*For Answer Key To Fill In The Blanks Go: Here

In order to truly worship God, I believe the most important thing is to follow what Jesus called the most important commandment:

(Mk 12:30) ______________________________

If this is the MOST important commandment, wouldn’t it follow that failing to do this is the greatest SIN?

We will NEVER experience all that God has for us until we are able to TOTALLY surrender and love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. True worship flows from this total love and devotion to God. We will never fully know our Lord until we are able to be a true worshipper.

True worship is a ____________________________. It is not something that can occur for 1 hour, one day a week on Sunday. It is day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. It is a continual attitude towards God of love, praise, reverence, devotion, adoration, obedience, thankfulness, honor, submission, sacrifice, prayer, exaltation, admiration, confession, and more. We are grateful for His presence in our lives, for His unchanging nature, for keeping His promises, for His unceasing love and grace, for saving us, for His faithfulness (even when we aren’t always faithful to Him), and SO much more.

True worship requires ________________. God hates _______________ (Prov 6:16;19) (Prov 21:4)(Prov 16:18). True worship and pride cannot exist together.

(1 Pet 5:5)(James 4:6) ______________________________

(Ps 51:17)(Isa 57:15) ______________________________

We also need to come to the Lord with a ________________________, with no unconfessed and unrepentant sin coming between us and the Lord (Ps 139:23-24) (Neh 9:3).

Let’s look at (1 Cor 10:31)(Col 3:17,23) We are to: ______________________________ When we learn to worship the Lord each and every moment, it will totally change the way we live our lives. We can and will worship the Lord in our workplaces, being a “light” to others and doing our jobs to the best of our abilities. We can worship God while at school, driving in our car, doing chores around the house, shopping, and in all other areas of life.

We can also worship the Lord in our day to day lives by obeying what Jesus said is the 2nd greatest commandment (Mk 12:31)(Mt 22:39) ______________________________.

True worship is _________________. When we give something that costs nothing, it is of little value. True worship requires that we give of our _____________, ______________ (using our spiritual gifts), and ______________ (including finances).

In the Old Testament, worship and sacrifices often went hand in hand. God asked for the best from His people when they made sacrifices to Him. When people did not give their best, God rejected it. I believe this applies to our worship today as well. When we do not give God our best and all that we have in our worship of Him, I believe God finds this unacceptable. When we love God with ALL of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, ALL means ALL areas of our lives will be sacrificed to God. In fact, Paul tells us in (Rom 12:1) to “present your bodies (as) a living sacrifice to God.” That is costly… We should always remember our Lord’s warning as found in (Rev 3:16) ______________________________.

_____________ was probably the greatest worshipper of all time (except of course for Jesus). God said of him (Acts 13:22)(1 Sam 13:14)

______________________________.

Although he sinned greatly many times (including murder and adultery among others), when confronted with his sin, he was truly sorry and repentant and asked for forgiveness. After his affair with Bathsheba, and the subsequent murder of her husband to cover up his affair (2 Sam 11), David spent approximately one year in unrepentant sin. He speaks in (Psalm 32) about how miserable his life was during that time. Let’s look at this Psalm.

This was a mistake David apparently only made once in his life. David’s apology to God for his unrepentant sin is found in (Psalm 51).

(Isa 59:2)(Ps 66:18)(Jn 9:31)(1 Pet 3:12)(Prov 15:29) The Bible is very clear that:

______________________________

We cannot walk closely or worship God properly with unrepentant sin, so we need to confess our sin, repent of it, ask for forgiveness for it, and ask as David did for God to cleanse us (Ps 19:12)(Ps 51:2) and give us a clean heart (Ps 51:10).

It is also interesting to note, when we examine the Psalms, that most are not what we would call uplifting and happy. True worshippers are often forged in ____________________________. It is quite easy for many of us to worship the Lord when things are going well, but a true worshipper will praise and worship God in the midst of the storms of life. When we can do this, we will be solid and immoveable in our faith, and we can maintain the peace and joy of the Lord no matter what trials come at us. David was a great example of this in the Psalms he wrote.

