God is calling for His end-time Bride to return to the heart of worship – which is more than just singing songs. It is about fellowship, communion, intimacy and abiding in the Lord. We are called to be worshippers in Spirit and truth, meaning true worshippers have a heart for God, seeks His presence above all and seek to glorify Him with their entire being!
True worshippers speak of servants willing to serve God in complete obedience. They seek intimacy with God, and they shall not bow to other idols. Yet, they are sold out to God, for God is their only King and their first love! True worshippers are arising out of the ashes. While service to act is indeed an act of worship, there are also many true worshippers who will glorify and exalt God through song, dance, and their creative artistry! Indeed, such worshippers will stir the spiritual realm, ushering in God’s presence, for they shall glorify God with a true and humble heart of worship!
The Heart of Worship, a song by Matt Redman, sums it up beautifully: When the music fades, all is stripped away and I simply come, longin’ just to bring something that’s of worth, that will bless Your heart, I’ll bring You more than a song for a song in itself is not what You have required, you search much deeper within, through the ways things appear, you’re looking into my heart, I’m comin’ back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus, I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it when it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.
For the true worshippers, it is all about Jesus, and nothing else! True worshippers are those who enjoy a loving and real relationship with the Lord. They are submitted, yielded, and surrendered unto His glory, beauty and majesty. They have truly died to the self to see Adonai glorified! True worshippers, be it singers, dancers, prophetic flag bearers, or just disciples serving God, are those who seek to be a living sacrifice unto God, so that His fires may burn within us through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. True worshippers are those who seek to become a pleasing offering unto Him, and, therefore, a sweet aroma. Yes, they burn with God and they seek only His Spirit. Yes, they long and yearn to be in His Presence and to lift Him higher!
The heart of worship is relationship. God has not called us to follow a religion, which is a man-made system or rules and regulations and traditions. He calls us to follow Him and to be WORSHIPPERS OF SPIRIT AND TRUTH. Worship is far more than raising your hands and lifting your voice to the Lord, it is about a heart seeking the Lord, a heart loving the Lord, and a heart yearning for the Lord. King David had such a heart for the Lord. The Hebrew word for worship is Shachah – “to depress, meaning prostrate (in homage to royalty or God): bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do reverence, make to stoop, worship.”
There are three Greek words for worship. They are a) Proskuneo (to fawn or crouch, pay homage, it originally carried with it the idea of subjects falling down to kiss the ground before a king or kiss their feet) b) Sebomai (to reverence, hold in awe), c) Latreuo (to render service of homage).
True worship, therefore, begins with deep respect or reverence for God, a frame of heart and an attitude. It speaks of reverent submission and bowing before the true King of kings. Worship is about a lifestyle. It is about intimate relationships. It is about consecration and being set apart for His Glory and to His Glory. We can only walk in such reverence, in such a manner and in such a relationship once we die to the Self, once we lay down our crowns and in love and Spirit to seek Him and follow Him above all else.
In the end times, true relationship with the Lord, true worship, true intimacy, and the value of the Covenant of Blood have become lost and blurred in the midst of all the noise, smoke and mirrors of religion and traditions and worldly attractions. It is time to restore the heart of worship. It is time to restore God on the throne of our hearts, for then as a worthy sacrifice unto the Lord the fire shall fall and cleanse, purify and refine us. For then, as we become a “pleasing offering” by the fire of heaven and the cleaning of the Blood, we worship Him in Spirit and truth.
The Scriptures after all speak about loving God with all your heart (Mark 12:30) and trusting God with all your heart (Proverbs 3:5). Yes, there are hundreds of Scriptures dealing with the heart – such as writing His laws upon one’s heart and about guarding one’s heart. The heart is very important, for it is not just the source of our life, but it speaks of a God of all creation who calls all creation to love Him and to worship Him. Our hearts need to be renewed as we reconnect with God, the one who has made us wonderfully in the secret place (Psalm 139).
Do you know the heart has four chambers? Yes, and each chamber has a specific function, yet the heart acts as one, just as the brain is made up of three areas of functionality yet operates as one. In the Bible, four always speaks of creation, since in creation for example there are four seasons, four wind directions and four elements (wind, fire, earth, water). The four living creatures in the Bible standing around the Throne represent Creation, as they come in the appearance of man, lion, ox, and the flying eagle (Revelations 4:7). God made the heart with four chambers for it reminds us that at the heart of God’s creation is man. We have been made, thus created, in His image. We are His masterpiece. God has placed our heart with four chambers within us for it speaks of man being the focal point of creation, for we are God’s creation. Just so the heart – created by the Creator for His creation – keeps us as His creation alive and functioning. All of creation speaks of the God of Life. The Scriptures also says life is in the Blood, so for this reason the focal point of creation – man – is kept alive by every beat of the heart that pumps blood, for blood is life.
Thus, the heart of the Creator beats for mankind – His creation – so that to worship and love Him. And we do so when we love Him as His creation with all our heart, for this is the mark of our creation by the Creator. He has called us to adore Him, just as the elders worship Him around the throne. We are called as His creation now and for all eternity to praise Him, singing Hallelujah and Glory unto our Creator. And so within us beats a heart – a heart of four chambers – to remind us of the God of all creation, of the God of life, and the One who has made us all.
