How Do You Worship - I really want to know
06.22.08
Hi Everyone -
I have a quick question for you that I really want your feedback on. I am designing some things for our church and your feedback will help me develop it more accurately and bring greater blessing to everyone, so dig deep and let me know...
Pick one of these to answer as they are all ways of saying the same thing:
1.) How do you best express to God that you love Him?
2.) How do you best express to God that He matters to you?
3.) How do you demonstrate to God that He's great?
It's easy to start answering these and end up answering the question, 'how do I connect with God,' but that's not what I'm asking. I want it to be God-focused, not self-focused. On this question it's not about how you feel toward God, but what you do for Him as an act of worship (maybe chew on Mt 2:2; Jn 4:24 or Rom 12:1 in prep).
Thank you so much, I can't wait to see your replies. They don't have to be long. One sentence is fine, I'm just lookin' for ideas.
Pastor Lance.
Comments
06-24-08 Comment by: Rachel Clark
1. I think I do it best in how I live my life every day. I say it, I try to direct my heart's emotion to Him, and spend time meditating on what He's doing in the world.
2. When we are worshiping together, I visualize what I am trying to say- either singing the words directly to God, standing face to face alone with Him, or picturing the fragrance or worship we offering wafting up to God.
3. I try to take time to enjoy what He's created- to notice the details and the complexity that He placed around me, and than take that awe I feel and return it to Him.
07-01-08 Comment by: Jessica Ala
1.) During worship rather than just singing the words, I try to apply and lift up in prayer the meaning of the 'title'. "Mighty to Save" (prayer for those in troubled times, for those that need compassion etc.) even "Fruit of the spirit" (well....this song is just fun. We can't always be a coconut). ;)
2.) I best 'express to God that He matters to me' by expressing to others that they matter to Him.
3.) God's greatness is 'immeasurable', and yet he listens to my 'feeble' prayers. Worship tends to put that fact into perspective for me. The best way I can demonstrate His greatness, is to be humble and obedient to His word. Making disciples, and using the gifts He's blessed me with. Otherwise..... I'm just a dirtbag. ;)
07-06-08 Comment by: Dan Rysselburghe
When I think of worship, I think it's anything that ascribes worth to the object in question. So, I want worship to be anything that aids me toward the end of ascribing worth to the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Whether it's through song, instruction, meditating, praying... whatever. I am hungry for the Spirit of Truth to flood over me that I might worship in return in Spirit and truth. The key to worship is spirit and truth.
07-06-08 Comment by: Mikel Del Rosario
1. How do you best express to God that you love Him?
I would say by remaining faithful in obeying His commands in Scripture (as best we can given our current state) even and especially when we do not understand our life circumstances in light of our interpretations of God's promises. For me personally, I tend to be more alert to commands like those found in Rom. 12:1-2, seeing both the physical activity of our bodies and the way we think/ use our minds as worship acts. Specifically, it's stuff like renewing my mind by studying Scripture (replacing false belifs taught by our culture with true beliefs taught in Scripture) and then physically doing something with my body to prove to myself that I really believe what I think I believe. That's sometimes the hardest part. But when I serve, and sacrificially do something I wouldn't have done before, I know that I am indeed growing and actualizing more of my capacity to worship our God. Worshiping God with my mind comes easier for me. I don;t mind thinking really hard about something. But the physical part? That's the part I need to do more often...
07-07-08 Comment by: Jeff Smith
I express to God how He matters to me, how I love Him, and how He is great in two ways.
The first is through Learning. Learning allows me to feel connected. I think the best way to show God how I love Him is to know Him better. I need to learn not only what He has to say in his word, but the environment in which He taught. The History around the lessons in the Bible is VERY important to me (the when and where). For me this paints a more vivid learning picture. It gives a "golden nugget" of information. Not something that is on the surface, but something you have to dig a little deeper to find. In the 3 verses you asked us to "chew on" the theme of all three seem to be that of searching and clearing your head and focus on God. Now my challenge is being able to articulate this to others. This is a way I can improve to better show him how I love him.
