ICS Daily Devotions
Worship vs Praise
1 Corinthians 14:15 (NKJV) What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
One of the greatest secrets of worship is how it differs from praise. When we praise the Lord, we will ourselves to praise Him by offering our lips of praise, but we don’t will ourselves to worship. Instead, the spirit of worship must come into a meeting place and upon us and worship will come spontaneously. It will help when we sing songs that are simple and easy to sing, because complicated lyrics will distract us from worshipping. We should just use a simple chorus and adore Him in simplicity so that one can be lost in worship.
As you sing during the phase of worship, sing simpler songs, and the spirit of worship will come naturally. You won’t need anybody to tell you to “worship God” because your hearts, souls and minds will be adoring Him and soaking in His presence. In worship, you are focusing on the person of God, who He is and not what He does.
John 7:38 (NKJV) He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
There is a river within us. Jesus said out of our hearts will flow rivers of living water. We need to let the river flow out of us through songs of worship and adoration in the Spirit. The living water has to be a flowing river because there is no life in stagnant water, and we need to let it flow by yielding to the Holy Spirit.
The purpose of vibrant praise is to distract us from our worldly concerns and focus on the power of God, but we worship with our hearts and sing in the spirits out of the overflow. The worship segment of the service is the time when our spirits reach out to the Spirit of God—it is worshipping God from the depths of our hearts. It is intimate and deep and it involves our entire beings. Worship comes from the inner depths of our hearts where the spirit man is located. God longs for us to worship Him in spirit. The deep calling out to the deep.
We need to make room for the glory, and we must not hurry. Sometimes, it is simply singing a chorus for one or two more times, and we won’t be shouting or rejoicing in the glory realm. The musicians, worship leaders and the ministers should learn to flow and pace themselves in the realm of the glory. Soaking in the presence of God when the glory falls is a time between you and God only.
Sermon Series: ICS Worship Culture (Part 2)
