Worshipping God is an issue of the state of mind of a person. Many try to worship God, but without His prescribed methods and systems, it will amount to nothing.
There is a required way to worship and serve God that will make it acceptable to Him, and He did not leave men to decide this for Him, but has made it plain as to the way He wants us to worship Him.
For centuries, people got it wrong. They tried to serve God by their own understanding, and tried to degrade Him to the level of a mortal man or an idol. God continually tried to teach the Israelites His ways and bring them to the understanding that if they were to serve Him, then it was going to be something more spiritual than the physical unrighteous ways they were used to.
Jesus had a discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus revealed a lot in this conversation. He taught her what true salvation meant, and we also learn from this. Jesus said about worshipping God:
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
- John 4:24 NKJV
He revealed the spirit dimension of worship. For long, the Israelites thought all they needed to do to gain God’s forgiveness and acceptance, was just to obey the law and the ordinances of sacrificing lambs and bulls, etc., without attaching any spiritual or conscious meaning to it.
But God had always tried to make these things clear to them, that He was always interested in the heart of the giver and not just the offering:
“Therefore the Lord said:
‘Inasmuch as these people draw near Me with their mouths, and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.’”
- Isaiah 29:13 NKJV
To God, worship has always been a matter of sincerity and truth. He sees the heart, and it would be foolishness for any man to think that he can fool God.
The worship of God is spiritual, and thank God for the sacrifice of Jesus, we now more than ever have the ability to serve and worship God in the way that pleases Him. So, the Holy Spirit was sent for this reason as well, that He might help the believer in worshipping God, how? Because the Spirit of God and our spirit now bear witness to each other, and there is an imputing of righteousness upon our spirit, so that we can also worship God from our spirit in truth:
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”
- Romans 8:16 NKJV
There is now access through the Spirit, and we have a lot more we can accomplish because of God’s Spirit in us.
Worshipping God is a sum total of our lives and existence really. It is not what we do during the short time allotted in our church service when people sing and put up their hands only. To worship is to revere and acknowledge the glory and majesty of God, and since this can be seen in everything we do, and every turn we take, then it is only meaningful that our worship extends beyond the four walls of our local assembly. Here is what Paul says:
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
This should characterize the life of a believer, that in whatever they do, they are spiritually conscious and making it a service to God. We must first have the consciousness that the Spirit of God is in us, and that He goes everywhere with us. When we know this, then we are more in the understanding that whatever we do, can be a worship to God, acknowledging His holiness and righteousness, by we ourselves doing all that we do in holiness and righteousness that it may glorify Him.
We can worship God in spirit and in truth every day of our lives by simply moving with the consciousness of His existence in us, and knowing that we are spiritual people and not naturally ruled:
“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
- Romans 8:9 NKJV
If anyone has not the Spirit of Christ in them, then the true worship of God is already a lost cause.