Have you ever though about just what we are doing when we worship our Lord? Yes, we are giving Him praise and glory for what He is and has done, and expressing our love and adoration for Him, but there are other facets of worship you may or may not have given much thought to before. I know I haven’t always even been aware of these, and still don’t often think of them, when I worship. Nevertheless, I know them to be true aspects of worship, even if I’m not thinking about them at the time.
Worship can be intercession, as much, or even, at times, more than simple prayer can be. When something is burdening our hearts and we still take the time and make the effort to worship, along side or instead of articulating the burden in words, the Holy Spirit knows what is on our hearts and speaks the words we might not be able to think of. When we worship and glorify the Lord, we are engaging Him intimately, and He sees and knows what our hearts and spirits are longing for. When we worship in the midst of our struggles and pain we are saying that we know He is in control, and can and will fulfill His promise that all things work to good for those who know Him and are called to His purposes. We are surrendering to Him the struggles and the pain that we are experiencing, and allowing His Spirit to work in and through us, despite them. We may have ideas about how we want whatever the circumstances are to turn out, but when we worship we are surrendering our will to His. We focus on Him, not our circumstances, which frees us and gives the Holy Spirit control. Worship is powerful intercession!
Worship is also warring, battling Satan, and all his forces. When we worship, we invite and expect the Holy Spirit to join us and participate with us. Satan and his cohorts cannot tolerate the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit. When He comes in, Satanic forces must flee! There have been times that I have felt besieged by the enemy, overcome with doubt or fear or whatever, and couldn’t even think what to pray to try and get out from under whatever it was that I was struggling under. Fortunately, many times (although, sadly not always) I have been responsive enough to the Holy Spirit’s urging and begun to praise and worship when I couldn’t really think, I was so emotionally paralyzed. I know that when I have done so, my whole emotional environment changed. It sometimes has taken a minute or two, but when I stuck with it and kept praising and worshiping, even if I didn’t really feel like it, when it may have been solely and act of will, it didn’t take too much longer for my whole being to feel easier, lighter, more joyful, and freed from whatever was oppressing me. Worship is mighty warfare!
I’m quite sure there are other facets of worship I have yet to discover, but I have discovered these two, in addition to the initially obvious ones of expressing to the Lord how much we love Him and giving Him the glory and praise that is His due. If you haven’t yet discovered these truths for yourself, my prayer for you is that this post may open your eyes and enable you to experience more powerful and comprehensive worship.
Father God, we give thanks for the many faceted gift of worship. You alone are worthy of our worship, and we do worship You for who You are and all You have done for us. Help us to be aware of how powerful worship can be in other ways as well. As our hearts seek You in worship, in the many ways and times we need You, help us to be aware that more is going on that we may have previously thought. Your Spirit works in and through our worship in ways more powerful than we can ever imagine. Use us, Lord, in our worship, as we surrender to Your Spirit, that Your purposes will be accomplished in the many facets of our worship, even those we may not yet be aware of! For You are a good and loving Father, and work ever and always for our good, even when we are giving You praise and glory. Thank You, Lord, for Your many means of grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
To His glory,
Kathy
