No book in the Bible
spends as much time carefully describing who God is.
6.
Serve others When we serve one another, Jesus tells us we are really
serving Him. If you don't think you have any gifts that are useful to serve,
you are wrong. God made you with talents and gifts that He specifically gave
you to serve others.
7.
Share you faith
(and spiritual journey) Missions
exists because worship doesn't. God wants every person on the planet to worship
him not because He is a tyrant who needs our praise, but because worship is how
we are designed by God. He wants the best for us. Tell them how you came to
faith in Christ. Don't worry about their response. Relax in the knowledge that
you are playing a part in expanding God's world-wide worship.
8.
Submission to God This
is the heart of worship — surrender. God won't settle for 90 percent of your
life; He wants all of it. You might have been a follower of Jesus for years,
but you still have areas of your life that you are holding back from Him. What
are those areas? Only you know that.. Look at the areas of your life where you
spend the most money and the most time. Do they honor God?
If you are
human, you have sin in your life that you need to surrender. Think back over
the past month, and write down all of the times you remember disobeying clear
teaching from God. Then look for patterns. If you find patterns of sin in your
life, these are areas of your life you need to surrender to God. Right at the
moment, start praying for God to help you overcome that sin.
9.
Thankfulness This requires looking at the world through a different set
of eyes. When we look through the lens of thankfulness, we see our lives and
everything in it as gifts from God. Develop your own spiritual exercise each
morning that demonstrates that you are putting on your lens of thankfulness.
Then begin to thank God for all of the good things in your life.
10.
Tithe If you want to know what in your life you worship, look at
your money. The Bible teaches us this
important lesson: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also." (Mathew 6:21 NIV) God wants us to surrender our entire being to
Him. One way to show that is by making Him Lord of our pocketbook. If you are
already a committed tither, consider raising the amount you are willing to
give.
“Worship has been misunderstood as something
that arises from a feeling which “comes upon you,” but it is vital that we
understand that it is rooted in a conscious act of the will, to serve and obey
the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Graham
Kendrick)[i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“4 Ways We Can Worship God Aside
From Music” by Patrick
Mabilog
·
“Ten Ways to Worship without Music” by Tobin Perry
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