Jesus shed His Blood so that we as God’s creation may live, so that our hearts may beat as one with God, and so that we may be redeemed, restored and saved. To therefore say we must love God with all our heart and to trust Him with all our heart speaks of loving God fully as His creation, for our heart represents God’s Life and God’s Sovereignty as the Creator of all. And we honour Him for His Blood gives us new life just as our heart constantly pumps blood throughout our body to keep us alive. This is when we engage in true worship.
We are called to worship Him in Spirit and truth, with our heart that speaks of creation beating in unison with the heart of the Creator. This is the epitome of abiding in God, and so we then grasp how God longs to tabernacle with us. The Lord is calling His Bride to worship and prayer. We need to know worship – it is the act of prostrating oneself in utter abandonment, humility, consecration and obedience unto the Lord. It implies leaning towards the Lord, drawing closer to Him with all our strength and might. We need to again fall prostrate before Him in our daily lives, submitting to Him, yielding, yielding, and yielding – we need to bow and we need to search for Him.
From true worship flows all – from worship flows the hunger for the Lord, and from worship flows obedience, submission, love, compassion and a heart aching for the lost and dying. The saints are called to worship, worship and worship – fall before Him, seek him, call Him, for He draws near to those who draw near to Him. In worship, the Lord speaks, in worship the Lord moves in our Spirit and in worship the Lord reveals Himself. In worship, we lean towards Him and we are taught His principles, His laws, His ordinances, His statuettes, His constitution and His precepts. Worship has been distorted into a concept of noise, performance, showmanship and emotionalism. Big noise, big lights and big events do catch not the attention of YHVH.
A still humble heart, captivated by the beauty of the Father, is what stirs the heart of the Master. A heart moved by the lost and the broken and the hurting stirs the Father’s heart. A heart seeking for man to know the beauty of salvation and the delivering power of truth stirs the Father’s heart.
Only when the children return to the Father will they be taught how to worship in Spirit and Truth. True worship takes place before the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies. For there, in that place of worship, the true bond of Father and child grow strong. True worship is the inward journey to where the Father dwells in our Spirit. True worship is when we abandon all, not only in the Holy of Holies but also in the life to worship Him. In that silence, one’s spirit is embraced by His Spirit and quickened. Indeed, the flesh profits none.
Our spirit is moved then not by words or manifestation, but by His mere presence. It is not moved by needs, wants or desires, but by simple adoration. Let us draw closer and look upon His face. God seeks humble, pure-in-spirit crusaders (disciples loving God), called to free the lost from the clutches of darkness through the Blood of Jesus. He seeks crusaders walking in love, truth and honesty, seeking no glory but only His will. Let the crusaders not walk in hate, intolerance and anger. Let the glory come down. His presence brings you to your knees. It strips away all vanity and pride. It crushes all worth and arrogance. Oh God, arise in our midst!
God calls for true worshippers who love His holiness, for in the Holy of Holies there is perfect union with Father and child. Truth dwells in the Holy of Holies. As we are in union with the Lord, we are in union with the Word, who is Jesus, who is the Bread of Life (manna) and the Truth (Commandments) and who came to give us life through grace. Union with the Lord leads to obedience and willingness unto His commandments and precepts. Such obedience comes not from duty or obligations, but because those who dwell in the Holy of Holies walk in the sweet surrendered union with the Father, His Spirit and Son. Out of such union flows intimacy, and in intimacy is true power.
In the Holy of Holies, our spirit calls unto deep and we flow in His Spirit. Oh, why do we seek noise when the Holy of Holies is silent? Why do we need performance when the Lord seeks truth and honesty? The Lord is present in the silence. He is in the stillness of the spirit. He dwells in the realms where a contrite spirit stirs Him. We behold Him as we draw towards Him in the Holy of Holies. There, in His loving embrace, He captivates our spirit as He dawns us closer to knowing the truth in Spirit. It is in the Holy of Holies where we taste that commanded moment of surrender and perfect union, producing a clarity that rises like the dawn and where revelation is birthed like creation. If we live a life of true union with the Father, thus walking in the sweet ways of the Holy of Holies, then our strength will soar like an eagle and we will run and not grow faint and we wall walk and not grow weary.
The great heresy of the church today is that we think we’re in the entertainment business. A.W. Tozer believed this to be true back in the 1950s and 60s. Church members “want to be entertained while they are edified,” he said in 1962. Tozer grieved, even then, that it was “scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction was God.” Yes, we have replaced the true heart of worship with cheap tricks, emotionalism, gimmicks and shallow entertainment.
Like Tozer, we should be concerned that so many people in our churches want to be entertained while they worship. We should be concerned when we no longer recognize the difference between the two. Hallowedness has given way to shallowness. True worship is not about worship styles. What God is restoring is the heart and focus and intent of worship. Are we truly loving God? Are we truly adoring Him? We are not called to have a good time, but to love Him, adore Him, praise Him and revere Him! Yes, He must be our all and our everything, and He must consume us for He is an all-consuming fire! Let the true worshippers arise with a glorious song, with a heavenly melody, and may the dancers praise His holy Name! Yes, may we all as disciples be true worshippers who love Him!
In conclusion, true worship reminds of that beautiful song called Dance With Me. It says: Behold You have come over the hills, upon the mountain to me, You will run; My Beloved, You’ve captured my heart; behold You have come over the hills, upon the mountain to me, You will run; My Beloved, You’ve captured my heart, won’t You dance with me Oh, Lover of my soul to the song of all songs? For the Church, God should be our first love, our Fair One, for only He deserves all our praise. Yes, praise Him, for indeed “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”