As we stated earlier, God wants ALL of us, and David gave all to God. He often came to the Lord in sadness, grief, pain, loneliness, suffering, and he even questioned God at times. However, David did something most of us fail to do:

He found joy (Ps 16:11)(Ps 35:9), hope (Ps 38:15)(Ps 39:7), rest (Ps 37:7), refuge (Ps 57:1)(Ps 59:16)(Ps 62:7-8), strength (Ps 18:1-2,32,39)(Ps 27:1)(Ps 31:4) (Ps 59:17), shelter (Ps 61:3), protection (Ps 3:3)(Ps 28:7)(Ps 59:11), and trusted in the Lord (Ps 56:3-4)(Ps 55:23)(Ps 31:6)(Ps 25:2) in the midst of his trials.

He offered praise and worship to the Lord during his trials by, blessing (Ps 31:21) (Ps 41:13)(Ps 68:19,35)(Ps 103:2-3), magnifying (Ps 70:4)(Ps 40:16)(Ps 34:3), glorifying (Ps 86:12), exalting (Ps 18:46)(Ps 21:13)(Ps 34:3)(Ps 57:5,11), extolling (Ps 30:1)(Ps 68:4), delighting in (Ps 37:4)(Ps 40:8), longing for (Ps 63:1), and fearing (revering) (Ps 5:7)(Ps 22:23)(Ps 34:7,9,11) Him.

He called God good (Ps 25:8)(Ps 34:8)(Ps 86:5) whether things were good or bad.

He was thankful to God (Ps 18:49)(Ps 30:12)(Ps 35:18)(Ps 69:30). Among the many things he thanked God for were, His faithfulness (Ps 36:5)(Ps 40:10), His righteousness (Ps 7:17)(Ps 35:28), His deliverance (Ps 18:17,19,43,48,50)(Ps 55:18) (Ps 56:13)(Ps 86:13), His lovingkindness (Ps 36:7)(Ps 40:10-11)(Ps 63:3)(Ps 69:16), and for choosing him (Ps 33:12)(Ps 65:4). Is it any wonder God called David a man after His own heart?

Speaking of the heart, the Psalms make it clear that the “heart” is of great importance to God, mentioning the heart ________________. David knew the importance of having a right heart before God. The Bible tells us that God knows each person’s heart (1 Sam 16:7)(1 Chr 28:9)(1 Kin 8:39)(Acts 1:24).

Let’s look at some contrasting examples in the Bible of those who worshipped God with a right heart and those who had a wrong heart.

Let’s turn to: (Gen 4:1-7)

The offerings of Abel and Cain are the first example in the Bible of worship given to God with a right heart vs a wrong heart.

Why did God accept the offering of Abel but not Cain?

How did Cain react? He was “very wroth (angry) and his countenance fell” (Gen 4:5). He was not sorry, nor did he ask for forgiveness for his offering. In addition, when God told Cain in (Gen 4:7) “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” Cain wasn’t interested in trying to change. These actions show us that Abel had a right heart for worship and Cain did not.

Now let’s look at two examples of Mary’s worship of Jesus.

(Lk 10:38-42)

Jesus commended Mary for desiring to sit at His feet _____________________________, and gently rebuked Martha for not doing so.

(Jn 12:1-8)(Mt 26:6-13)(Mk 14:3-9)

Mary ______________________________, and dried it with her hair! This perfume was worth ______________________________!! (Mk 14:5)(Jn 12:5)
How many of US would do that??

For doing this, she was rebuked by the disciples who said she was wasting money…. They believed the money should have gone to the poor. However, Jesus commended Mary’s act of worship saying she had done “a good work upon me” (Mt 26:10), and He also said, “Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her” (Mt 26:13).

Finally, let’s look at (Mk 12:41-44)(Lk 21:1-4)

Jesus commended the act of worship of the poor widow who gave ______________________ which was worth ______________________ to the temple treasury (which was all she had), and said that was worth more than all of the other offerings that were given out of people’s abundance.

