A Heart for Worship by Jason Phelps

A Heart for Worship
By Jason Phelps, Director of Worship and Arts

Worship. We all have our own thoughts and opinions when we hear that word. For some of us, we think of the Sunday gathering, maybe how we worship at Oikos or maybe you recall the liturgy of your youth. For others, we identify with the Apostle Paul that worship is how we live our lives in obedience to the Lord as a spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1). All of those are worship; none more correct than the other, and each has a place in our lives. I wanted to take this opportunity to share my heart with you about the word "worship."

Before I share what’s on my mind, read these Psalms and allow the Lord to speak to you about worship:

"Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name." - Psalms 103:1

"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water." - Psalms 63:1

"I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land." - Psalms 143:6

"Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." - Psalms 95:6

For many years I’ve wrestled with what it looks like to worship (you mean the worship leader doesn’t know how to worship?!). Well, not exactly, but the Lord has recently been speaking to me more about who He is and who He says I am. This has brought me into a place of unrest because I know I must move forward and face my fear if we want to see breakthrough. You see, I’ve always secretly been envious of others who can worship God so freely without a care in the world—a whole being who is consumed with the Father. You have maybe seen these people: eyes closed, hands raised, maybe even kneeling with a hand on their heart. We don’t see this worshipful expression much in the Lutheran Church, but this is what’s happening within my heart most Sundays. So this is my confession: I’m holding back.

Re-read the Psalms above. What picture do you see? What is the Lord showing you? Has He placed a desire in your heart to worship Him more intimately? Are you holding back? I hold back because I’m embarrassed and even find myself on occasion worshiping silently and vicariously through other worship leaders whom I watch on YouTube at night in my home, wishing I had the courage to worship the way they do.

There’s not one way to express yourself in worship, but as your intimacy with the Father deepens, you may find yourself desiring to worship God differently. I’m not telling you how to worship, but I am telling you not to hold back. Will you join me on this journey? Perhaps we can wrestle through this together.