The second is through prayer and my family. My wife and kids are so special to me. Being with them is like waking up on Christmas morning everyday. I try to show God how great He is by attempting to model the behavior He has outlined for me through His word and by the actions my Dad modeled for me. For me if I can do one part of this successfully I am showing God how He is great. I also spend time daily in a prayer "conversation" with God. This is a mindset for me too. As I have grown in my walk this has turned from a "grocery list of requests" to a time of praise and reverence. My day is lost if I don't start it this way.
Jeff
: )
07-07-08 Comment by: Charles Clark
as a visitor to Bridgeway i just want to thank you for your service to our Lord. i show my love for God my learning all i can about him; his character, his attributes, and his actions. the better i know Him the more i fear him and respect him and love him. Amen!
07-07-08 Comment by: Tana or Frank East
I feel I express my love to God by sharing the Joy that He has blessed me with to others. This is done by a smile, a kind word or an ear to listen. Sometimes a sharing of the Word is good, but life has to happen with others before the opportunity can arise.
Tana East
07-07-08 Comment by: Sandra Whitehead
For the third question, one thing I love to do to show God he is great and focus on worshipping him is to pray specific prayers where I don’t ask for anything for me or others but instead just praise God for all the good things in my life and state all the miraculous things he has done in the Bible like parting the Red Sea or raising someone from the dead. I like to also focus on God’s characteristics and his majesty. One specific thing I like to do pray through the Psalms as if it was my prayer, mainly the ones that focus on worshipping God. You can really go on and on if you just focus only on that. It gets the focus off me and onto God and reminds me how powerful he is. Also I love singing to God songs that focus on how amazing he is and really think about the words. I hope this is what you are asking??
07-15-08 Comment by: Carissa McIntyre
Woo! You're up to 8 responses now! Yeah! ;)
I would answer all these with the same two things: I worship God by serving and through music. I feel that by using my spiritual gifts I can bring Him the glory that is His and His alone. These gifts that He has blessed us with are there for us to in turn bless others, and by so doing, we bring praise to God and it shows Him and others around us that He is most important to us.
07-15-08 Comment by: Pete Strombeck
For me that is an easy question. Worship HIM through song.
07-22-08 Comment by: Julie Miller
I think there are many ways in which one could answer the questions above. I'll set my focus on the first question:
"How do you best express to God that you love Him?"
For me, my music is the way I can express the truest, unhindered, expression of my love for Him. Whether by worshipping in church or sitting on my couch with my guitar, my heart connects to God in an indescribable way when singing praises and worship to my King. It's when I take myself out of the equation and praise wholeheartedly without care or concern for the peering eyes around me.
Another way I feel I show my greatest expression of love to Him is when I am listening to the heart's of His people. I love to listen and encourage people, I feel it's one small way of giving back the love I feel He gives to me everyday.
There are many more ways, but these two I feel are the greatest expression of love for Him.
07-22-08 Comment by: Lance Hahn
I can't thank all of you enough for your incredible responses. Let's keep going!
08-04-08 Comment by: Shereen Christian
How do I best express to God that I love Him? well, my answer looks very lame in print and it does not seem very spiritual AT ALL, but it's honest so here goes: when a person has done something mean or spiteful or dishonest to me and I am really tempted to retaliate (or gloat)and instead, I treat them kindly - I feel like, in that moment, I am loving God above anything and everything else. I am not doing it to appear more pious than the other person - in fact it's just the oppposite - I feel genuine tenderness and mercy, and even humility (that has to be God helping me!). And even if they don't soften up, I feel like God is close. And sometimes I even feel like He is proud of me, which makes me want to love Him even more.
08-10-08 Comment by: Joan Hein
How I best express to God that He matters to me: By His grace, trusting Him through whatever He allows or brings into my life. And, in that, sharing with those whose lives I touch each day how much He loves them and that He is trustworthy in all things.
I also worship Him by reflecting on His attributes and recalling with Him how He has blessed me with incredible joy as His child and a heir with Jesus to those attributes.
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