Revised: 4/1/2023
May 22, 2022- I rise out of bed and start my routine in the morning. I go straight to the bathroom, but sometimes I go to the basement first to ensure that the fuses for the hot water heater have stayed put. Unbelievably, this is a regular occurrence in my house. I brush my teeth and comb my hair. Then I take my (hopefully) hot shower, get washed, and dried off. I put lotions and creams on my face and body to prevent my skin from looking like an alligator’s skin.
Breakfast? Who has time for that, especially since I just spent an hour (or more) in the bathroom? So, coffee is brewed, and I pour myself a cup and grab some toast. I go to the kitchen and sit at the table. There, you will find my Holy Bible and a notebook. One day I was praying here, and the word "Worship" came to me. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Not the word itself but the sudden realization that I did not know how to worship.
The Samaritan Woman
My mind and spirit went to the story of "the Samaritan woman" in John 4:1-26. In this account, Jesus had arrived in a city named Sychar which was in Samaria. His discipleshttps://www.coffeeandcross.com/post/worshiping-101 went into the city to buy food, and Jesus Christ was on a mission to bring salvation to this woman and her people. Jesus had journeyed from Judea and sat by a well. The Samaritan woman had arrived to draw water from the well. Jesus asks her for a drink, sparking a conversation between the woman and Jesus Christ. Eventually, He tells her this, "But the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." (John 4:25).
Photo Credit: Wix Media
How to Worship
The act of worshipping is found throughout the Holy Bible. We first read this with Abraham in Genesis 22:5. But we still need to learn how to worship. In Genesis 24, we read that Abraham’s servant was tasked to find a wife from Abraham’s country. The servant goes to Abraham’s homeland and prays to God at a well:
Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.
A beautiful young woman named Rebekah does this very thing. After conversing with the servant and Rebekah, verse 26 says he “bowed his head and worshipped the Lord. From this chapter, we partially know how to worship.
Psalm 95 is more detailed on how to worship God:
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.
Psalm 95:1-7
Of these two passages, the act of worship is the same; bow down/kneel and start worshiping the Lord (Genesis 24, 26, 48, and 52, and Exodus 4:31, 12:27, and 2 Chronicles 29:30). Sing praises to Him when you bow down (Psalm 95:1). Exalt Him. God loves you and wants to hear from you through prayer and worship. Why? For the reasons cited in the Samaritan woman," for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." (John 4:23). Hallelujah!
Why Worship?
You may recall Jesus Christ telling Satan to go away after he tells Jesus to worship him. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells Satan, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve.'" (Matthew 4: 10). Deuteronomy 6:18 tells us to "do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord that it may be well with you."
The Holy Bible tells us that God hears the prayers of the righteous. Look at what the Holy Bible says in the Gospel of John, “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.” (John 9:31). These words were spoken by a man that was healed from his blindness by Jesus. Finally, Jesus Christ told the Samaritan woman, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24).
Where to Worship
In the Old Testament, we see references to worshiping in various places but many times in the temple or facing the temple. Yet, in the New Testament, the first act of worship is found in the Gospel of Matthew, which discusses the events of the three wise men that came to Bethlehem to worship Jesus Christ when He was born. The Holy Bible says,
And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11
When God sent His only Son, Jesus fulfilled the laws and the prophets under the Old Testament. In the account of the Samaritan woman, Jesus tells her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father." (John 4:21).
I have already mentioned other pieces of this passage. Let us put them together now to understand something:
Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
(John 4:21-24)
The Samaritan woman responded to Jesus, telling Him she knew that "Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things."
Jesus told her, "I who speak to you am He." (John 4:26).
Jesus would fulfill the law ("the hour is coming") through His crucifixion and resurrection. His people would no longer need to worship at specific places nor sacrifice for the repentance of their sins. Therefore, we can worship where we please. Jesus Christ was provided as the ultimate sacrifice to forgive us of our sins and to allow us to pray and speak directly to God through Jesus Christ.
If that is not worthy of praise and worship, I do not know what it is. All I can ask is, "Are you ready to start worshiping God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit?" I know I am!
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