Church services generally go: hello, sing, pray, listen, pray, sing, hello-goodbye…I mean, you can change the order, but generally that’s how it is.  And that ‘sing’ bit?  That’s ‘worship’.

Often that’s where we leave worship.  Slotted into a church service.

Singing is a part of worship, or at least it can be, I’m not disputing that. But if we live our lives with this being the only part that is worship, then in my opinion we’re selling ourselves and God short.

I in no way profess to be an expert in the things of God.  I am in love with Him, and seek to live my life as an expression of that love. This article is a collection of thoughts from where I’m at in my journey with God to hopefully challenge, encourage, and inspire you.

So, what is worship, then?

As Dave spoke about in the last Roots, we are called to live humbly before God, and it is through this humility that God can be lifted up.  As we lower ourselves, reduce our self-focus, God can increasingly become more of the focus.

This humility is in response to the unfathomable love, power, grace, truth, everything of our God; when we see who He is, then our response will be to humble ourselves before Him.

Worship is our recognising and response to recognising who God is.

Revelation 1:5-6 speaks of how Jesus has made us both kings and priests, which are also two of His roles – reminding us that we need to follow in His footsteps.

The first of these two roles speaks of standing in assurance of what Jesus has done for us.  We are royalty because of the cross.  Children of the Most High who can come straight into His throne room and hang out with our Father – the King of Kings.

I want to highlight at this point the importance of that relationship – we are to seek first our Father, He loves us and likes us so much and it is from this place that our worship can flow most freely.

The second role speaks of our role being intertwined with worship.  The role of the priest in the Old Testament is to fill the gap between the people and God.  Their lives were dedicated to worship Him and lead others in worship.

Jesus’ awesome sacrifice means that we too, are now priests, required to live a life of worship, not just a slot-in-the-Sunday-service-to-worship.

This is why, at the start, I said that singing songs in church can be worship – they are just empty words until we engage with them and use them as a response to God’s love and awesomeness.   And why I say that worship is more than just those songs.

Like the priests we read of in the bible, and like Jesus (who is also referred to as a priest), we are called to live our lives in worship.   To live with that humility Jesus showed that says ‘not my will, but yours be done’.

And this lifestyle of worship is one that is shaped and guided by His Spirit (John 4:23, Phil 3:3).

As we seek to worship Him, humbly sacrificing our own will and lives for His (Luke 9:24, 17:23), we can be sure that our hearts are in the right place by ensuring that our worship is in Spirit and in truth.

So, there are some of my thoughts behind worship: a lifestyle of self-sacrifice and humility in order to lift up & serve our God.

Practically, this covers way too much for me to fit into this article!  Matthew 25:40 even speaks of serving one another (however possible) as worship.

Anything we do, if we do it humbly, lifting up God above ourselves, living with Him and His will as priority instead of our own, in my opinion, is worship.

A lifestyle of worship is a constant challenge which I have definitely not mastered.  But it is also a liberating and exciting calling – that God can be worshipped through my every action and decision fills me with joy!

So I challenge us all to be constantly asking the question ‘how can I worship God with my today?’, and to be ready to respond to the multitude of opportunities that lay before us humbly, seeking to lift up our wonderful Saviour.