The Wonder of Worship: Exploring the Power of Praise and Worship

By Nicole R. Bowen Th.D.

Worship is an integral element of the typical church worship service. Yet no church formulates worship quite the same way. It seems that each church has its own style, culture, and worship personality. With all the differences in worship today, what makes up a true worship service? How do we know that worship is being done in a Biblical way?

Worship leaders come in all shapes and sizes. What are the true functions of a worship leader? What does the Bible say about leading worship? How does worship leadership look that is pleasing to God?

Worship is the place where the tangible presence of God comes down and reaches human beings. When true worship comes down to earth, it brings the presence of God. It is Jehovah God coming to earth to meet with His creation. Humans reaching up and into the presence of God can bring down whatever it is that is needed for life, health, goodness, healing, and wholeness. Whatever we need is in the presence and the glory of God.

The Wonder of Worship is designed to teach tools to develop the talent and the gifting that comes with a worship leader. However, just because you are not called to be a worship leader doesn’t mean you cannot learn how to be a better worshipper within these pages.

This book will take you into the presence of God. It is a must-read for anyone who desires to glean, learn, grow, and become the best worshipper you can be on this earth in preparation for the eternal worship service that we someday will be joining.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638148029

Book preview

Chapter 1

Introduction

There is nothing better on earth than to give praise and worship to our Maker, the God of heaven and earth. In fact, that is why we were created by God: to give the best of our worship and admiration back to Him. Psalm 102:18 tells us, Let this be recorded for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created will praise the Lord (AMPC).

Isaiah 43:7 (AMP) explains who the Lord has created and gives additional detail. The Lord has made, Everyone who is called by My Name, Whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made. We are made for His glory to do wonderful works. Everything we do, every action we make, should be to the glory of God. This comes from an individual who realizes that their core meaning of life is worship to God. They make their life a lifestyle of worship. Each deed, each action, the entirety of their life flow out of the core of worship. Timothy J. Christenson said, If worship is just one thing we do, everything becomes mundane. If worship is the only thing we do, everything takes on eternal significance.

To create this core of a lifestyle of worship, we must explore the topic of praise and worship. As a whole, the elements of praise and worship are similar in latitude and reach. Their activities seemingly overlap and parallel each other. Yet there is more to each topic. When we delve deeper into each topic, we find there is much to reflect on. The individuality of each topic gives us much more to consider and study in greater depth.

This is our point of entry into the study of praise and worship. This study is for every person who desires a deeper walk with God and a more meaningful life of worship. There are some sections that speak directly to worship leaders. Even if you are not leading worship in front of a group of people, there are essentials that you can learn from reading these sections. There is always more to learn and deeper nuggets of gold to find. May you find the nuggets in this study that enhance and deepen your relationship with God and ones that drive you deeper so that your whole lifestyle can be one that flows out of praise and worship.

Praise and worship are equally supportive activities and are frequently very similar in the way they are outwardly expressed, but they are not one and the same. Each has its own nature and purpose.

Praise is part of our everyday lives. We praise our children when they please us; we praise dogs when they perform tricks well. But above and beyond that, praise is something we direct toward God or something we express to others about God.

The definition of praise is to commend; to applaud; to express approval or admiration of; to extol in words or in song; to magnify; to glorify. Yet praise has a two directional focus. We praise God directly by extolling Him or expressing our admiration to Him; we praise God indirectly by commending Him or magnifying Him to others. Praise can be given directionally to God, or it can be expressed to others in reference to God. The late Dr. Scott G. Bauer once said, Worship is being challenged by the always present temptation toward an ‘entertainment’ mind-set rather than an intimate, transparent encounter with Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church (Bauer, p. 17).

Praise must focus on who God is and what He has done. He is worthy to be praised solely for who He is. It is characterized by celebration and exhilaration and is expressed through singing, shouting, speaking forth, playing of musical instruments, dancing, and other external forms.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew people were very emotional and vocal in their expressions of praise and adoration before their God. Praise begins with a mind-set upon God, but then those thoughts must be put into action in order to qualify as praise.

