Living a Life of Worship

Living a Life of Worship

I love worship. It draws me into His presence and close to His heart like nothing else. The crazy thing? It’s also what I make the least amount of time to do on a daily basis. I read the Word and books that help me grow in my faith. I journal. I pray in bits and pieces all throughout the day (and could grow in this area, too). Yet, worship seems to be the last thing I do as part of my day, and I often end up out of time with that being the thing that gets left out of my Jesus time.

Challenges for me include the fact that I’m not a morning person, so starting with music is hard for me. I want a quiet cup of coffee as I read. Then, once I’m functioning more, I can move into worship, but by then, I need to get on with my day. I can also get overstimulated, so I prefer to have my days be quiet, rather than play music. I’ll even opt for a teaching to listen to over music when I’m cleaning, for instance, which can seem really odd, but I love learning and am a perpetual student, so I’m naturally drawn to teaching. What’s so funny is that I was on a worship team for years, have an A.A. degree in theater and music, and grew up with music constantly being played, so you would think living a life of praise and worship would be second nature for me!

What all of this speaks to me is how powerful praise and worship really are and why the enemy will lull us into complacency in this area and make it feel “hard” to do. Worship is a choice – whether that choice is in what we do with our time or in how we feel in the moment. It has nothing to do with us or our circumstances. It’s not a coin we put into a vending machine to get what we want out of it. Neither is it a quick fix (although praise and worship shift atmospheres like nothing else can).

Worship is all about Him. It’s about our loving Father God, our Creator, and Maker of the Universe. It’s about Jesus, the Lord of all, King of Kings, Savior of the world. It’s about our Beloved - His beauty, kindness, mercy, and grace. It’s about recognizing His glory and whose presence we bow before in surrender, love, and adoration as we honor Him with all that we are and everything we were created to be. It’s offering Him our thanks with grateful hearts, undone by His goodness toward us.

In that place and space, our every thought, every breath, are consumed by Him, crowding out anything else that would try to steal our attention away. That’s when God moves on our behalf. Without us asking Him to, He goes to war for us and defeats the enemy in a battle He’s already won. All we need to do is worship, let everything fall away, and allow Him to be our sole focus.

Some are drawn to hymns, while others love contemporary worship music. Some even end up unexpectedly writing songs of their own in His presence. Worship is found in music, art, writing, dance, and even breath.

When I think of breath as worship, I think of speaking out, “Yahweh,” the Hebrew name of God. As we say, “Yah,” we breathe in; “weh” is the exhale. It’s a sacred name and as such, the vowels are removed by Jews in writing and the name is regarded as too holy to be spoken.

This morning, I was reading about the importance of living a life of praise and worship. As I read, I suddenly had the urge to write. I’m not someone who rhymes – it’s not my style, so I knew this was Spirit inspired. I pray as you read these lines, the Lord would draw you more deeply into His heart, you would sense His presence more fully, and know His love for you more intimately than before.

Life of Worship

I will worship.

I will sing.

I will write

Of the praises of the King!

Time slow down,

World, stand still.

Give me these moments,

If you will.

Moments in His presence,

Love wrapped ‘round.

Leaning in even more,

This place becomes holy ground.

Gauzy white, You dress me.

Nothing hidden; nothing unseen.

I stand before You beautiful.

By Your love, made clean.

To You, my life surrendered.

In all, You have my, “Yes.”

Bowed in worship before You,

I can offer You no less.

Bridge:
You are my everything.

You are my all.

You are my everything.

You are my all!

My lips will praise.

My voice will shout.

‘Cause if I’m silent,

Rocks would cry out!

You are worthy,

So worthy of praise!

To You, and You alone,

My “hallelujah” I raise!

This is Thanksgiving week. Why not anchor our thanks-giving in the One who’s given His all for us to have it all? Life, love, redemption . . . that’s just the beginning reasons for our praise and worship!