John Randall Dennis is a composer, producer, author, speaker and worship leader. His songs has been recognized with various honors: three Gold Record Awards, a song performed for the President of the United States on prime-time TV and two Dove Awards.
Hundreds of thousands of churches around the globe conduct weekly "worship services."
Millions of "praise and worship" recordings are now sold annually.
In Psalm 51:15 David says, O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your praise." The importance of speaking forth our praise to God is echoed in Psalm 92:1-2: "It is good to give thanks to the Lord.
So for the purpose of our study I have turned to Strong's Concordance to help me distinguish ancient worship from our contemporary ideas of worship. We'll use the original name shachah.
Worship means the spirit of bowing in homage to God.
We can worship God in the face of financial ruin, in betrayal, through the destruction of divorce, or intense physical illness. We can bow down before Him, inwardly and outwardly, if we have lost a loved one or if a loved one is lost.
Authentic worship confesses in word and song, in physical expression, realities about us and about God.
Another vital feature of Hannah's worship, besides her perseverance, was her great humility.
The Magi: "We have come to worship Him."
Upon finally finding the holy family, the scriptures record that "they fell to the ground and worshipped Him.
Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11).
The Leper: "Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean."
The biblical narrative (Matthew 8:2) says: "And a leper came to Him and said, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.' "Here again, we see the theme: Worship has nothing to do with the state of the worshipper.
"Living worship" means a worship that is alive.
Wherever your temple is you can worship - because the temple is you.
Shout to the Lord - Praise His Name! Psalm 33:3
Praise Him with your pipe organs or with your praise bands, worship with your hymnals or worship with your overhead projections - but above all, worship with your spirit.
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