Sermon Central
-
Worship God Series
Contributed by Dr. Tom Badia on Feb 18, 2024 (message contributor)
Summary: Worship is not a quiet thing. It demands expression both verbally and physically. cherubim do it constantly before the throne. Worship is our invitation to join them.
Intercessory Prayer Training - lesson 6
Topic: Worship God
Step 4 – Worship
“The Father seeks such to worship him.”
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” – John 4:23-24
To worship God is to seek his face, that is, to see the Lord in his beauty by meditating on Him and extolling (proclaiming) his worth. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up and was forever changed (Is. 6:1-8). Jesus said that the Father is seeking worshippers who will worship him in spirit and in truth. God desires for us to seek after him in steadfast worship beholding his beauty.
•The fear (reverence and awe) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. – Proverbs 9:10
•And the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. – Daniel 11:32
•Delight yourself also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart. – Psalm 37:4
•??One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. – Psalm 27:4
•But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: – 1Peter 2:9
•??But you are holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel. – Psalms 22:3
Behold His Beauty
The worship part of intercession is to behold the beauty of the Lord. That means to take time to muse, meditate, and focus on who God is in all His splendor and glory, until the truth of His greatness fills us with awe, adoration, love. True worship is to quietly, deliberately look into the kaleidoscope of God's character, and then stand in awe of His matchless beauty. Remember that Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up and was never the same. This was not a worship service in the Temple or Synagogue. It was private worship, “on-your-face-before-a-living-God” worship. It
stirred the heart and cleansed the soul. David said his one overriding supreme desire was this. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. – Psalms 27:4
In Spirit and In Truth
Jesus authenticated private worship experience when he clarified for the woman at the well in Samaria that worship had nothing to do with temples made with hands. (John 4:23-24) Solomon too revealed that when at the dedication of the Great Temple in Jerusalem he confessed… “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” (I Kings 8:27 and Stephen quotes him in Acts7:48 “Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet.”)
Confined Worship
Too often we Christians make the mistake of confining our worship to the house of God. Worship is personal adoration expressed directly to God himself. It has little to do with formal services, and music. It has everything to do with loving God with all one’s heart, mind, soul, strength and expressing that love emotionally and verbally. Jesus said, “The Father seeks such to worship him.” “Worship in spirit” is not referring to the Holy Spirit, but to the spirit of man – his emotions, his
soul, his innermost being. Each day of our lives we as believers, the blood-bought redeemed ones, should seek to fervently worship God in our spirit.
Who Is He?
Would to God that we would learn the secret of His presence in learning to worship the Lord for who he is, not just for all the things He has done. I am afraid for all of us too often our praise is not real worship or adoration but fumbling attempts to “do praise” so that we can get on with the real business interest of our prayer – the asking. True worship has nothing to do with getting. True worship is worship in truth, that is, worshipping God for who he truly is. Who is God? What is He like? God has revealed himself in His word. Worship is reviewing who he is according to that revelation. To know the Lord is to hold him is highest “awe,” and to stand amazed in his presence.
