Is the Church Important? What is Worship?
What is Worship?
Worship is more than just singing with our hands in the air. It is the response of grateful and humble people to the living God, where submission, sacrificial service, praise, and gratitude are expressed freely in various ways.
Worship is our heartfelt response to all that God is and all He has done—both for us and with us.
For some, worship involves singing hymns in a pew; for others, it includes lighting a candle or making the sign of the cross. These practices can either support or hinder worship depending on how they’re used. Ultimately, worship is about a spiritual encounter—when our spirit connects with God and is moved to praise Him for His love, truth, beauty, holiness, compassion, grace, and power.
William Barclay put it beautifully: “The true and genuine worship occurs when a person, through their spirit, establishes friendship and intimacy with God.” Worship isn’t about being in a building or bringing specific offerings. It’s not a ritual. It’s when the unseen part of us—the spirit—connects with God.
To paraphrase: True worship is a spiritual bond where our spirit connects with the Spirit of God—not through ritual, but through a continuous, genuine relationship.
Jesus confirms this in John 4:24: “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
This means that genuine worship is both:
· Spiritual – It flows from deep within us, guided by the Holy Spirit. It’s not about outward actions but an inward reality.
· Truthful – It’s based on who God is as revealed in Scripture—not based on feelings or preferences.
Worship must be genuine. We can’t fake it. Jesus calls for worshipers who are honest, present, and surrendered. Rick Warren echoes this in The Purpose Driven Life: “It’s not about you.” Worship isn’t a performance or a consumer experience—it’s a response to God’s goodness, not the quality of the sermon or music.
C.S. Lewis, in Letters to Malcolm, suggests that the ideal worship service would be one in which we are so caught up in the presence of God that we become unaware of the service itself.
John Stott, in Christian Basics, reminds us that worship is giving God the honor and glory He deserves. It means delighting in His greatness and beauty. In true worship, our focus is completely on God. We reflect on creation, remember Christ’s sacrifice, and stand in awe of the Trinity. Like Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer, we begin not with our needs—but with God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will.
Worship changes us. It reshapes our focus. It lifts our eyes off ourselves.
And we don’t have to wait until Sunday. We can worship at a stoplight, in the gym, in a classroom, or during a quiet moment at home.
”Any time is the right time to glory in His name.
“A time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks”
