Worship God in Spirit

John 4:24

"God is spirit and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Each human being is a carefully crafted combination of mind, body and spirit.  "Fearfully and wonderfully made," we are known only to God as we develop during the early days in the womb.  Though unique individuals, one thing is certain when it comes to worship.  We are expected, indeed required if I understand John's statement correctly, to worship in spirit.  

For years I hade heard it, read it, and was all for it.  I just was not certain exactly how to do it.  I am still not totally sure, however, of this one thing I am certain;  God is using my declining cognitive abilities to help me disengage the parts of my mind that interfere with my ability to worship in the spirit.  

This revelation came to me as I melted into tears the other day while singing to God with one of my favorite worship CD's.  I have learned that for me, some of the most profound times of worship are spontaneous, when His spirit moves my spirit.  

While we obviously need our minds to initiate the process of worship, as I pointed out earlier, the mind can also get in the way.  It is where Satan tries to distract us.  He knows just how dangerous true worship is to him.  He must flee during such times, according to the bible.  

Try as we might to focus on God, our mouths may be singing "How great Thou art" but our minds wander to thoughts of getting out of church in time to start Sunday dinner.  It happens to everyone to some degree or another, but it must be controlled in order for worship in the spirit to happen.  Thoughts of worry, fear, doubt, etc. must all go, in order to truly focus on God.  

Still the question remains....how?  Tomorrow I will begin to discuss some simple principles that I believe will help.  Keyword here is SIMPLE.  Jesus tells us that we must be as little children.  Have you ever met a young child that was worried about paying the mortgage or getting a promotion at work?  Or even about getting sick?  Kids live in the moment, they are spontaneous.  They erupt into play or laughter at the slightest whim.  We all started out with that ability, but somehow on the road to maturity we began to hit bumps, potholes and detours...we became sidetracked if you will.  Most of us have lost our spontaneity because engaging in it carries some risk.  And along with the loss of spontaneity goes our ability to freely worship our Heavenly Father, who deserves our very best,  our spirits connecting to His.  

I leave you with this first, easy step and a way to remember it:

KISS....Keep It Simple Saints.   There is power in simplicity, and with it we take our first steps toward freely worshipping our Father and connecting to Him with a holy kiss.