How Do You Worship and Why???

Great question.

I anxiously read the article and looked forward to reading the comments, except there wern't any. I'm waaaaaay out of the target range, so I thought I'd bump the article back to the front and look for some response.

T-man

God is the creator of all things. My husband and I attend the Lord's church on Sunday morning and night as will as Wednesday night. We both teach classes on Sunday morning me the 3 and 4 year olds, my husband junior high school. After class we all meet together in the auditorium where we fellowship, have communion, a serman and sing praises to the Lord. We find that we are the happiest when we make God the center of our life. God is our Rock that we build our lives on.

If you can convince people that there's an invisible man living in the sky, you can convince them of anything.

Hey I think I"m in the target range How do I worship? I think that I worship best when I'm by myself, singing praises or laments to God about where my soul is at that moment. Usually in the middle of the night when it's dark and I can just enjoy the peacefulness of a quiet house. I spend time singing unrecognizeable songs to my Lord praising Him for all He's done. I also worship Him by doing things for others. Whether it's cooking a meal, cleaning a bathroom, anything that I can do as a sacrifice for someone else I consider to be worship to Him. I believe that in choosing to have a positive attitude and a servants heart, it is like a sweet melody that rises up to the heavens to Him. Why do I worship? Because it is the only way I feel truly connected to God. It is my time to praise Him, to bear my soul and be filled by His love for me. Especially on days when i feel like I have nothing to give, He fills me to the utmost in the few praises that I can bring him.
~ck
ps~ they need to add spellcheck to the blog page.... hehe worhsip

If you can convince people that there's an invisible man living in the sky, you can convince them of anything

OK--Who do you worship or what ? And the how do you do it? OR if you were just going to describe what you think worship is how would you
JOA

thanks for your input--yes-my spelling is marginal

We find that we are the happiest when we make God the center of our life.

Why do you think that is?

JOA

Because no matter what is happening in our lives (good or bad) we know that as long as we stay close to God that He has promised that He would work all thing work out for the good. We have been through many of the bad times and have found that He has held true to his promises. With God you have a great peace of know that this life here on earth in not the end but just the beginning!

I don't really worship anything. I don't believe in any sort of supreme being, and there isn't a lot I would value more than human life. I just try not to think about it

there isn't a lot I would value more than human life

Thanks for your comments everyone. I just wonder latour999, how do you express that value in your life. I am trying to get away from worship in the traditional sense and I guess I have a hypothesis, and tht is mearly that everyone exalts somthing in their life. You've state the most valuable thing is human life. How does that play into your decision making (besides that you probably haven't killed anyone lately)

Is worship just for church or is there something more that is meant for all of life. I once heard that the words "worship" and "service" were in their origins one in the same. Is it possible then that most of the worship in our lives comes in decidion making on a day to day basis-----

Am I nuts????????
JOA

How do I worship? Anywhere and everywhere. In private without doing it for others to see or know, or hear. This is my time with him and I give him my full attention. My favourite place is in the shower. I've had many a moment there.

I've not been to a church physically in more than a year and that hasn't bothered me at all because I don't have to be in a church to prove my love or faithfulness or fellowship.

We all worship, whether we worship God, or something else. Think about it. What comes first in your life? What takes up the majority of your time? For some it is God. For others it is money... career... fame. Maybe it's self. Maybe it's a spouse or children.

As far as worship of God goes, worship is definitely not restricted to Sunday morning. It's a way of life. Everything I do, I try to do as if for God. I worship with my voice - singing praises, speaking my adoration to God. I worship with my hands - when I serve someone else, when I reach out to encourage another - basically, being the hands and feet of God. I worship with my heart - offering myself as a sacrifice of praise to God. That means being willing to let Him have control and use me as He sees fit. Not easy, and not always accomplished, thanks to my selfish nature. But when I get out of the way and let go of MY plans to allow Him to accomplish His purposes in me... there is peace and joy in that, and I believe... true worship.

My favourite place is in the shower. I've had many a moment there.

Me too!

(The good thing about double entendres is that one side is usually deep.)

I've not been to a church physically in more than a year

Me too. The spirit within is what really counts, and the Church is the body, after all.

I've not been to a church physically in more than a year Me too. The spirit within is what really counts, and the Church is the body, after all.

True... God communicates individually with His children, and we are all the body of Christ. Yet I still can't get away from that admonishment to "forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, all the moreso as you see the day approaching." If God said it, He had a purpose for it and it's important.

Thanks for your comments everyone. I just wonder latour999, how do you express that value in your life. I am trying to get away from worship in the traditional sense and I guess I have a hypothesis, and tht is mearly that everyone exalts somthing in their life. You've state the most valuable thing is human life. How does that play into your decision making (besides that you probably haven't killed anyone lately)

Well, I just try to make the decision that causes the least amount of harm. For example, I could punch someone or I could not. Punching someone would cause unnecessary harm, therefore I don't do it. It's hard to explain the thought process that goes through basic decision making in typing.

We all worship, whether we worship God, or something else. Think about it. What comes first in your life?

A very interesting point. I think one of the things that complicates the concepts that surround worship is the religious jargon that we tend to express our ideas in. The question "What comes first in your life?" or as latour 999 expressed the highest value in life really touches the essence of our worship.

The how I suppose is in the ways we demonstrate that value in our lives.

