SCHOOL OF WORSHIP

We are glad to teach all men what worship entails as guided by sound doctrine from the bible. In the present age, people tend to worship in wrong ways, some direct their worship wrongly while some do not even understand what worship is all about. We will take you through this topic so you can have the right understanding of what worship is all about. As you go through this article, you will begin to worship according to scriptures guided by sound doctrine.

WHAT IS WORSHIP?
Worship is the act of showing reverence and adoration for something. In this case, it could be a person, an object or a deity. This brings to concern the feeling of respect to an important or high-ranking subject. Therefore, in simple terms, adoration of something or someone with high respect amounts to worship. Anything that captures our mind greatly, which we adore so much and we can't do without becomes an object of worship. When we look at the scripture in the book of Exodus 32, when Moses (leading the children of Israel from Egypt towards the promised land) delayed at the mountain while meeting God, the Israelites lost hope in him. Since worship was part of their life, they resorted to ask aaron to make them a golden calf that they could worship. By doing this, they were simply expressing their concern about worship the invisible being who was now turning out to be unreliable. And this brings a weighty matter into picture: our worship can be shifted to anything, as long us we adore and honor it.

In the present world, we tend to love things that may amount to objects of worship in the eyes of God. It could be your child whom you love so much, your wife, your car, your smartphone, your job, your parent or any investment that you cannot afford to lose. It is not bad to treasure any blessing from God. In fact the bible says that it is the gift of God for man to enjoy the fruits of his labor (Ecclesiastes 3:13, 5:19). But once we focus on such blessings too much and give them the first priority, they automatically become an object of worship.

Worship is to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission (Webster's Dictionary,1828). Despite there being many definitions of the word worship, this one particularly encapsulates the priority we should give to worship as a spiritual discipline. It should be understood that worship is not the slow songs sang by choirs, neither is it the amount you place in the offering basket. Worship is not volunteering in ministry. Yes, these may be acts or expressions of worship, but they do not define what true worship really is.

TRUE WORSHIP vs FALSE WORSHIP
As we have seen above, our worship can easily shift to anything depending on the amount of reverence we direct to it. It is therefore clear that worship can be misdirected. So, how can we separate true worship from false worship, given that there seems to be a very thin line between these two? It is very easy to understand true worship. as children of God, the bible (scripture) is the standard of our life. We therefore have to deduce understanding from the scripture to acquaint ourselves with true worship.
Having a look at the ten commandments given to Moses by God, it is clear that worship MUST be directed to the living god only.

Exodus 20:3-5
"You shall have no other gods before Me." “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

We see in the above scripture that the Almighty, living God forbids worship of any other entity apart from Him (the God-head): and He has attached a penalty to any person who defies this direction. This is critical since many people in the present age do not honor God as God, and are therefore objects of God's wrath. In the courts of heaven, ignorance has no defence! Jesus Christ was very specific too on what true worship is all about. He insisted on directing worship to God because He deserves it, despite going on with our daily lives. He did not dismiss giving priority to the things we need in this life: He simply was teaching mankind that attention can be given to what is important in our livelihood, but worship MUST only be directed to the living God.

Mark 12:17And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at Him.

HOW TO WORSHIP
True worship of the one and only living God is required of all mankind as highlighted in Ecclesiastes 12:13. As children of God, our worship MUST be aligned to the bible. Our God is a God who has given us all answers to any questions that we may have in this life; worship is not an exception. Biblically speaking, worship is a threefold cord that cannot be broken. This is what makes worship complete.
The threefold cords are "When you fast....,"(Matthew 6:16-18) "When you pray....,"(Matthew 6:5-8) "When you give....." (Matthew 6:1-4)

(a)Fasting
In Hebrew, fasting is translated from the word Tsom, which means self denial. Wen we deny ourself of anyhting for the sake of God, it is a form of worship. It could be spending your money for the sake of others, thereby depriving yourself of the needs you would have aquired using the money. It could be denying yourself food for the sake of giving it to others or simply seeking God. It could also involve creating time to pray for others and not yourself, or even be denying yourself time thet you would have used in runninmg your errands for the sake of doing something for God's purpose. This is all summed up in the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 58:6-7
"Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

(b) Praying
Praying is a way of communicating to God. Communication is part of fellowship with God. By speaking to God and making our needs known to him, we get confidence in our walk of faith and gain more trust in Him. This is worship unto God as we ewxpress reverence to him by trusting that He is God above all gods.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

(c) Giving
Giving is the third seal in worship. God specifically instructs that no one should come before him empty handed. Thus, this is the sacrifice part of worship that seals prayer and fasting. this is also echoed in the bible and recognized as a memorial before the throne of God, on behalf of the righteous. Giving is very vital: without it, manifestation of things from the spirit to the flesh realm is practically impossible. When God wanted to redeem man, the bible says He gave his only begotten son (John 3:16). Giving tithe, offerings and raising altars are all seals of worship. Giving also seals anything we receive from God. From the biblical story of the leprous man, after receiving healing, Jesus instructed him to go and give offering as a seal to the miracle (Luke 5:14).

Deuteronomy 16:16-17
Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.Everyone must appear with a gift as he is able, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.

WHY WORSHIP GOD
Worship is not just our expression toward God. Since we fellowship with God and not just being in a relationship, there are many benefits attached to worship. The promise is that when we worship God with extravagant love and extreme submission, God will come and commune with us - when we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. These benefits are clearly highlighted in the book of Psalms 103.

Moreso, we have to worship him and rejoice in Him since He is the righteous Judge. The promise is not that we will feel great or that our heavy load will be lifted, but that Jesus Christ will come. And when He comes in his own time as a response to our worship, He will then deliver righteous and faithful judgemnet to all people.

Psalm 96:13
"Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness."