“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth,
for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 4:23-24 NIV
What is worship? It is not worshiping the worship or the worship leaders. It is not worshiping the benefits of worship. The Greek word for worship is proskyneo, and the definition from the Strong’s concordance includes the act of kissing, adoring, and submitting. It is a physical action.
There are many expressions of worship. It can be expressed in song, words, and conversation. It can be expressed in body posture. It can be singing in the spirit. It can be an act of submitting ourselves completely to God. However, worship is not just going through the motions.
When Jesus says we must worship in spirit and in truth, I believe He was saying that the outward physical action is just a start, but by itself will never touch the Father’s heart. It must start there, but we then must continue on by submitting our spirit and soul in worship. It is giving our best because we recognize and know who God is. If we love Him with all of our heart, then the natural desire of the heart is to follow Him in obedience. Worship is God-focused adoration; focusing all of our affection, thoughts, and actions on Him.
I believe that another aspect of worshiping in spirit means we do so with a sincere mind and a true heart. A true heart is one that believes God’s truth – Divine truth revealed to man. Truth speaks above and over our experiences. No matter what you are going through, God speaks the greater truth.
We often become distracted and don’t feel like we want to worship, especially when we are feeling low and have negative thoughts running through our minds. We have difficulty adoring God when our lives are not going the way we planned. God only asks us to taste and see, so we just need to position our bodies in a state of worship and make our flesh obey our spirit by speaking or singing out when we don’t feel like it.
If we ask God to give us a heart of adoration for Him, He is more than willing to answer and will come through for us so that we can enter into a place of worshiping in “spirit and truth”.
Father God, I ask for a heart that adores You, and a love for You that empowers me to obey. Help me to step into the realm of limitless faith in You alone. By faith I choose to submit not only my body, but my spirit and soul as well, in worship that pleases Your heart. Amen.
— Christina Gallagher
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