Friday, 11 July 2008
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Question of the Day: How Does the Holy Spirit Move You to Worship?
Whether you belong to a charismatic congregation or you attend a more tradtional church, there's usually one or two people who stand out during worship time. Some people are moved to just go all-out and express their passion for Christ through bodily worship or loud singing. Others are moved to worship quietly or feel worried about being a distraction. During the first month of college, I attended a fellowship that pressured even its visitors to worship in an "obvious" way, for lack of a better term. As someone who is moved by the Holy Spirit to worship quietly, I felt very uncomfortable when the leader grabbed by arms and forcibly moved them up and down while instructing me to sing and pray more loudly! Needless to say, I didn't return.
So the question is, how does the Holy Spirit move you to worship when among the body of believers? Have you ever felt (or received) pressure to worship in a way that disagreed with you?
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Comments (27)
N o one but the Holy Spirit should tell you how to worship. I am a quiet worshiper, myself. Just because I don't raise my arms and belt out does not mean I'm not "into" worshiping. All my focus is still on Christ. That should be what matters.
There are both charismatic and quiet worshipers in my church.
I think it's wrong to try to force people into outward expressions of worship. We should be concerned about the heart, and not the expression.
That said, I think it's important that we realize that joyful, expressive worship is all over scripture. In fact, in many places, it's commanded.
Psalm 27:6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Psalm 47:1 "Clap your hands, all you nations, shout to God with cries of joy."
Psalm 88:1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Psalm 149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.
I can definitely relate to you in that I'm not one to always be expressive in my worship. I'd often rather quietly sing and reflect. I grew up in a moderately conservative church, with little dancing or raising of hands during the music. Yet when I read scripture, I see a lot of expression in worship. While worship must be from the heart and not forced, the question is: as people who have very literally been saved from the terrifying wrath of God, and in return given His infinite riches, why are we not moved to shout and dance and celebrate? It's not whether we should have to shout and dance - the question is, when we truly realize what God has done for us, how can we not do those things?
As a Catholic, one thing that is important to me and a characteristic of our worship is oneness, which is reflected physically by uniformity. We all pray (vocally) the same prayers, we sit, stand and kneel together, etc. Every Mass said in the entire world (300,000+ daily) uses the same prayers, the prayers of the Church, the same readings, etc. The intercessory prayers, said after the homily and before the Liturgy of the Eucharist, vary from Mass to Mass, since they reflect the desires and intentions of the specific congregation. But, generally, every Mass is basically the same in that I could go to China or India or some place where they celebrate the Mass in a language I do not know and I could still participate and know exactly what is going on and where everyone is. I find this to be very beautiful.
On the other hand, very public displays of spiritual movement, particularly during the Mass, are very jarring to me. Because it can be such an individual experience, it can disrupt the unity of the worship. I think Paul addresses that in regards to "tongues" in 1 Corinthians.
However, the Catholic faith is very, very, very rich in individual devotions, and has a long standing tradition of different gifts and inspirations of the Holy Spirit that have been received by various people throughout the ages, from the time of Christ until today. Because the general "public" way of Catholic worship seems to be very "standardized" and "lifeless," I've met many that don't think the Holy Spirit is present, or that Catholics aren't able to receive gifts of the Spirit.
But we do! We totally do, but oftentimes it is in the lesser known parts of Catholic life- small groups, private prayer, Eucharistic Adoration, rosary, etc. -that these gifts are made known and the Spirit can move us. Not to say that the Spirit does not move Catholics in worship during Mass; we just tend to be very private about it.
And I am no expert on this; these are only my thoughts and observations.
The way I worship is different every Sunday, because sometimes it depends on how active the kids are. Being a child's teacher, you have to be ready to be as active as they are. (Which can be really hard if you're in a lot of pain that day.)
It just really depends on the person, if they want to worship loudly, or quietly. I, personally worship quietly. Not much people like to worship or is even religious, so I just do it quietly, instead of stirring up things.
The Holy Spirit hasn't ever really called me to worship in a loud way. I sing (occasionally rather loudly), pray, reflect, occasionally clap, but hardly ever raise my hands or run yelling down the aisles of the church. But it doesn't bother me when people do. Everyone's moved in different ways.
I have never felt any kind of pressure like that. But with everyone it is different. I mean, personally, it just depends on the Spirit and how He is moving as to how I worship.
