Worship Is More Than a Song!Sample

Day 1: It's all Worship!

My wife, Anita, and I found ourselves in a season where we were wearing many hats in our small local church. There was a time when every Sunday, for almost an entire year, we would arrive at the church building about an hour and a half before service began and leave about two hours afterwards. We had no volunteers back then. We would walk into the empty building, turn on the lights, arrange the chairs, set up the sound system, the music instruments, adjust the microphones, and set up the pulpit for the service. We would carefully prepare the sanctuary so everything would be ready when people walked in. After the setup was completed, we would both then step onto the stage, would sing in the choir, and I would play keyboard during worship. It was a lot of responsibility, and there were times when I wrestled with the frustration of having no help. One weekend, a guest pastor sat down with us after the service. As we shared our prayer request for volunteers, I opened up about our struggle doing everything with no help every Sunday. I said, “We do all the work, set up, and then we go into worship.” He gently responded, “You’ve separated the setup from worship. In God’s eyes, it’s all worship before, during, and after.” That moment shifted my perspective, and I began to understand the true heart of worship. Worship is expressing our love and gratitude to God for who He is, what He’s done, and what He’s promised to do (Mark 12:30). We were made to worship, and across all cultures, we see evidence of it, people bow, raise hands, sing, and sacrifice. However, worship isn’t just singing; it’s about what occupies your heart. If you don’t worship God, something else will take His place, like money, power, fame, relationships, or even yourself.

The Bible warns in Romans 1:25 that people “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped created things.” That’s why true worship begins when we center our hearts back on God. Matt Redman, a worship leader in England, tells how his pastor taught his church the real meaning of worship. To demonstrate that worship is more than singing, the pastor banned all singing in their services for a period while they learned to worship in other ways. By the end of that time, Matt had written the classic song “Heart of Worship” with the lyrics.

I’ll bring You more than a song.
For a song in itself is not what
You have required.
You search much deeper within,
Through the way things appear;
You’re looking into my heart.
I’m coming back to the heart of worship,
And it’s all about You, All about You Jesus.

That’s the key! Worship is everything you do for God. Worship is about our hearts. It’s about making God the center of everything.

Reflection:
What are you worshiping today? Is it God, or something that has taken His place?

Prayer:
Lord, help me return to the heart of worship. Strip away distractions so I can worship You fully with my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Amen.