Worship Comes from the Heart
Written by: Frieda Dowler
Has something ever moved you so much that you were compelled to action? For example, when your favorite team scores, you give a shout, or if you witness something special, it might move you to clap or cry. Something happens so deeply in our souls that we can’t contain our reactions. That’s how I think of worship.
Over the past few weeks, my soul has been deeply moved by what’s happening in our church. We are coming together in unity to accomplish the calling God has placed on us. We are worshiping God through our efforts to bring hope to others. I believe it’s touching all of us as we realize it’s not about a building; it’s about inviting people to get to know God.
This movement is even affecting our children. Last week, my friend told me about two her two granddaughters, ages 6 and 8, who were so moved by the Hope for Everyone campaign that they made a pledge and signed the commitment card! They believe their pledge can make a difference. And it will.
She also shared a story from the Daily Standards, 57 Cents and the Power of Commitment, about a young girl who created a legacy that’s continued since the late 19th century. Her church was becoming crowded and needed a bigger building to accommodate more people. She wanted more people to know about Jesus, so she began to save her money. Two years later, she died, but under her pillow was an envelope containing fifty-seven cents and a note that read, “To help build a bigger church so that more children can go to Sunday School.”
The minister came up with an idea: turn all of the coins into pennies, and then he sold them. He made two-hundred and fifty dollars from the sale to donate to the fund. The church continued that tradition, and over the next twenty-six years was able to build a church with a membership of over 5,600 people, a hospital, to send 80,000 young people to university, and 2,000 of them went out from there to preach the gospel.
So never underestimate the power of worship. Whenever we are moved to action, we shouldn’t talk ourselves out of it by saying it won’t make a difference.
Worship can take on many forms, but what propels us to action is a matter of the heart–something stirs within us. A woman with an alabaster jar, mentioned in Luke, poured expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus. This was a spontaneous, extravagant act of worship. David danced on the rooftop because he was so moved to worship. Miriam broke out in a song of praise after the Israelites crossed through the Red Sea, the wise men brought expensive gifts to Jesus to honor him, and even the angels in heaven worship as seen in a vision in Revelation. These are a few of the ways we worship God.
Worship is essential for Christians. It was so important that God gave this as the first of the Ten Commandments to Moses.
“You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods…” Exo. 20: 3-5 NIV.
Worship is a fundamental principle of Christianity. Worship is a matter of the heart and involves transformation. If we didn’t worship God, we would naturally worship ourselves, or something else. Worship gets our minds off of ourselves and places our devotion on God.
When we can surrender our selfish interests and replace them with what God is interested in, then we can worship in all that we do.