Do we really worship God?

"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" - John 4:24






I am working my way through the Gospel of John; when I came to this verse, it caused me to stop and think. As I pondered on it, I wanted to find out the meaning of the word worship. What does it truly mean, do we even know? In the church I attend, parents bring drinks and snacks into the sanctuary for their kids and themselves as well to partake of during the worship service. Children play video games on hand held electronic devices during the service, or they lay under the pews and color or play with toys; can we not teach children what reverence means? Perhaps not, especially if we do not comprehend it ourselves. I do not believe one can worship God if you have no reverence and awe of Him, this is where it starts.

I got out my Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary and looked up the word 'worship', here is what I found; from the Greek word proskyneō, meaning to fall down and/or worship. I also went to blueletterbible.org and got this definition, ' in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance {a gesture of respect, as a bow} whether in order to express respect or to make supplication.' So I wonder, when we gather to worship God, do we fall down prostrate? Do we even kneel? It would appear, at least in my church, reverence and awe are sorely lacking, so worship is not done respectfully. There is no inward worship, no giving of heart, mind and soul to the adoration of a God who is worthy, holy, sovereign, mighty, merciful, loving, faithful, trustworthy and full of grace. To worship in spirit is to worship with 'the disposition or influence which fills and governs the soul of any one, the efficient source of any power, affection, emotion, desire, etc.' {from blueletterbible.org}, this is inward, as opposed to outward religiosity which fills churches all across this globe. Here is commentary from Matthew Henry, "The stress is not to be laid upon the place where we worship God, but upon the state of mind in which we worship him. Note, The most effectual way to take up differences in the minor matters of religion is to be more zealous in the greater. Those who daily make it the matter of their care to worship in the spirit, one would think, should not make it the matter of their strife whether he should be worshipped here or there. Christ had justly preferred the Jewish worship before the Samaritan, yet here he intimates the imperfection of that. The worship was ceremonial, 10. The worshippers were generally carnal, and strangers to the inward part of divine worship.

Then there is this from gotquestions.org, "True worship is God-centered worship. People tend to get caught up in where they should worship, what music they should sing in worship, and how the worship looks to other people. Focusing on these things completely misses the point. Jesus tells us that true worshipers will worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). This means we worship from the heart and the way God has designed. Worship can include praying, reading God's Word with an open heart, singing, participating in communion, and serving others. It is not limited to one act, but is done properly when the heart and attitude of the person are in the right place. Worship can be public praise to God (Psalm 22:22, 35:18) in a congregational setting, where we can proclaim through prayer and praise our adoration and thankfulness to Him and what He has done for us. True worship is felt inwardly, and then comes out through our actions. "Going through the motions" out of obligation is displeasing to God and is done completely in vain. He can see through all the hypocrisy, and He hates it.


If one's understanding of God is shallow or superficial, their worship will reflect that; weak preaching compounds the problem. Worshiping God is an inward action that reveals itself in outward adoration and action, this worship is rooted in a proper understanding of the *attributes of God which results in deep reverence and awe. Only when we comprehend God's attributes can we have such reverence and awe, which leads to proper biblical worship. Sadly, this is more the exception than the rule in the visible church. May the Lord work in our hearts proper reverence and awe, may we understand and desire to know this God so we can worship Him just as His word says, 'in spirit and truth'.





* For those who may be interested, you can download Paul Washer's study on the attributes of God entitled "The One True God" by going here.