I am beginning a study on worship and will be sharing what I am learning through this blog. My hope is that you will learn and grow with me, as we find a greater understanding of what worship is; why we worship, how we worship, when we worship and most importantly, who we are worshipping.

When I was 17 years old, I met my husband and we fell in love. But only a few months later, my dad was transferred from Hawaii to California, and I had to move. We were separated by many miles as well as the Pacific Ocean. This was in the mid 1980’s so we didn’t have computers with video calls, cell phones or Facebook. We had the United States Postal Service. I still have all of the letters my husband wrote me, tucked away in a special box, in chronological order. During that year that we were separated, I lived for the mailbox! I felt so empty from the separation that we were experiencing; I would read his letters…over and over and over again. How much more does our soul cry out to know God? When we find ourselves separated from Him, worship will bring us back into His presence.

Each one of us has an innate knowledge within our soul that there is a God who created us. Yet, we cannot worship someone we don’t know or understand. As we begin to study and learn more about God, our growing knowledge will give us an even greater hunger. Instead of being satisfied, we will find ourselves even more ravenous for His presence. C.S. Lewis said, “In the process of being worshipped…God communicates his presence to me.” Who is this God that we worship? Why does He desire and deserve our worship? Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” There are billions of galaxies in the universe and each one has at least a billion stars. Each star has at least one planet orbiting it. Our star, the sun, is 864,000 miles in diameter and 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface. The sun is 109 times wider than our Earth. God created the sun and all its power, by speaking it into existence. He placed our sun exactly at the right location in the heavens to bring life to our planet, not too far away lest we freeze and not too close that we would burn up.

God’s power demands our worship. As we look upon our universe that He created, how can we not be in awe? God is omnipotent; He has supreme power. Consider again the universe and its great vastness. What power was used to create all of this, by simply speaking it into existence! Psalm 147:4-5, “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.” Jeremiah 10:12-13, “But God made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding, he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.” 

How does your soul respond to this unfathomable power? Charles Spurgeon said, “Worship is the highest elevation of the spirit, and yet the lowliest prostration of the soul.” What does your mind see as you envision the power of God?  I wish I had an artist to draw out the vision in my mind. I see myself, on the floor, knees bent, arms out straight, head down, in complete submission as my spirit soars heavenward to God. Praising Him, loving Him, worshipping Him. How else can we respond?

Worship is an expression of reverence and adoration. A deep respect and love given in submission and understanding of how small we truly are. Francis Chan wrote, “Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?” No matter how much we try, God is more than we can describe or even imagine. That, my friend is worth our worship.