Women of Worship

How would you define worship? I was blessed to attend a worship conference this week-end, organized by Women of Worship http://www.wow4him.org/. The conference was entitled "God of this City". I was very excited when I found out that Linda Dillow would be speaking. I have read two of her books Creative Counterpart and Intimate Issues, which were both very instrumental in my life. It's not every day that you get to meet an author you love in your own city!

This week-end was refreshing to my soul and challenging as well. So many times throughout the conference, God pointed out to me that He had a specific reason for having me there. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to engage in corporate worship with a large group of women. I had not had that experience for a long time.

Moreover, worship is a topic that I have felt God speaking to me about lately. I have felt that a certain intimacy with God has been lacking in my spiritual life for a while. I am diligent at reading my bible and praying everyday, but for quite some time I have been convicted of the fact that I am not engaging in true worship during that time. I desire to be more intimate with my Lord and Savior, to be content sitting at his feet and gazing at his beauty.

So what is worship? Worship is two thing - loving God , and bowing to him. The Greek word for worship is Proskuneo which means "to kiss the hand, bow down before, show obeisance, to worship".
Loving God
A.W. Tozer said "when we adore Him, worship becomes a completely personal love exchange between God and the worshipper". Do I crave God the way David craved him passionately and affectionately? Can I honestly say, like the Psalmist "my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." (Ps.63)? This is what God has been revealing to me recently. He has been whispering to me that he longs for me to desire him in that way.
Bowing to God
What does it mean to "bow my everything" to God? Worship is the specific act of bowing my knee and declaring Him holy, and it is the lifestyle of bowing my life and living out that He is holy. I was challenged to get up every morning and bow my thoughts, my words, my attitude, my work, my pain, my times of waiting, and my will to Him. Then, and only then will my service flow from a heart of worship that is saturated with the presence of God. I find it easier to "serve" God as an act of worship than to seek to develop intimacy with him - to be still and know that He is God.

On the subject of service, In her book Satisfy my Thirsty Soul, Linda Dillow writes "It's so important to be able to say, I am not primarily a worker of God; I am first and foremost a lover of God." Now, I don't believe that we can or should totally dissociate loving God and serving him, but we should make sure that we place our emphasis first on loving God and then on loving others. The later will flow from the former. I think that it is easier for us to be workers than lovers. Lord, teach me to be first and foremost your lover. I am excited to be molded in the coming days into more of a worshiper of God. "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you." (Ps.63:10-5)