Restoring True Worship: Worship that is acceptable and pleasing to the Lord

By K . Bobie Amankwatia

Are the singing and style music all there is to worship? Though the word worship floats across all denominational circles more than ever, it is often misunderstood and misused. Your spiritual encounter with the Lord would be much more profound to honor and glorify the Father as you grasp and practice True Worship.

Many tend to exclude the teachin

• Language: English
• Publisher: INLIC
• Release date: Feb 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9780578363066

Book preview

Restoring True Worship

Restoring True Worship

Restoring True Worship

Worship that is acceptable and pleasing to the Lord

K . Bobie Amankwatia, DMin

INLIC - BOBIE BOOKS

Books by the author

Phases of Revival; Rebuilding the temple

Revival Leadership, Vol 1

Anointed Leadership

Anticipating Revival

He has also authored several evangelistic tracts;

The Way That Seemeth Right, Steps To Peace With God, and The Prisoner.

Copyright © 2022 by K . Bobie Amankwatia

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Printing, 2022

Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture texts are taken from the New King James Version; copyright @1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc

DEDICATION

To my lovely wife, Tonya, to whom worship is a way of life in Christ Jesus. Her gratitude and joyful Worship wonderfully touched doctors, nurses, and visitors alike while she spent nine days in the hospital, recovering from emergency surgery.

   Despite the pain from her surgery, Tonya continued to express her love for the Lord, living up to her favorite hymn, My Jesus, I Love Thee. She is truly an instrument of Worship unto the Lord.

 She is the greatest gift God has given me subsequent to my salvation.

Contents

Dedication

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

1 What Is Worship?

2 True Worship Is Balanced

3 True Worship Is Impactful

4 The Portrait Of A True Worshiper

5 Maintaining Integrity In Worship

6 Recognizing Divine Favor

7 Mobilizing For True Worship

8 Purging To Enhance True Worship

9 When The Glory Comes Down

10 Divine Jealousy Over Worship

11 Hindrances To True Worship

Amazing Quotes About Worship By Some Great Christian Leaders

APPLYING THE WORD TO ENHANCE TRUE WORSHIP

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In all things, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ for all of us. I acknowledge the various human instruments the Lord used to fuel our praise and gratitude to Him during a challenging time.

   I want to express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Marc Clifford. He was right on time to drive my wife to the ER. You are a precious friend and a literal lifesaver.

I also want to express my sincere thanks, love,  and appreciation to Richard Heinsus and his lovely wife, Debbie, for their kindness and support. With much compassion, Richard stayed with me at the hospital and uplifted my spirit while my wife was in surgery. After the discharge, Richard and Debbie graciously picked us up from the hospital and helped us settle at home.

   Much thanks to Garett Barber and his darling wife,  April, for their kindness. During his many visits, Garrett graciously lifted my wife's spirit with remembrances from their hometown in Clearwater. It was such an incredible sight to watch her laughter.

I am eternally grateful to Eric and his beautiful wife, Bridget Barber-Floyd, for their love and support for my wife at the most challenging time in her health. As the godparents of our sons, they continue to overflow with love toward us. Bridget is a true friend that sticks closer than a sister.

   I cannot forget my amazing sons, Scott and Daniel, and my darling sister Becky for standing by my side with encouraging words and prayers during those challenging times. I am forever grateful for their support.

   I offer my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the doctors and nurses who worked feverishly to save my wife's life.

With much love, I want to express my utmost gratitude to the precious believers, great friends, and family in Africa, South Korea, Singapore, China, Europe, and many parts of the United States who lifted my wife in prayer for her recovery and restoration.

   Tongues cannot tell, nor words describe, how grateful I am to all of you, precious folks. May the Lord bless and pour into your bosom a bountiful fold of all your loving investments toward my wife's recovery.

INTRODUCTION

Is worship all about Singing and style of music? True worship is much deeper than just singing, music, and an outward display of physical and emotional expressions of cheers and raised hands. Amid all the enthusiasm around worship in the Chuch today, there is much confusion and disagreement over how true worship should manifest in the Body of Christ.

 For the Christian, worship is a lifelong response to a loving God. Worship draws out the worshiper’s deep, sincere, extraordinary respect, love, and adoration for God, who created all things and continues to sustain them in the palms of His hands. True worship is evident in tremendous respect, love, and affection for the Lord, displayed by Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus cast out seven devils as she kissed and poured very costly perfume on His feet (see Luke 7:36-50 and Mark 16:9).

The loving God desires and commands worship from His people. The Scripture directs people to Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; Tremble [in submissive wonder] before Him, all the earth (Psalm 96:9 Amp). When Satan demanded worship from Jesus in the wilderness, the Lord sharply rebuked him, saying, Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve (Matthew 4:10). Worship has as its prime purpose: to honor, glorify, and please God alone.

