Worship is a form of prayer that focuses on praising God for who He is. Only God is worthy of our worship, praise and worship songs, all other worship is strictly forbidden in the Bible. Worship and praise of God is often done in response to meeting God or receiving answers to prayer and therefore wanting to praise him for his love, holiness and greatness. Worship is not the mechanical performance of religious rites or the singing of certain songs, but the attitude and response of the heart to God.
Bible Verses
“2Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” (Ps 95:2–3)
“14(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),” (Ex 34:14)
“10Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”” (Mt 4:10)
“11And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.” (Mt 2:11)
“9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Php 2:9–11)
“8And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” 9And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.” (Re 4:8–10a)
“7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8“ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”” (Mt 15:7–9)
“46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Ac 2:46–47)
Study Questions
- How do you worship God?
- How often should a Christian, individually or in fellowship, worship God?
- What happens if a Christian never worships God?
- What can be an obstacle to genuine worship?
- How is it that we Christians worship Jesus Christ if only God can be worshipped?
Additional Bible Verses
Ps 96:4-5, Deut 10:12, Jn 4:23