I find that through the years my favorite way to praise and connect with Jesus is through intimate interaction. As a very small child I was approached at the local Fair by a person at a little church’s booth and asked Jesus into my heart. I began to attend their little church via the bus, but my parents never came. After a while I was able to convince my best friend and neighbor to come too, but eventually gymnastics won out for her and I was alone on the bus again. After a while I just fizzled out. But I had received a gift by that time that I have carried with me and treasured through the years. I suppose you could call that gift prayer, but for me it is so much more than that. I began to develop this deep, intimate conversation life with God at that young age, and it has blossomed into a beautiful connection with him that I return to time and time again. It was him who I fell asleep with every night. It was him who I turned to in times of need. It was him who I rushed to in my depression growing up. This has built a strong foundation that I believe goes beyond prayer, into worship as well. He is present when I sing to him, he is there when I choose to acknowledge him, he is there when I think of Him. I often feel his presence but not always with the same intensity. I treasure this connection and find that I even use it in corporate worship times in the church fellowship through music. Those times aren’t really community times for me most of the time, but rather another opportunity to stop and get intimate with Jesus again.
How do you worship? I mean, worship has many, many faces, and means many things. How do you best worship Jesus? What is your favorite way to praise Him? Is it an intimate experience, or more of a group or community experience? I would love to hear ways people are sharing their hearts with Jesus. There are a lot of books out there exploring different ways of worshiping, some hearkening back to ancient practices, liturgies, and even songs. So what about you?
For me, worship is NEVER about me, but instead about joining in the Divine Presence of Christ with others in sacrifice. My own needs and wants *must* be sacrificed to duty, or else it isn’t worship. As the great prayer states, not my will, but God’s will be done.
That’s what I find suspicious about those who have “left church” often- in them I see a failure in the duty to love one’s enemies, or even, for that matter, to love the “boring middle class” people.
I would never use the word “duty” to talk about the growing of the fruits of the spirit which must flow out of any genuine faith, but I agree with the essence of what Ted is saying, here. Worship, as I understand it, is fundamentally different from prayer, meditation and contemplation. It is fundamentally different because it is communal, not personal. Prayer, meditation and contemplation are the tools I use to strengthen my reconciled relationship to G-d. Worship is one of the tools I use to strengthen my reconciled relationship to my neighbors. Whether that is in a church building singing together, or in the park passing out sandwiches, or whatever circumstances it may be. The phrase “I worship G-d” is a misunderstanding. I do not worship G-d. -We- worship G-d, together, by reconciling to each other, both fellow believers and nonbelievers and “enemies” (although I would suggest that some of the goal of this reconciliation is to reach a place where the word enemy ceases to have practical meaning).
One can return to prayer, meditation and contemplation in the midst of worship. We are given two great commandments, to love G-d completely and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We are not instructed to engage in these one at a time, but with all our heart, and soul, and strength and mind. Which means all the time. We should be in prayer, reconciling to G-d in the midst of worship, reconciling to our neighbors. But we should understand that these are separate tools being used to separate purposes, not one and the same thing.