This is a quote from a book called “Seven Words of Worship” by Mike Harland and Stan Moser:
“No matter where our place of worship may be, we can offer the Father the worship He desires as long as it flows from deep within our surrendered hearts.”
When I read this, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It’s not about where we are. Do you think God cares where we worship Him? To me, it’s more about how we worship. Not necessarily what we do physically, but the condition of our hearts.
In the book I mentioned, the writers referenced the story of the Samaritan woman at the well who encountered Jesus, the Lamb of God.
“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”
John 4:19-20
When the woman asked about the location of worship, Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:21, 23-24
Our physical or audible expressions of worship don’t really matter much if our hearts are not right with God. At the end of the day, he knows our hearts.
“These people worship honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain.” Matt 15:8-9
He knows our hearts. He knows our struggles, our pain, our guilt. All we have to do it let go. Surrender!
The good news is that God loves us with an amazing, everlasting, immeasurable love. A love like no other. He freely offers forgiveness to us.
That makes me smile. That makes me want to worship God with every fiber of my being.
Harland and Moser define worship as “our response to God’s revelation of who He is and what He has done.”
When I think on who God is and wrap my mind around what He has done (which is hard to do) it’s hard not to worship.
God is good and His faithfulness endures through all generations.