Notwithstanding this purpose, many different ideas exist about worship in some circles of the Church today. Often, these differences lead some to attempt to distinguish true worship from a superficial display of worship. Many leaders in the Church struggle to explain how worship should manifest in our present-day services and believers' everyday lives. Sadly, some churches and Christians seem to ignore that believers’ lifelong role in worship is to please God. Instead, some see worship as a predetermined performance by others to entertain and engage the emotions. Sadly, much of what we call worship today has slowly slid into a form of entertainment for the congregation. Such perversion of that which is holy to satisfy one’s emotional appetites and desires is nothing short of blasphemy.

When a society is constantly bombarded by media and advertisements, projecting self-absorption and an entertainment-oriented lifestyle desirable for success, its people develop an insatiable appetite for more of it. Eventually, the pursuit of pleasure and good vibes become an addiction that enslaves its victims. This insatiable appetite for entertainment in a selfie culture spills over into all facets of life, including the believer’s spiritual life. Unfortunately, such longing to satisfy our selfish desires has crept into the Church and its expressions of worship. All pleasure from our worship belongs to God alone. Any attempt to share in that is robbing God of the glory and honor due Him.

The Scripture makes it quite clear that God seeks true worshipers and identifies them as those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. Jesus said, But the hour is coming, and now is when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23,24).

The only worship that is pleasing to God, according to John 4:24, is that which is done in spirit and in truth. This divine requirement makes worshiping God in spirit and in truth an imperative. It goes beyond singing, music style, and outward physical and emotional expressions. It is a commitment with complete dedication and unwavering surrender in faith to honor, glorify, and adore our God with our best. The first mention of worship in Scripture was an epic moment in Abraham’s life as he went up Mount Moriah to offer the sone he loved, his most cherished possession as a burnt offering to the God he revered (Genesisn22:1-12).

The book answers the question, What is true worship? by awakening the people of God to capture the meaning and essence of true worship, worship that is acceptable and pleasing to the Father. Thus, reflections accompany each chapter for believers to evaluate their attitude towards worship as we study Ezra’s leadership in restoring true worship in Jerusalem and explore the following: 

the meaning and essence of true worship

the fuel of true worship

portrait of a true worshipper

actions for maintaining true worship

divine jealousy over worship

hindrances to true worship

1

What Is Worship?

And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you – Genesis 22:5

As the pastor asked the congregation to be seated after the song, a brother behind me whispered, This church has the best worship of all the churches I have visited. I was sure he was referring to the singing and the beautiful lighting display that had just concluded. That was not the first time I had heard someone make such a remark. Singing seems more memorable and prominent than everything else in church services.

   Why is worship viewed as just singing to exclude preaching, teaching the Word, prayer, communion, tithing, and offering time? I felt profoundly prompted by the brother's remark to ponder how best to communicate the essence and meaning of true worship. It is even more important to note that the word worship has become extremely popular in our Christian jargon in recent years, floating around almost all denominational circles.

Singing in the Church

Though the Word of God does not make singing the all-in-all of worship, it invites and commands us to sing and does not make singing optional. The Psalmist affirms the command to sing, saying, "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation (Psalm 95:1). The command to sing appears more frequently in Scripture. For instance, just between the four verses of Psalm 95:1, Psalm 96:1-2, and Psalm 47:6, the word sing appears nine times.

   The Early Christians were known for their singing. Pliny the Younger, around A. D 111, wrote one of the earliest descriptions of Christians in a letter, asking the authorities in Rome what he should do about these Christians, writing, They (Christians) would gather early in the morning and sing joyfully to one another and, singing hymns to Christ as to a god.

   Singing helps believers remember God’s promises more than teaching or preaching, especially when the lyrics are scriptural. To ensure the children of Israel stay true to Him after He had brought them to the Promised Land, the Lord told Moses to put His words into a song so that when evil hits, they do not forget but remain faithful (see Deuteronomy 31:20-22).

    Singing does impact our lives in extraordinary ways. The writer of the hymn Hidden Christ, Alive Forever, Brian A. Wren, made this profound statement about the impact of singing on the believer in these words, Congregational song does important things that speech alone cannot do.  Music speaks to parts of the brain that words alone cannot.

    There is no doubt singing is an integral part of worship. We can glorify the Lord with singing and also edify ourselves with singing. However, singing and music alone are not all there is to worship.

True Worship Is Not An Entertainment

Worship as solely singing has somehow become so ingrained in many believers’ minds that they immediately think of singing whenever they hear the word worship. A familiar scene is a featured group singing a thematic set tied to the sermon topic. Typically, the song selections end in congregational applause.

   The congregation’s response and posture before God during and after singing and other artistic expressions can be revealing. In our pleasure-mad generation, the temptation to seek emotional satisfaction or pleasure from the worship to, perhaps, attain a sensory high can be addictive.

   With that posture, we have consciously or unconsciously positioned ourselves as spectators who attend service for entertainment. Let us avoid the temptation of calling that worship. It grossly dishonors God to reduce our worship of Him to entertaining ourselves. True worship is not a pleasure-seeking or spectator event.

    Charles Spurgeon, the dynamic pastor at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London in the mid-1800s, warned the Church of the temptation of reducing worship to