Worshipping God Acceptably

Are you serious about your worship of God? During the two years when we were forced to have only online worship, how did you worship? Let me tell you what the group that worshipped in my home did. We were all smartly dressed up. No one arrived in t-shirts or shorts. I was in my usual long-sleeved shirt, tie, and pants. The only thing we did not have were shoes on our feet. We were properly seated. We did not have coffee or food during worship. My wife did not iron the clothes or peel potatoes, and worship God, all at the same time.  We were serious about worship.

Jesus said the Father seeks true worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23, 24). The word translated as “worship” in Greek is “proskuneō” which means “to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand; to fawn or crouch to, that is, (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore)” (Strong’s Definition, e-sword).

From Strong’s definition, worship conveys the idea of “showing reverence” or “bowing down to God”. It has the idea of a king extending his hand and his subjects kissing it. This reminds me of Esther 5:2: “And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.”

In older English, “worship” was spelt “worthship”.  In worship, we are paying homage to someone worthy. Worship, then, is the attitude of reverence and adoration. We are called to worship God with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28).

Worship involves our attitude and actions – what is our attitude when we worship, and what are we doing? The things we do when in worship speak of our attitude.

Let me give some suggestions on how we can worship God acceptably.

1. The worship hour is not a breakfast hour.

Paul wrote: “And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation” (1 Corinthians 11:34).

2. The worship hour is not a talking hour.

The one person we should be talking to is God. Solomon warns: “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:1, 2).

3. The worship hour is not a social hour.

Facebook, Instagram, X, WhatsApp, and YouTube must not interfere with the worship hour. “But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him” (Habakkuk 2:20).

4. The worship hour is not about ME.

Some excused their restlessness arguing that they did not get anything out of the worship. Some find worship boring. Sorry, but worship is not about you and me. It is not about "getting our needs met." Worship is about God: “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2). Are you giving Him the glory due to His name?

Let us prepare our hearts and bodies before we enter the worship hall. “Preparing our hearts” means we enter with only one desire to worship God with reverence and awe. “Preparing our bodies” means we do what is necessary before we begin to worship – finish our breakfast and empty our bladders before entering the worship hall.

We decide whether we worship upon entering the house of worship. Do not blame the preacher if you do not worship. Whether you worship in today's service has nothing to do with how well he does his job. You are in charge of this decision - You decide whether you will worship.

We worship God because He is God. Period. We remember how great He is and behave reverently in His presence.

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28, 29).