Do we have a lifestyle of worship?
I often ask myself, do I have a lifestyle of worship? When examined by others, do people notice the sweet aroma that God places in my life? True worship manifests itself in action and emanates from a heart for God. God’s presence should be evident in everything we do and having a lifestyle of worship will establish that. David had a heart for God and lived a lifestyle of worship. Pastor Ken Baugh once wrote that “David’s life revealed 5 elements that characterize a lifestyle of worship.
Those 5 elements are:
Having total confidence in God
Having a submissive spirit
Having a courageous faith
Having a raw passion for God
Having a contrite heart
Let’s break down those 5 elements together, the “first element was David had total confidence in God.” When David was facing off against Goliath, he had total confidence that God would deliver him. God prepared David ahead of time by delivering him from a lion and a bear (1 Samuel 17:37). God showed Himself faithful to David and David learned to rest in Gods faithfulness. We cannot properly worship God if we do not have confidence in His faithfulness. We must let God be God and take over our lives greatest moments. We must learn to surrender our control, impatience and fear over to Him in all circumstances, so that we can learn to rest in His presence. When we do this we will see Gods love manifested to us in a supernatural way. Over time we will begin to rely upon His faithfulness like David did and begin to have total confidence in God.
The second element was that David had a submissive spirit. Without a submissive spirit David could not have a life-style of worship with God. When David had the opportunity to kill Saul, he chose not to take Saul’s life, but rested in Gods timing. David was mindful that God has perfect timing in all things and to submit to His leadership was the very best way. David realized God was preparing him and that nothing good could come from David taking control. David knew God called him to be king, but to take it by force was not Gods will. God designed each of us for a specific purpose and to desire to be something we were not created to be is not a submissive spirit. We cannot have a lifestyle of worship without submitting to Gods perfect way. I heard a story once of a child being told to sit down and the child responded saying, fine I will sit down but I am standing up inside. Let’s not be that child that is standing up inside but submit to God in our everything so that we can have a lifestyle of worship.
The third element is that we need to have a courageous faith. David was a man of faith that was grounded in hope. Hebrews 11:1 says “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” David had learned that through fellowship with God that God was a good God and when tragedy happened, his faith which was grounded in hope got him through most days. He wrote many Psalms demonstrating His faith in a loving God. Our submissive lifestyle will strengthen our faith and hope in God. This will give us courage to battle hard circumstances while establishing in us a lifestyle of worship.
The fourth element of a lifestyle of worship emanates from a raw passion for God. When life circumstances don’t go our way we are given two options. The first is, we can figure out what to do while becoming more miserable as we do so or we can surrender it to the Lord by drawing near to Him and believing upon His promises. To surrender to God consistently will create in us a raw passion for God. Many believers do not have this raw passion because their lifestyle in surrendering over circumstance is inconsistent. Whenever I lack raw passion for God I know immediately there is a lack of surrender in my life. I must stop what I am doing and draw near to God. Many do not understand this passion and have no idea how unbelievable it is to love God with a reckless abandonment. David in 2 Sam 6:21-22 Danced before God with a carefree spirit. He demonstrated this passion to the disgust of his wife Michal. Those that do not have intimacy with the Father will never understand this passion. They will mock us because of it. When God reveals His love to you in such a deep way and all you can think of is to dance before Him; His joy then invades every aspect of your being, you become radicalized with a raw passion. This fellowship of worship God desires most for us. He created us to passionately worship Him in spirit and in truth.
The last element of a lifestyle of worship is to have a contrite heart. When David was confronted by Nathan the prophet of his affair with Bathsheba, David repented and said in 2 Sam 12:13 “that he has sinned against the Lord.” David wrote of this in Psalms 51 and pleaded with God to renew a right spirit with in him. He knew his sin separated him from the goodness of God. Humility isn’t admitting others are better than us, or that we are weak and we fall short like every other person. True humility is seeing ourselves in the light of Gods goodness and holiness. God sets the standard and a contrite heart recognizes that Gods standard is the only measure in which we should view ourselves. We are created to worship Him! To not worship Him is evidence that our heart is not contrite. When confronted by anyone do we immediately want to fight to prove ourselves? Or do we see everything from the eyes of our Savior and love with brokenness regardless if we are right or wrong. A contrite spirit will allow us to have a fellowship of worship with the Father that is filled with the fruit of the Spirit. You will find yourself being kind, patient, and long-suffering and these elements can only be found in Jesus. A contrite spirit will always reflect the nature of a good God.
In closing, I pray we find ourselves desiring to have a fellowship of worship with God. That we do the things necessary to remove whatever might be hindering us from doing so. May the God of peace bless us all as we together pursue our Father in our everything.