The Right Kind of Worship

When Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman He says, "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." I wonder if I'm offering this kind of worship to God.

The first thing I do everyday is to brush my teeth. I can't start my day without brushing. I brush for around two minutes and before I realize it, I'm finished. Another important part of my routine everyday is to meet my chirpy buddies in the bus on the way to college. If I was on holiday, then I have to speak to them over phone at least. Now the process of meeting my friends and talking to them is routine, but it doesn't stop there, it is an experience. A beautiful one.

When I go to sleep I don't dream about the smell of the toothpaste or the mouthwash; but rather I dream about the new joke that my friends would have to tell.

It is very important that the first thing we do every morning is to read God's Word and pray.Though I am not always very regular, I cherish the times when I go to God in the morning and say; "I so happy to know that I'm important to You. Everything that's important to you, is important to me, I surrender this day to you!!!". Certain days would be so beautiful, that I would spend the whole day dreaming about the time I had in prayer.

But off lately I've been thinking, my meeting with God in the morning, my times of worship; Is it an experience? or Is it like "brushing"? Am I doing because I have to do it or because I love to do it?Do I pray because I love the experience of talking to God, or because it is a task on my routines check-list?Am I conscious every moment that I spend in prayer or is it finished before I even realize it?

Have you become emotionally unstable?Are you struggling with other relationships? Are you suddenly becoming increasingly judgemental?Do you see any major negative behavioural changes in you? Are you increasingly being confronted with fear? Then I guess its time for a ' MASTER check-up' .

If JESUS no longer fascinates you, and 'salvation' no longer fills your heart with gratitude, then you need to sort things out, and find out what's going wrong where.

God detests superficial worship. And if we've got into any kind of pattern, we need to cry out, " Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me"(Psalm 51:11) and see to it that we're out of it before it annoys God any further.

"At least I'm praying every day.. Isn't that good enough?" " Not at all.. Jesus did not die on the cross to get us to be glued to a routine. This paramount sacrifice was done so that He can have a thriving relationship with us, share His heart and transform the dying world through us. But when we start becoming satisfied with a superficial 'hi-bye'. None of the intended purposes of God are fulfilled in our lives.

Making a relationship beautiful, requires hard work.Maybe, I could tell you some things that I've tried whenever I've felt that my connection is starting to deteriorate;

• Avoid talking unnecessarily with everyone else until my talking with God resumes to normal.
• I try writing love songs to Jesus (I don't know poetry or much of music!!!) so that I can arouse my flesh to submit to God's spirit. (Only God can hear these songs!!)
• Consciously start conversations with God while commuting, or in the bath, or doing something wherein your not totally involved.
• I put up posters on my room.
• Listen to good Christian music.
• Meditate on the Majesty of God and His Sacrifice for the sake of love.
• I meditate on the stupid things I've done in the past, and wonder if I can really afford to continue to ignore His great love towards an insignificant, imperfect person like me.
• Every time I say Hallelujah or Praise the Lord, I pause for a moment and think about a specific gift God has given me and I praise Him for that, in particular. This keeps me from vainly repeating these profound words of worship.

Doing these stuff only acts like a catalyst to ultimately get us to the Word and back to our knees with a renewed love and a fresh commitment. When God sees the kind of effort that we put in, He will honour us, and strengthen our relationship with Him.

Talking about work.. God put a lot of effort to make the relationship right.. He gave up His Life.

Do we deserve this?
Are we giving Him the attention and honour that He really deserves? or Can we?

Isaiah 29:13
....These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me....
Psalm 4:5
Offer sacrifices in the right spirit,and trust the Lord.
1 Corinthians 3:10
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.