How We Worship

 

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 

In spirit and in truth

 

Sincerity

 

Together the words “spirit and truth” mean that real worship comes from the spirit within (the Heart) and is based on correct understanding (Mind- Head) of God.

• True worship should engage your emotions (Heart) and True worship should engage your mind (Head).
• Truth without emotion (Heart) produces dead orthodoxy and a church full of Spiritless Christians.
• On the other hand, Emotion without Truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates flaky people who reject the deep understanding of God that Truth produces Wholeness or Holiness in a person’s life if you will.
• Genuine worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love the Truths of God’s Word.

 

 

2 Samuel 6:14

King James Version (KJV)

14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.

 

David was the King of Israel.

Israel was the dominant nation in that part of the world during his lifetime.

David was a military mastermind.

David was very wise.

He was in fact the father of Solomon who was the wisest king in the world and by far the richest.

David was someone to pay attention to.

He was a very smart guy!

David had it going on up here – (Head).

But David also had it going on here too! (Heart)

As smart and as brilliant as David was, David loved the Lord with all his Heart.

 

That’s why in 2 Samuel 6:14 we find David dancing before the Lord with all His might.

 

 

David was not hindered by others.

(There was too much Truth in David to cause him to miss out on an opportunity of a blessing from the Lord.)

• If you love to worship and are not worshipping – that is not truth.
• If you know how to worship and are hindered by what you think other people are thinking, that is not Truth.
• Truth worships because it has determined to put God before and above anything or anyone else in the world.

 

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 

If we are Ashamed…

• If we are Embarrassed…
• We will never enter into True Worship!

 

True Worship requires Sincerity

• It requires Genuineness.
• It requires Honesty!

 

True worship doesn’t care who is watching.

• True worship isn’t worried about what other people think.
• True worship is directed to God and isn’t concerned about anybody else at that moment.
• Because True worship is not just connected at the Heart.  It is also connected at the Head.  (Understanding)
• The heart knows what the Head needs and the Head knows what the Heart needs.
• Spirit and Truth

 

Understand something…

• True Worship touches the Heart of God!
• True Worship is attractive to people who are hurting and who need Him.
• True Worship invites the Presence of God!
• True Worship evokes the Power and Anointing of God and His Holy Spirit!
• If you have a need in your life today – begin to worship Him in Truth today.

 

We want the power of God in our services at Acacia.

• We want the anointing of His Spirit in our corporate worship here.
• We’re praying, “God send down your Spirit Here!”
• We know that without the Anointing of His Spirit we are nothing!

We’re not interested in being a church that does not desperately seek after the Anointing of God’s Spirit.

 

If He doesn’t show up, we’re not really having Church!

• His Spirit Heals
• His Spirit Saves
• His Spirit delivers
• His Spirit sets free
• I can’t do any of these things!
• Neither can you.
• We need Him to show up!
• We need Him to move in this place.
• Without that happening, we are just coming to hear a band and a lecture.
• But when His anointing is released, now we’re having Church!

 

Hey, there may be a few folks here this morning who need delivered today and a few words from the preacher are not enough to set them free from the bondage in their life!

• We need the Power of God!
• We need the Presence of God!
• We need the Anointing of His Spirit in our services and that will only happen when we Truly Worship Him

 

I don’t know about you, but I need to feel His Presence today.

• I long for Him to come into this place and fill each and every one of us with His Spirit!
• I long for the day when Acacia can be described as a place where the Presence and Power of God is felt in every service

 

• He inhabits the praises of His people.

 

How do we worship?

• Without reservation?
• Without shame?
• Without worry about what other people will think?

 

We worship here to glorify His Name!

• We worship here to invite His presence into the service.
• We worship here to experience His presence and His power!

 

How do we worship Him?

• With determination
• With an attitude of servitude to Jesus Christ
• Without hesitation
• With certainty.
• With conviction
• With an expectation of the miraculous

 

 

Psalm 150:1-6

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

 

Just because you don’t play an instrument doesn’t mean that you can’t praise Him.

• Verse 6 tells us that everything that is breathing should praise the Lord!
• If you are breathing here today, you have both a right and an obligation to Worship Him.
• If you’re not dead yet, you have the opportunity to be a worshipper.

 

The Bible describes many ways to worship God.

It talks about,

• Dancing
• Clapping
• Singing
• Shouting,

 

• “They lifted up their voice to God with one accord.”-Acts 4:24
• “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.”-Psalm 134:2
• “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.”-Psalm 98:4
• “And all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments.”-II Samuel 6:5
• “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.”-Psalm 47:1
• “Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.”-Psalm 150:4

 

 

SEVEN WORDS FOR “PRAISE”

The word “praise” as found in the Bible was translated from seven different words, six of them Hebrew, and the other New Testament word is Greek.

1. Yadah: to revere or worship with extended hands

2. Halal: to shine, to make a show, to boast, to rave, to commend, glory

3. Tehillah: to sing a hymn of praise

4. Zamar: to make music, to praise with song and music, sing forth praises

5. Towdah: worship and adoration with extension of hands, especially a choir of worshippers

6. Shabach: to praise with a loud voice.

7. Ainesis: the act of praising God, an offering of praise

 

Praising God and Worshipping God is something that is found throughout the scriptures.

In fact Worship over and over again is found to be the weapon used by God’s people to defeat the works of the enemy.

 

 

 

 

2 Chronicles 20:1-25

1 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,

6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;

11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation;

15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.

18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.

19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.

22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. spoil, it was so much.

 

4. We can wear the garment of praise, or the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3)

 

Psalm 149:1-9

Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.

4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.

6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;

7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;

8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.