What is the Purpose of Worship?

The goal and purpose of worship is to magnify, exalt, love and adore the only true God, Jesus Christ. In other words, worship is simply a prayer of relationship in which the created lauds and magnifies the Creator. It's our expression of His worthiness. When we worship, we join the angels, the cherubim, the seraphim, the prophets, the apostles and the host of heaven falling down on their faces and exalting the one and only true God. Listen to Revelation 7:11-12, And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen! Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen.

Seven further reasons why we worship are: Worship is the primary reason behind all creation. Its our realization of the holiness of God. It's the prescribed ritual of the Temple in the Old Testament. It's the proper response of a believer. It's the recognition of our unworthiness before God. It's the result of our fearing and reverencing God. It's the manifestation of our relationship towards God and it's what makes everything else secondary. I truly believe that if the Body of Christ were really taught how to genuinely worship, it would revolutionize the Church! Noah worshiped God, and as a result a brand new creation was born. (Genesis 6:9,18; 8:16-9:3) Abraham built an altar and worshiped the Lord and, again, a whole nation resulted. (Genesis 12:7) Moses worshiped the Lord, and because of his obedience, God freed an entire people from the bondage of slavery. (Exodus 34:1-8) Men and women who truly learn to worship can change their world! It's interesting to note that prior to Moses' revelation of God's glory on Mt. Sinai, he prayed, interceded, wept and pleaded with God, but he never worshiped. In other words, Exodus 34:8 is the first mention of him worshiping the Lord. This tells us that we too can pray, seek, weep, plead and call on the Lord, and yet never really worship. I know I did! Even though the Lord is a Spirit, He still is passionate and expresses emotion. Thus, our worship can also be emotional and passionate as we express our love for Him. Worship is not simply an act of our willpower, but an all-consuming yearning in our spirit, as well as an overflowing of our emotions of gratitude and love. Throughout the Bible, you will see the prophets, the priests and the people of God unabashedly prostrating themselves and worshiping the Lord. Consequently, worship involves all of our mental, emotional and spiritual facilities, but the specific place we worship and express our love is in our spirit. Remember John 4:23-24, "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." Thus, the purpose of worship is to adore, praise and love Him in the same nature as He is - in the spirit .

Faithful Is He Who Promised: Our external act of prostration simply denotes our inward attitude of humility and submission to His will. Worship communicates to the Lord that we are more concerned about His Being than His gifts . How often we confuse these two! We beseech the Lord for what He can give us, not simply for who He is. In other words, we worship and pray for the gift, not the Giver. I know I have certainly been guilty of this in the past.