I worship with my voice - singing praises, speaking my adoration to God. I worship with my hands - when I serve someone else, when I reach out to encourage another - basically, being the hands and feet of God. I worship with my heart - offering myself as a sacrifice of praise to God. That means being willing to let Him have control and use me as He sees fit. Not easy, and not always accomplished, thanks to my selfish nature

What I say, what I do and who I am

This is my time with him and I give him my full attention

another interesting aspect --- the paying of attention to. In this day and age you have to have quite a product to warrent someones full attention. Are there any other thoughts about "paying attention"?
JOA

We all worship, whether we worship God, or something else. Think about it. What comes first in your life?

Hmmm. The only thing that I can honestly say comes first in my life is my family. I guess that means I worship my family.

Otherwise, there is absolutely nothing else.

I'm not a Christian, nor a Jew, nor a Muslim. The God I worship has no Name. How do I worship? By abandoning myself, and my concerns, my needs, my wishes, and my desires. That's hard to do, even after twenty-odd years of practice, and I imagine it will be especially hard to do for the age range you specify. But I've found it opens doors I wasn't even aware existed.

As to the anile comments of Iconoclast...

The fool hath said in his heart there is no God.

Leave a fool to his folly, as you would a dog to its vomit.

As a senior citizen, and a realist, I have definite ideas about God and HIs place in our lives. These are views I keep to myself ,however, and/but I can say that I do worship a good being who has held my hand every day for years (a discussion on my views would take hours). In fact it would not have bee n possible to overcome a crippling illness without Him (that was long-term).

On the other hand (being the realist again), I do not worship in church as a)I do not want to share a pew with hypocrites,b)do not want to listen to sermons telling me what I already know, and c)find the church weak in its philosophies and its leadership.

Perhaps I'm a hypocrite too but I don't see the need for constant whingeing about my sins when the church (most), could be doing more for the poor.

So, I do have a faith but I would not make a good teacher of faith. I do pray and mostly for others not as fortunate as me;I do try to give to the poor;I do try to sympathise with others and be nice to them:Ergo, I'm a private Ch ristian.
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worship in the traditional sense

I'm not so certain what the "traditional sense" is?

I suppose when I first began worshiping God, I had to, like Icon mentioned, believe God existed, and that He existed as an entity rather than a person or thing.

I consider worshiping to be a more spiritual thing rather than a group or religious thing. I figure, how can you worship something as a group if you dont know how to relate to the thing you're worshiping personally as an individual.

I talk to God today, just as I learned fundamentally that to worship, you need to be able to communicate with your worship"ee".

I had to learn when I worship God, that 1) I talked to him in my mind, and 2) that God dosent speak to me personally in a voice or by using human speech. I visualize the events of Christ's, life as I mentally talk to God. Then, at some point, let it be instantly or some future moment, I would receive God's reply, generally in the form of a thought (like; serendipity, moments of instant wisdom, instant understandind...etc).

The more I talk to God as I grow older, the stronger my connection with Him becomes.

If I were to advise anybody how to worship God it would be to: 1) Know that God is in fact out there and that He DOES hear everything you address to Him. 2) That it's what you're thinking in your head that God hears when you address Him, even if you speak aloud. He knows whats in your heart, and you can not try to trick Him with your toungue. (I NEVER make promises to God, or try to "bargain" with Him) 3) Do not expect to always, if ever, have a conventional conversation with God, as you would with another person. It may be like this for you, but it never has been so with me. I expect my anwsers from God to be absolute, that arrive as instentaneous thoughts of complete understanding; some of which will continue on at various points in my life (what I mean to say here is that I will recieve an answer to my prayer, but perhaps at that moment I'm not ready for the entire or complete answer and that will come to me at various stages latier on).

Yeah, you need to talk to God as an individual if you ever plan to worship in a community environment.

Citizen)EmperorofIceCreamDecember 25, 2006 11:34:22

So YOU'RE the troll who's been dredging up old articles.

The quote I used is just as valid as the one you used.

Worship to me is both done personally and corporately. We see Jesus worshipping with his disciples and without them. We see the same later with the disciples. They were worshipping as a group of 120 for 10 days before Pentecost in Acts.

We were never ever called to be lone ranger Christians. God wants us to be surrounded with fellow worshippers for encouragment, strength and protection. I can see how this works as I see the happenings all around me. Those that fall away struggle much more with their spiritual and physical lives than they have to. Now there are times when going off by ourselves (for a short while) to concentrate more fully on God alone is a good thing. We must be careful tho, Satan loves to divide and conquer. That's when he does his best work. We see this in the temptation of Christ. Here's another example.

I'm seeing two families now falling apart. The men are upstanding and well thought of in the community holding high positions here. Both were too busy for church having other things that took them away most Sundays. They came occasionally but never really got involved much. The Pastor spoke to both in the past warning them about what he saw down the road for them. They were fine they said.

Fast forward about two years later. I saw one of these men walk out of church this past Sunday with tears in his eyes. He looked away from me when he walked out. The Pastor saw him and took him aside to pray with him and to encourage him. He has been now coming faithfully these past few months with his youngest daughter. His two older HS girls are going astray and it's pretty bad.

The other Dad, left his family two days before Christmas. He has a beautful family and was brought up in church his whole life. This is a shocker for all. Both men fell away from worship both individually and corporately. The effect has trickled down to their families.

Worshippng God is what we were created to do. God's greatest attribute is Love. He created us to love us. In return he wishes us to love HIM back. Sometimes we worship something else. That's when we get into trouble and pay the consequences. If not now, later.

Great thoughts X---. Thanks. Fresh, real, loved your last point about never finding corporate worship without developing a personal relationship first

So YOU'RE the troll who's been dredging up old articles.

The quote I used is just as valid as the one you used.

leave the drama elsewhere Ic_

joa