I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about worship. As this friend was talking about the purpose of worship, I wanted to scream out, ’You don’t get it… You don‘t get it at all!’ In the course of our conversation, I realized that many in the body of Christ think that the reason we worship is to get something from God. We come together, and when He is flattered by our praise then we can ask Him to do things for us, like change our city and heal our bodies, and get prophetic words from the revelatory realm. There are pastor/teachers who think it’s a warm up for the Word; a preparing of hearts so that the message they’re about to preach can be heard and received. All that is the benefit of worship; it is NOT the purpose!

THE REASON WE WORSHIP IS BECAUSE HE’S WORTHY! HE’S MAGNIFICENT AND FULL OF SPLENDOR! HIS BEAUTY IS BEYOND DESCRIPTION, AND HIS LOVE FOR US OUTWEIGHS ANY TREASURE WE COULD HAVE ON EARTH! HE HAS PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE IN ORDER TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH US! HE’S WORTH LIVING FOR AND DYING FOR! HE OWES US NOTHING, AND WE OWE HIM EVERYTHING! WE WORSHIP HIM TO LOVE HIM! THAT’S IT! NOTHING ELSE!

When we praise, we recount His mighty deeds. This reminds us of who He is and who we are to Him. When we worship, we come to adore Him and to gaze upon His beauty. When the praises change into worship we begin to give ourselves to Him, the Object of our Affection, in absolute devotion. There are times when my daughter was younger that she would come to me all sugary sweet, and I know that she wanted to get something from me. Most of the time I didn't mind, after all she was a young girl. If this continued after she became an an adult I would have considered this behavior manipulation. I still love to give my daughter things because I love her. I love her all the time, and I want to give her things all the time!  How much more does our heavenly Father want to give us things. He’s already given us His greatest treasure, Jesus. Why would He withhold anything else from us?

There is a scriptural link to the intermingling of worship and intercession. In recognizing this, we need discern the purpose of the moment. There are times to worship, and there are times for intercession. Let’s not use our times of worship to get stuff from Father. There are plenty of times for asking. There are far fewer times for allowing our hearts to be joined to the One who spoke the heavens into existence and breathed life into the earth. Let’s first and foremost come together in worship to tell of His glorious works, to tell of what He’s done and to exalt who He is. Let’s tell of His incredible attributes. In the telling, we will be reminded of who He is and who we are to Him. Let’s sing of His relentless, immeasurable love and mercy. Let’s lay ourselves down in wholehearted devotion rekindling love’s flame from when we first believed. Let’s gaze on His beauty and enjoy being with Him. When we are done with all this… maybe later… there will be time for asking.