Step 5 Worship Him
How important is worship to God? Let’s think about another question for a moment. The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and they had reached a crisis point. They cried out, God heard their cries and responded to them.
Why did he rescue them? For what purpose? To free them from slavery, obviously! Isn’t that a significant enough purpose?
The phrase “Let my people go!” has been used in song and as a rallying cry ever since the days of Moses, but when was the last time you pondered the second half of that sentence? Do you know what the second half says?
Please take a moment and read the following verses, note the order of each reference as you read.
“Then say to him, “The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.” Exodus 7:16
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.“ Exodus 8:1
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” Exodus 8:20
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” Exodus 9:1
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me” Exodus 9:13
“So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” Exodus 10:3
God wanted his people to come out of their crisis and worship him!
Has your crisis enslaved you?
Have you made time to come out of it, calm your mind, seek him and worship him?
When we are experiencing a time of intense grief, or a trial of long duration, we need the fellowship and support of other believers. We need our church family and the more intimate support of a small group or bible study. Hebrews 10:25 instructs us not to forsake gathering together as believers, reminding us to encourage each other. There may be times when we feel like our situation is too fresh and we’re not ready to return to church yet. Or our crisis may be a complex situation which requires a specific type of Christian support group to help deal with grief or addiction issues, but we still need the soul-feeding atmosphere of corporate worship. Worshiping God is an act of obedience. It meets a desire of his and a need of ours. He created us with a need to worship him. The Holy Spirit will meet us in our worship services and minister to us through the fellowship, music, and preaching of the word.
We also need times of individual worship. God spells out very specific and exact requirements in the Old Testament for the preparation and practice of worship. Jesus left great crowds of still un-healed people in order to steal away for some time alone with his Father. Clearly, worshiping God is something we also need to do at home, not just on Sundays. Do you have special preparations for your worship time? A special place or hour of the day? A favorite bible, prayer journal or notebook? How do you practice your personal worship?
Worship creates an environment in which we can find God and be aware of his presence around us. Disruption, whether emotional or physical is a challenge to maintaining a routine. But when we are obedient in planning, preparing for and making time to worship our Lord, alone and with other believers, our spirits will reap the rewards.
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!”
Psalm 95:6
“Worship the LORD in all his holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him.” Psalm 96:9