Music is a wonderful way in which to worship God.

David appears to be the person who introduced music, with singing and musical instruments into the worship of God (1 Chr 6:31)(1 Chr 9:33)(1 Chr 15:16, 19-24, 27-28)(1 Chr 16:7). Sadly… however, many people today have come to believe that listening to worship music and singing songs to the Lord makes a person a true worshipper of God. Some even believe they can’t worship God at all without music. True worship, as we have said earlier, is SO much more.

The Bible DOES exhort us to _____________(Col 3:16)(Eph 5:19)(Ps 30:4)(Isa 12:5) (Jer 20:13) and ______________ (Ps 47:6-7)(Ps 9:2)(Ps 68:4,32)(Rom 15:11) to the Lord.

In fact, it says that God ____________________________ (Ps 22:3). God loves to hear His name lifted up and exalted, and there can be power when this is done. I believe this is one of the most important functions of our churches today. Churches should be an outlet for giving back to God in worship. However, for true worshippers, the time in church should only be a small part of a whole lifestyle of worshipping God.

Note: Isn’t it wonderful that among all of the world’s major religions, only Christianity is filled with songs of praise and worship for the Lord?

     No one can be a true worshipper of the Lord without the presence of:

(Phil 3:3) ______________________________

Jesus said in (Jn 4:23-24), “true worshippers shall worship the Father in __________________.

We need both the Holy Spirit AND truth, which is God’s Holy Word in the Bible (Jn 17:17)(Ps 119:160)(1 Kin 17:24). Only born again Christians have both of these essential elements needed to be a true worshipper of God. It is said that everyone worships something.

What are some things people worship or idolize?

When people do this, they are making them more important than idolizing and worshipping God. In fact, if we are putting ANYTHING ahead of God, we are making it an idol and worshipping it. The Bible calls this a sin, saying it is (Rom 1:25) ______________________________.

Many people even worship something they consider God, but it is not the God of the Bible (truth), nor are the being led by the Holy Spirit (spirit). Without “spirit and truth” worship is unacceptable to God.

** OK, now we may get into an area of a little controversy, but I feel it is important to discuss this.

There is a great problem in the church today of “___________________________” worship. People are basing their relationship with the Lord on _______________, in worship, and in other aspects of their lives as well. Their lives go up and down based on how close they “feel” at any given moment. Much could be said about this, but we will simply focus on how this affects worship.

When we are worshipping God to “get something out of it” or make us “feel better,” we are missing the whole point of worship. It isn’t about ___________, it is about ______________. Being uplifted may be the result of offering praise and worship, but we should not be entering into praise and worship seeking to build ourselves up. Often, when this is carried to the extreme, people will run from church to church to church, seeking to find an “anointed” church that will give them an “experience.”

When we allow emotions to dictate our relationship with Him, our relationship becomes chaos. When we “feel” close, we are happy. When we don’t “feel” close, we are miserable and empty. Over and over, I have seen people who are depressed and sad because they haven’t “had” or “felt” an experience with God in a long time.

** Small rabbit trail…

We have this same parallel in our lives with our love for other people. As we said earlier, Jesus’ 2nd greatest command was to love others. We are commanded to love. Love is a ______________________________ . When we base our love on how we “feel, “our relationship with that person will go up and down. This is why we have so many divorces today. People don’t “feel,” or aren’t “in love” with their spouses anymore. We expect our spouse to “make us happy” and when they don’t we are miserable and empty. People’s relationship with God is often the same, in worship and love. However, God wants our _________________ and, not our ________________. In fact, we are told to die to ourselves (Gal 5:24)(Col 3:5)(Eph 4:22).

The Bible says in (1 Cor 14:40) that God wants things done in a way that is ___________________________, and God is not (1 Cor 14:33) _______________________. Worship that goes overboard in a church setting and is not done in a “proper and orderly way,” that might cause confusion to the non-Christian or the new believer is wrong. We should ALWAYS consider how the non-Christian might view what we are doing. Our main goal as Christians is to win the lost for the Lord. Will what they see make them want to know the Lord, or will it simply confuse and repel them?

