What should worship be to us?

I was talking with a friend about what worship should be to us, as believers in Christ. While we were talking, I jotted down some scriptures that helped me identify what God considers worship to be. Here are some topics from our discussion that I think we all need to refresh on!

Doesn’t matter if the Word is spoken or sung:
God said that His Word doesn't come back void. So whether it is spoken in a service, on a street corner, written on a billboard or sung in a song, it is still His Word! Check this out: Isa 55:10-11 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Here, a drop of water falls from the sky, goes into the ground, gets sucked up by plants and then used to produce nourishment. That's how God's Word should be received by us. His Word falls from His mouth, onto His people. His people then take His Word and use it for growth, mature in their faith and bless others. Look at it this way, He is telling us that it will grow and it will accomplish its purpose. So if you don't use it, someone else will! It's your blessing, receive it and grow from it!

Worship is more than singing…it is life itself:
A lot of times we think that worship is something we only do when we sing at church or in our car. But that isn't the case at all. We are supposed to worship God all the time. That means when we are at work, in our cars, walking down the street, all the time. In Rom 12:1 it says, Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual act of worship. See, every thing we do should bring glory to God. An application of this can be simply ignoring the driver behind you that is beeping the horn; instead of yelling back at the person when they drive past you. Easier said than done sometimes, but that should be our heart. We need to practice it, so it becomes second nature.

Worship and prayer are personal:
Mt 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your closet, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. Christ told us that we need to spend time with God alone! No one else, just Him and you. Notice Christ didn't say, go into your closet and pray to me, he specifically said "your Father" - God. Cry out to God, give Him the glory that He deserves. Going to Him with your concerns is a great way of saying that you believe He can take care of them. You go to a doctor to help fix your body. Why, because you believe they can help you. You might not say that, but that is exactly what you are saying when you walk into the office. Christ, when he was in the garden before his torture and death, went alone to pray, away from his closets friends ,to seek God and God alone.

Worship and prayer are corporate:
In the Bible, you will read "assembly of the saints" or "congregation of the saints", this was an idea that we should be getting together on a routine basis to worship our God! In Heb 10:25 it says: Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. As a collective group, we are the "church". However, I believe there is also to be a physical building that should be held somewhat sacred (set apart) that we can go to for a peace from the outside world. In the O.T. the people held the "church" (which was a tent as they were nomadic people) as a sacred place because God actually occupied that space. In the N.T., God occupies our hearts in His third person (the Holy Spirit). However, all throughout the N.T., the people still collectively gathered in a safe place that was set apart for prayer and worship. There were definitive-designated places that were set apart for the worship of God. Not the only places, but there were special places nonetheless.
If you read most of the letters and you will see that Paul and other writers specifically address people who worship in specific locals, specific physical places. A lot of times it was a specific room in some one's home, but it was a place set apart nonetheless. Ours should also be set apart and sanctified as such a place. Read (Gen 12:8, Num 10:3, Col 4:15, Acts1:13-14, Acts 12:12) Also, 1 Cor 14:25 When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. There is definitely a purpose for corporate worship: edification (the building up of someone, encouraging someone in their work).

Why do you go to church to worship?:
Have you ever left a church service and said, "I didn't get anything out of what Pastor said today" or "church was boring and I didn't feel the spirit there"? If so, than you have to ask yourself one huge question: Why do I go to church?
Should a church service be based on our feelings? No! Does God perform according to feelings? No. God never changes! Our feelings do. Christ said that when there are two of us that get together to worship in his name, he will be there among them, honoring that. Whether you are gathering for a church service or just to work together, or even just to sit and talk together. He promises he will be there. So again, why do we go to church; so we can get something from it? If that is the case we are there for all the wrong reasons.
We should go to church, knowing that God will show up! We should go expecting to meet GOD! You should bank on it! Walk in and know that God is there! That's why He says, "worship me in spirit and in truth!" The truth is that God says He will be there. The spirit is, you putting away your "feelings" and allowing God to nourish your spirit with His being - The Holy Spirit.

