Worship in Hebrew is the word "Shabach" which means to prostrate yourself in homage to God, To bow down, to submit. This means you don't worship God with a proud countenance!
Worshipping God should be with a humble and respectful attitude — your attitude matters! Worship must be expressed outwardly by your physical posture. Most people have this erroneous belief that worship should be slow and praise should be fast, No! Praise Acknowledges the works of God, Worship acknowledges the person of God.
Isaiah 6:3-4 "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke."
When you sincerely worship God, God responds! The response is the Glory. Worship loosens the seal of revelation. When your worship does not reach God there can be no revelation. Often times, our lack of acceptable worship is what keeps God's presence from manifesting.
Worship is a sacrifice, it can be accepted and can be rejected. What we call worship in the new testament, was called "sacrifice" in the old testament. The function of the priest In the old testament was to minister unto God, The priest was the one that offered the sacrifice. God wanted us to continue offering sacrifices to him through worship, but not with physical things but in spirit and in truth, no wonder Bible says in Revelation 5:10 "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."
In order to ensure that the believer reigns on earth, He has made us Kings and Priests. Kings so we can minister unto men, Priests so we can minister unto God. A believer that wants to host the Glory of God must recognize his office as a priest not just a king. You've been called to worship God full time.
Acceptable worship is one that involves your Body, Soul and Spirit! In the old testament when God would have them build the temple, He told them to partition the temple into the outer court, the inner court and the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies is where the Ark of covenant dwells, this was where God resided. Only the priest had access to it. You see the temple typifies many things, one of those things is the Christian. Because the Christian has now become the temple of God.
1 Corinthians 3:16 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"
In like manner, the believer has The Outer court which is the body, The inner court which is the soul, and the Holy of Holies which is the spirit! Only Christians that have recognized their office as priests can offer worship birthed from the spirit! Worship therefore involves your body so scripture says present your body as a living sacrifice Holy and acceptable to God. Worship involves your soul/mind so scripture says to pull down every imagination, every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ. Worship involves your spirit, so scripture says "The hour has come and now is the time that those that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth" you don't jump inside it, it starts with your body, then your mind, then your spirit! It's a progression. This is what the priestly Christian must understand. (Anticipate the teaching - The Believer's priesthood for clearer explanation).
Worship reveals where God is — a place called "there".
Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
If you want to know where God is, you must worship him "there". Your "there" is wherever you are. In the old testament, the place called "there" was their place of encounter. Most times God chooses the location of this place, if you find yourself there, good for you.
For Adam, it was Eden. For Jacob, it was Bethel. For Gideon, it was under the oak tree. But in the new testament, God says The purpose remains the same but the plan has changed, the purpose was that there be a location where His Shekinah descends and men can experience His Presence. The plan then was this location could only exist wherever He so pleases.
But now, the plan has changed. The plan now is, Let the men themselves determine the "there" for wherever it is they worship me in spirit and in truth. I WILL BE THERE!
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