1. Worship In Quiet Time

2. Why is worship important?
Worship brings the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Worship is the air to out fire. What we really need to do is allow the Holy Spirit to breathe on everything we’re doing when it comes to knowing Jesus.
John 14:26
Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit teaches us all things and reminds us of everything that’s already been said to us. So what it means is that the Holy Spirit is the One who brings revelation and we need Him to continue to breathe on what we’re reading in the Word so that He can teach us and bring clarity and truth to it.
Acts 13:2
What this scripture tells us is that worship and the Holy Spirit are heavily connected. When we worship, the Holy Spirit speaks, He manifests, He brings clarity, His power becomes more active, and we encounter God deeply. So it’s always important to have the Holy Spirit present and speaking when we read the bible. Worship brings the presence of God, which is key to knowing Him.

3. Why is worship important?
2. God receives worship.
Psalm 50:7
2 Chron 31:2
What these scriptures tell us is that God receives worship but He doesn’t need worship. God is neither insecure nor egotistical. He doesn’t need to be told who He is to feel validated and He doesn’t need to be praised to feel good about Himself. That’s why in the Psalms scripture, He tells us that He has no requirements and no needs and if He was ever hungry, which He isn’t, He wouldn’t tell us. Our worship doesn’t satisfy His cravings or fill up His energy meter or anything. God does not need our worship.
While God doesn’t need worship, God still receives worship. Worship is the only thing that God receives from us directly.
In Romans 12:1, it talks about offering our bodies as living sacrifices to God, and Paul says that this is our true and proper worship. As I mentioned earlier, how we live is worship, as much as what we sing is worship. And if we look at our surrender as worship and our singing and in how we live our lives, then worship is the only thing that we can directly offer to Him. Songs are definitely part of it. God doesn’t need it, but when we sing to Him, it is in act of worship that He receives.

4. Why is worship important?
3. Worship sets the right atmosphere.
Psalm 100
When we worship God and start with exalting the name of Jesus before exalting the names of our problems we start our relationship with God correctly.
Starting with worship is like putting on corrective lenses on. Starting with worship adjusts our perspectives, it sets us up the right way, it helps us to see things clearly and more accurately.
That’s why, for example, we start church services with worship. We can come into Sunday with a whole lot of baggage, which makes it very hard to receive the Word, to be generous in giving, to be open to talking to someone new, but part of the reason that worship is first is so that we can get the atmosphere right, correct our attitudes and our hearts, and be responsive and open to what God has to say and what He wants to do.
It means that when we read the Word after worshipping God, we have clarity and our hearts are aligned with God so that we can truly hear and understand what He’s saying. Worship is always positive,, it always starts with thanking and praising God, it’s always about refocusing on Him and remembering who He is and all that He’s done.

5. How to worship?
Psalm 113:1-3
There’s no limit to how much we can worship God, He can’t be ‘over-worshipped’. Remember that our lives are worship, so it doesn’t mean that we should be singing ALL the time when it’s inappropriate. All it means is that we can always worship Him. Worship is always the correct response.
1 Thess 5:18
It’s God’s will that we rejoice, pray, and give thanks in all circumstances. In other words, worship needs to be constant in our lives, regardless of what the circumstance is. Don’t restrict worship to quiet time.

6. How to worship? Worship first.
Always start with worship before we do anything else.
In the tabernacle, we can see that the first thing that someone had to do was to make a sacrifice on the brazen altar. What it meant was that before they could even get close to the presence of God, they had to make a sacrifice to atone for their sins.
Now I’m not saying that every time we worship that we’re atoning for our sins, but when we worship God, it is laying down our own sins – whether that’s simply our own selfishness and pride, or something greater, we need to lay it down before we do anything else.
We start with worship and with sacrifice and surrender. That’s what puts us in the right atmosphere to receive what God has for us. Yes, it can be a sacrifice, yes it can be uncomfortable, but that’s how we set ourselves up to receive what God has for us.
Worship is all about positioning ourselves to be open to whatever God has for us. Worship puts God in His rightful place in our lives, which means that we’re in the right place.

7. How to worship? 2. Worship with good theology.
There are so many different bands with different songs and styles and words that we have multiple options and there will definitely be one that you can find that suits you.
But in all of these things, we need to make sure that we’re worshipping to good theology, to something that is biblical, and to something that isn’t leading us down a strange doctrine.
What I’d encourage you to do is to check every single lyric of every song that you sing to make sure that it lines up with the word of God.
Don’t fall into the trap of liking a song just because of the tune or the sound or a single line, but really make sure that what you’re singing matches up well with the bible.

8. How to worship? 3. Worship comes from the heart. Isaiah 29:13
Sometimes, we don’t have the luxury of singing at the top of our lungs because of life. We don’t want to disturb the neighbours, we have family or kids, or we do our quiet times at super early hours where singing just isn’t the best thing. Or maybe our voices are just terrible.
That’s ok, because on a Sunday or at a CG, you have ample opportunity to sing your lungs out, off key and everything. You can go for it and we should go for it because singing to God should be full of joy and passion and energy.
But the good news is, when we can’t do it out loud, we can do it in our hearts.
And God truly values worship that comes from the heart. In fact, He values the heart more than the volume. In Isaiah, God talks about those who sing loudly and who say all the right things, but their hearts are far from Him. They don’t really worship God with their hearts. God is looking more at the heart than the words.
So if you don’t have the luxury of singing out loud, then do it in your heart. Do it with authenticity and purposefulness and sincerity. Truly worship God and cry out to Him from the bottom of your heart.
Ultimately, even though worship is joyful, it can start with a sacrifice. It starts with a choice and with the intention of lifting up the name of Jesus in spite and through any and all circumstances. When we start right, when we invite the Holy Spirit first, that’s when we’ll get the most out of our time with God. That’s when God is able to speak to us and through us, that’s when the Holy Spirit can really manifest his presence.