I don't think that what matters is necessarily how you worship than if you are worshipping wholeheartedly. A person could be raising their hands toward God and heaven, but just be going through the motions. Someone could be praising God quietly but really be soaking up His presence. I think I like more expressive worship, but at my church raising hands and clapping is about as loud as we get. I think I'm feeling what Theophilus166 is.
I think as long as you are not holding back or worried about who is 'watching' you, whatever your praise may be, let it be to the glory of God! God doesn't want a fake praise just because others around are doing it or because someone is forcing you to. He wants a praise that shows Him how much you truly reverence Him in good times and in bad. Your situations should not dictate your praise...because God is ALWAYS worthy of the highest praise...Hallelujah!
worship is about the worth of jesus... not abut music or even our expression...
my lead worshipper put it this way which I completely agree upon thinking about it...
1. The responsibility of the Holy Spirit- the Holy Spirit will always do His job to flow and bring honor to Christ and to work in our hearts to respond to the goodness and greatness of God
2. The responsibility of the worship team- by the power of the Spirit and our submission to Him, the music team provides the atmosphere to allow people room enough to respond to the greatness and goodness of God in the music that is created by the worship music team
3. The responsibility of the congregation- it is then up to the individual to bring an offering of praise to God. Too many times, us as the congregation tend to come empty handed only ask God for a worship boost then go back out and leak all over till the Sunday. The individual worshipper must approach w/ reverence and humility because first and foremost, God is Holy... if thus we respond to such holiness, we can't help but respond with faces to the ground, but then we realize His goodness and power which lifts us up with joy knowing that through Jesus, we have the means to come into intimacy with The Father... but the congregant needs to have the responsibility of bringing an offering to God because that is what worship is about... bringing about an offering of praise to Him...
seeing the greatness of God... is the means in which we respond to God... and if we are overwhelmed by God... could be whatever attribute of God... doesn't matter... respond... respond to Holiness, respond to Glory, respond to mercy, respond to Grace, respond to love, respond to the Cross... whatever... just respond... marry the heart AND the mind...
then worship in spirit and with truth...
I would just like to say that I am very sorry for that experience. That must have been very troubling. It makes me sad to think that people can be so insensitive at times.
I really don't worry about how people worship....just that they hunger after God. If folks are seeking after God, I believe that I can trust God to lead them, teach them and draw them into His heart. Their response to God flows out of what they know about Him.
In my own life, the closer I draw to the Father's heart, the more I am changed. The more I am changed, the more I entrust myself to the Father in areas that may have been difficult before. My worship also changes as I grow. It is now an intimate communion between my Father and I - but it wasn't always like that. I had to grow into that place over time.
I believe that there is freedom in worship because of the presence of His Holy Spirit. God loves each of us with all our differences, our quirks and our sometimes odd notions and I think that we should show the same grace with each. It might be important to remember that "How" we worship is not an outward indicator of spiritualiy. Worship is coming into the understanding of Who Jesus is. Each of us will respond to His presence very individually with our unique gifts and personalities. The key is.....just WORSHIP
I think God moves in different ways ... even the quiet person can at times shout out loud or cry out loud before him. I believe he knows what we need and once we are worshiping him in spirit and in truth we will be oK.
My question is: Are some of these ways of worship the actual way the Holy Spirit is specifically calling you to worship? ie. if, in a normally subdued worship service, you felt an urge to get up and start dancing would you do it?
Lots of times, I think our worship style is conditioned in us by the church we attend and the general style of worship there. Sometimes we get caught up in doing the proper motions that we forget to just express our love and devotion to God and open up to let Him move in us. So, try a new "pose" or style. Lift up your hands, kneel down, or just sit and contemplate the words of a song. You might be rewarded for your "boldness" and really feel God even more. You may like it or you may not. But don't let yourself get stagnant in one automatic worship style.
Jesus said in Matthew 15:8-9 - "This people draweth nigh unto me with their their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me."
It's dangerous to try to judge somebody's relationship with God according to outward appearances. I've known many people that have worshipped God by lifting their hands and being real emotional but were far from God and lived in sin and rebellion the rest of the week. We have both kinds of worshippers in our church and I myself have worshipped at times both outwardly and inwardly.
as long as your giving 100% to God you can feel free to do it in either way. Let the holy spirit guide you and give yourself up to God.