On the other hand, (1 Th 5:19) says: ______________________________. Many churches also do this, and it is wrong as well. When people are not allowed to worship (in an orderly fashion) with some emotion, that church is dead. One cannot be a true worshipper of God with no emotion. Can we imagine David or any of the great worshippers in the Bible showing no emotion in worship?

Now, let’s look at (Mt 6:7) This is telling us that we should not pray using ______________________________.

Prayer is a form of worship, and when we ritualistically repeat the same mantras and prayers week after week in church, without even considering what we are saying (including the Lord’s prayer…), I believe God rejects this.
(I have experienced this in my own life, and I know that they just became words to me. I recited them without even thinking about what I was saying.)

(Lk 11:5-13)(Lk 18:1-8) tell us it is not wrong to: ______________________________ but it IS wrong to just pray the same things over and over without pouring our heart into it. This also applies to worship. When we give without giving our whole heart, it is not done in “truth.”

David gave us a good example of not worshipping in “truth.” or following God’s word on proper worship. Let’s look at this in (1 Chr 13).

What did David do wrong here?

Finally, I would like to look at one more aspect of David’s worship to God.

David had a heart and desire to prepare the next generation to serve and worship the Lord. Before he died, David passed on his leadership to his son Solomon and prepared two important things for him. Let’s look at these.

(1 Chr 23:1-5)

(1 Chr 22:2-5)

**Note: God would not allow David to build the Temple because he had spilled much blood (1 Chr 22:8)(1 Chr 28:3)(1 Kin 5;3).

I believe that preparing and teaching the next generation to be true worshippers of God is one of the most important aspects that we, as adults, can do as true worshippers. (Prov 22:6)(Eph 6:4)(Deut 6:7) tell us it is our responsibility to: ______________________________.

Here are some good verses to keep in mind as well:

(Ps 78:4) …Shewing to the generation to come The praises of the Lord, and his strength, And his wonderful works that he hath done.

(Ps 145:4) One generation shall praise thy works to another, And shall declare thy mighty acts.

(Ps 71:18) Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; Until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, And thy power to every one that is to come.
Also see: (Ps 22:30-31)(Joel 1:3)

We were created to worship God.

(1 Chr 16:29)(Mt 4:10)(Lk 4:8)(Rev 22:9)(Ps 95:6)(Ps 99:9) tell us that we are: ______________________________ and to (Heb 13:15)(Jer 20:13)(Rom 15:11)(Ps 117:1). ______________________________.

We are told in (1 Th 5:17) to pray (which is also worship) _____________________.

Satan HATES worship! He and his demonic forces will work with all their might to stop our worship. Do you know that even the demons believe in the Lord and tremble (Jas 2:19)? What makes us different from the demon believers? I believe there are 3 key differences:

#1. ______________________________

#2. ______________________________

#3. ______________________________

Satan and his demons will NEVER do this. Satan was cast out of Heaven because of pride. He wanted glory and worship for himself. God made him one of the chief angels, but his rebellion (as well as the rebellion of one-third of the angels) caused his downfall.

This is a debatable point, but lets go to (Ezek 28:11-19). Based on these verses, many believe Lucifer (Satan) was created to be ______________________________.
(Which may explain why he hates worship so much.)

Satan is roaming about seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet 5:8), including stopping or hindering our worship. However, as Christians, our body is God’s temple (1 Cor 3:16-17)(1 Cor 6:19-20), and the Holy Spirit lives in us. For that reason, (1 Jn 4:4) says, “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,” and (Rom 8:31) says, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Clearly, one day in Heaven, we will be praising (Rev 19:5) and singing (Rev 5:9) (Rev 14:3)(Rev 15:3) to the Lord. If we aren’t doing so here, we are certainly not prepared for Heaven.