The Bible shows us that praise is to be declared or manifested. Psalm 66:8 exhorts us, Let the sound of his praise be heard. Praise is not praise until it is vocalized or shown forth (Sorge, 2001).

Chapter 2

What Is Worship?

Why Do We Worship?

Mankind is innately created as a worshipper. This means as individuals, we are created to worship something. Ultimately, God created us to worship Him. But in the fallen state of man, we tend toward filling the void of worship with things or people instead. We could worship a goal or a desire or a pleasure.

The Meaning of Worship

Everyone worships something. Many don’t recognize what they worship because they don’t have a clear idea of what worship means. Worship comes from and Old English word weorthscipe which means to ascribe worth unto (Hayford, 2000, p. 6). Whatever it is that you value most highly or place the greatest worth upon is what you worship.

Worship rightfully belongs to God; no one else can lay claim to the position of highest value in anyone’s life. Psalm 115:8 (NASB) says, Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them. This is saying that the thing a person worships is the thing that they value most highly in their life. Look at a person’s time schedule or credit card. What they spend their time and money on is what they value most highly.

You become like the God you worship.

It’s important to know that we are worshipping the Lord as He truly is rather than some figment of our imagination. If the godly lifestyle of worship is to be a priority, then we must know the God of that worship. The more deeply and intimately we are acquainted with Him, the more we must learn to understand how to worship Him. The more we worship, the more we will come to know God and His ways. Knowing God’s ways and His methods will cause our lifestyle to reflect the Presence of God.

For purposes of this study, we will look at five infallible qualities of God. He is: 1. eternal; 2. almighty; 3. omnipresent; 4. all knowing; and 5. holy (Hayford, 1996, p. 16–17). Let’s look at these unique qualities one at a time.

God is Eternal. He embraces all time. He doesn’t have to wait until next week to find out what’s happening on the other side of it. He’s there in advance of us.

God is Almighty. There are no restrictions to His power. If He brought all the world into being by the power of His Word, isn’t He able to handle what you and I face?

God is Omnipresent. God is everywhere. The Lord is with us everywhere and always, and He will never leave us or forsake us.

God is All-knowing. God, who is in the future and the past, also knows every detail about the future and the past. There is nothing He doesn’t know.

God is Holy. God can never be less that He is; He will never act out of character. God is complete in and of Himself. He wants to work the same holiness in our lives and bring us to a state of completeness and wholeness. Out of the context of that holiness, He provides a special beauty to those who worship Him. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Hayford, 1996, p. 19).

We say many times, Magnify the Lord. How do you magnify the Lord? Magnify means to make bigger. So how do you magnify the God who fills the universe and beyond?

Let’s use an example taken from science to draw clarity to this point.

Compare the functionality of a telescope and a microscope. A telescope is defined as a piece of equipment shaped like a tube, containing lenses, that you look through to make objects that are far away appear larger and nearer (Oxford). An alternative definition defines a telescope as being an optical instrument designed to make distant objects appear nearer, containing an arrangement of lenses, or of curved mirrors and lenses, by which rays of light are collected and focused and the resulting image magnified (Oxford). By looking at something far away through a series of lenses and mirrors, the image can be altered in order to see it closer and, thus, more clearly. Initially, the item is so large we cannot grasp the vastness of it. A telescope has the ability to help us stretch out into the heavens and gain perspective on it.

Conversely, a microscope is defined as an optical instrument consisting of a lens or combination of lenses for making enlarged images of minute objects (Merriam-Webster). Taking an object that is painstakingly small and making it bigger so its attributes can be seen more clearly is what a microscope does. It enables us to draw in closer to an object to see the detail that we would otherwise miss.

When magnifying the Lord, we gain a fresh perspective by reaching out to Him (like the function of a telescope), yet we also draw in close to Him (like a microscope) and recognize the detail of how God works in and through us.

We cannot actually make God bigger than He is, but our understanding of Him can expand by how we view God. This is what worship can do in our hearts—it can enlarge our understanding of God, and it can advance our discernment to new levels of comprehension by creating unique ways to observe how we view God.