At my youth group we have a huge worship time. Our pastor tells us that we can worship anyway we want but most of the kids really put their all into it (including me). So I definitely believe that a lot of people are quiet worshipers but when I go to other churches, most of the time barely anyone really gets into it. So I think that sometimes there are a lot of people who are "loud" worshipers but they're too afraid of what people think to really get into it. They care to much about the people around them than the God they're singing to. But I've definitely done that a lot before.
@all_usernames_have_been_taken - I agree with you. We tend to do what we are "conditioned" to do. So, if the church we are in worships quietly...that is how we worship. I think, though, the Holy Spirit calls us to do things and worship in a way we normally may not. And this strengthens us! and is beautiful, in my opinion. :) like what you were saying...
In my church, we worship however we want to. And I don't mean that in "anything goes," but...in a way...it is. Kneeling, dancing, standing, clapping...anything. I really enjoy the freedom to worship God how I feel He wants me to at that moment...instead of worrying about whether or not people "think I'm weird" or "out of the 'grove'" if I worship in a style different than their style. And, to tell the truth, when I am so caught up in worshiping God and really feel His presence, usually I just pour my heart out in writing...in the middle of church. And that is my....worship time.
Through Poetry!~
i am a biblical studies major and youth ministry minor at Liberty University, and God has given me a gift of poetry to use as a tool for worship and ministry for the youth of today!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_jQl__7rDY
*PLEASE WATCH TIL THE END*!
"young people: it's time to put the YOU in Youth ministry. God is moving in the hearts of this very generation and is gonna bring COLOSSAL revival to youth of this nation. God is cooking up something BIG, and the enemy knows it, and he will try to throw all kinds of distractions in front of us. Where do YOU stand? "
well, first of all, worship is ALL OF LIFE and ALL ABOUT GOD.
so really, i find this a silly question.
i grew up in a more traditional church where most people were as you say "quiet worshipers"
now i'm in a bigger church with more contemporary music and a lot of people get into it, raise their hands and clap a lot.
i'm generally a quiet person, but if i feel the Spirit leading me, then i go all out.
but to force someone to sing in a certain way is definitely not right.
I'm from a charismatic church and I would say that as long as we pour our heart out and worship the one and only God is good enough.
I grew up in the church of Christ, and am still a member. But my father is pentecostal and we went to his church once--OH MY! Scared the crap out of me. I was about eleven years old, and this was my first experience with "exuberant" worship. Needless to say, I stuck with my traditional church; some even say we're too stoic.
Singing is my favorite way to praise God, even though I couldn't carry a tune to save my live, I love to sing. Anyone familiar with the church of Christ knows that most of them do not allow instrumental music in worship. That's weird to a lot of people, but to me it's weird having music. The music interferes with the words, to me. When I go to church with my husband's family (baptist), I can't concentrate on the words because sometimes the music drowns out the voices. The singing is the prettiest part, so I don't understand why they want to cover it up.
I think the reason I like singing so much is that is when the Holy Spirit moves me. During most hymns, I am so moved that I cry. Whenever I am cutting the grass, I sing hymns (the lawn mower drowns out my horrible voice). I have a hymnal in my bookcase that I take out occasionally (when no one else is home), just to sing my favorite hymns whenever I feel like it.
I think most charismatic churches have much more creative contemporary worship styles, while traditional churches tend to stick with hymns - nothing wrong with that but I find it kinda dull.
I disagree with a few of the theological positions within the charismatic movement, but I like their emotionally impactful worship services. Although I tend to agree more with the doctrines of traditional churches, I guess musically they are just that - "traditional."
When it comes to music, I want it contemporary and treated like a serious art form focused on creativity and innovation of sound and aesthetically composed to be emotionally impactful.
I'm a quiet worshipper. I don't think people should fall on the floor and flop like a fish or freakishly dance up and down the halls like lunatics. It's a distraction to others when the focus should be upon God.
A human being alone cannot change the heart of another.
Who knows, maybe the church is dead. And the Holy Spirit is not at work at all there.
i really don't enjoy contemporary worship... Christian rock makes me gag, and most outward displays of worship just make me roll my eyes. when God calls me to worship, it's usually because i need a moment of peace, not the Holy Spirit to fire me up.
it's one of the reasons i'm thinking of converting to Catholicism. Mass is the only service that's ever truly moved me. other than that, i prefer to not worship in groups.