Church worship is about serving others:
So many times we go to church to be "fed". I hear that a lot. Do you know that we are to go to church to feed and not be fed? To serve and to not be served? Wow, that's novel, isn't it? But that is the truth. Look in 1 Tim 2:1. Timothy says...requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving (should) be made for everyone. Timothy was saying: Look, your people need to come and pray for everyone, not just their friends, but everyone, even their enemies.
In Ephesians Paul writes: It was he (Christ) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants...we will in all things grow up into...Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together...grows and builds itself up in love...
Wouldn't it be great if we all went to church to serve others, instead of going to get our own needs met? Don't get me wrong, there is a time that we are to bring our needs before the body. In Acts 4 it talks about how ...the congregation had no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales. That my friend is serving.

Worship is done to the very end of your life:
I absolutely love this passage. If this passage doesn't give a one sentence definition of worship, I don't know what will. Heb11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying…worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. Picture the devotion of Jacob. He couldn't even stand on his own strength anymore, leaning on his staff, yet he was full of worship! That is powerful!

Worship is serious business:
I think too many times we just show up to church, sing a little, listen to our pastor shower the congregation with holy knowledge and then get out into our cars and get out of there as fast as possible. But where is God in all of that.
Have you ever prepared for church? I know how it goes, we all yell at the kids and argue while trying to get ready to go to church sometimes (that's satan by the way). But have you ever stopped to meditate before you go to church? Have you ever gotten up early before you have to leave that day and mentally prepared yourself to meet God? That is what we are expecting...isn't it? You prepare yourself for work, you prepare for school, you prepare for a test, don't you? Why shouldn't we prepare ourselves to be in the right frame of mind to meet the Creator of our souls?
Heb 12:28 let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. The writer is saying that this is a series game. We are to have a reverent fear of God. Not fear to approach Him, but fear of who He is. God describes himself this way, "I am that I am". Which means He is. Think about that for a second. He is! He is what?...He is everything! He is more than words, He is more than spirit, He is more than a material being, He is more than what we can even understand. The reason why science is against God is because they can't put a definition on Him. They can't give Him a molecular schematic. They just can't put God into a quantitative or qualitative chart, so it is easier to say He doesn't exist.
An angel that carried Christ's life story yelled to survivors in Revelation, saying in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
We cannot accept salvation through Christ without truly honoring the fear of God and His awesome presence.
Americans don't really place any value on bowing down to anyone. In countries that still have kings, the people immediately kneel and bow down to them when they come in to their presence. These kings are just people. But when the King of kings comes to claim His property (His people) every knee will bow and every person will say that Christ is Lord. Why, because it will be inescapable! You will bow and if you don't want to, you will bow anyways! Get it? You won't have a choice. There before you is the God of the universe. There will be soooo much majesty in His presence that you will hit the floor quicker than a Texas twister in June! Now that is power, that is majesty! That is the God we serve!

Worship is for God alone!:
There are several times in the Bible where it talk of angelic visitations. Many people that came in contact with these heavenly, celestial beings fell to the ground, much like in the previous paragraph. They fell to the ground in fear! Like the times an angel of the Lord appeared to John (Rev 19:10 & 22:9) I…fell at his feet to worship him. But he (the angel of the Lord) said to me, ‘Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
Even Christ pointed his glory to God! Remember when he taught us to pray. Remember when he would confront the pharisees and say that he was here only for his Father's will. If you look closely into Christ's teachings you will see that everything he did pointed to God getting the glory. So even he, Jesus Christ, worshiped God alone.
God says that He is a "jealous God, a consuming fire". Can you picture a consuming fire. It encompasses and totally changes the being it posses. Like a wild fire takes a vast forest and changes it to a barren and desolate waste land, so is God's anger. Also in Deuteronomy it says that we are not to bow down to idols or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me...Wow, that's pretty clear, right? And as we know, anything other than God can be an idol. Anything that takes precedence over God is an idol.

I really hope this helps you get a better picture on what true worship is about and how God should be worshiped, it helped me. God loves us and to prove it, He gave up His only Son on a cross, to save us, which is something that we can't do ourselves. God is a tri-une (3 in 1) being, made up of The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So in giving up His own Son, He gave of Himself. That's what He is calling on us to do. Give of ourselves, back to Him, in the form of worship. To be holy, faithful and to be a light shining in the darkness, so that no one will die without receiving the awesome message that there is hope. Hope that comes from God never disappoints and never is forsaken! That is good news!