With the influence of worship, the entire direction of life can be altered or established. The act of worship determines values—it helps the heart decide what is desired most. It helps answer the question: what holds first place in my life?

Worship helps define the core values of life. It points to what the heart gravitates toward. It helps to focus on what is important and what is not important in life. Worship determines the outflow of life. It affects who to seek and where to seek it. That will, in turn, determine what is discovered and what kind of fulfillment will come from life.

Someone once explained it this way: each person has a God-shaped vacuum in the heart. Many have attempted to fill it with many types of things—money, fame, vices—but the only fulfillment to that void is worship. Worship fills that place inside our heart. The fulfillment of the heart comes as a direct result of our approaching God and coming to know Him through worship.

Worship is a powerful catalyst in our lives. It can propel us toward what is good; conversely, it can drive us away from God. It all depends on what it is we set our heart upon to worship. What we set our heart upon to worship brings the remainder of our life—body, soul, mind—into alignment with what we have chosen to worship. The goal I press toward in worship—the object of my worship—becomes the guiding force of my life. Worship determines what I will discover. Worship determines the why and the when, the where and the who that make up my life.

Deuteronomy 4:29 (AMP) tells us, "But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul." The one who seeks the Lord will find Him through the gate of worship, and through that gate, he or she will discover the true purpose for being, doing, and worshipping. Your worship determines what flows from your life.

What Is Worship?

A Definition

The word worship has two parts: worth and ship (Zschech, 2015, p. 16). Let’s look more closely at these two parts. Worth means having value (Dictionary.com). The second part of the word is ship, meaning "an English suffix of nouns denoting condition, character, office, skill, etc. (Dictionary.com). When combined, we acquire the word worship which means to worship God because He is so worthy. We give God His due. All honor and worth belong to Him (Zschech, 2015, p. 16). The time we expend on something, the praise we lavish, the energy we give toward what or who we worship gives the object more value. When we give worship to God, we are giving value to the worthiness of Jesus in our lives. Worship gives the proper worth to our God. When others see where our time and energy and value is placed, it clearly identifies you as a worshipper of God. It identifies where you stand and who has premier value in your life (Zschech, 2015, p. 16).

Worship is the ultimate expression we can give to something. We can give time and resources to things or to people, but the highest honor we can bestow is the gift of worship.

For example, when attending a church service, there are different types of ways we can worship. We can worship being concerned more with what people think than what God thinks. We can be concerned about what we wear or how we dress. We can even be concerned with what type of beverage we hold in our hand. None of these are inherently wrong, but they cannot take up the most important space in our lives.

The focus when attending a worship service is the worship. It is not what is done in worship that is so important but, rather, how it is accomplished. There are many physical expressions of worship, but all must come from one place—the heart. The beginning of worship is motive. It is the why of worship. Why do we serve God? Why do we take the time to worship God? What are we giving to God through our worship? Worship is the center of our being. All else flows out of that core. When we participate in a worship service, the true worshippers let worship flow from a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving to God for who He is and what He has done in the life of the worshipper. Those who do not worship truthfully are those who are there to be seen by others or who want to be seen (some might call it showing off). This can come about by placing more value in their talent or stature than in who they have come to worship.

Real worship comes from the heart. Anybody can sing, but when the motive of worship is pure, that same singing becomes a beautiful offering given to God out of a pure heart. The sense or the scent or the fragrance of that offering becomes beautiful and fragrant in God’s sight.

The Apostle Paul talks about a fragrant offering in the book of Philippians when he tells the Christians in Philippi how their sacrificial offering to him was viewed. He says, [the gifts] are the fragrant aroma of an offering, an acceptable sacrifice which God welcomes and in which He delights (Philippians 4:18 AMP). When an offering is given out of a heart of pure worship, the fragrance of that offering is sweet and attractive.

If we could smell, on any given Sunday, the fragrance of worship from each person around us, what would be the aroma? What would the odor of our worship smell like?

Abraham’s Call to Sacrifice Isaac

Abraham lived his life flowing from the rich worship relationship he had with God. It was out of this close connection with God that Abraham was asked to