WORSHIPPING GOD ISN'T ALWAYS EASY

WORSHIPING IS NOT AN EASY TASK.

If the way you worship God is always convenient and smooth, then I have the right to question the authenticity of that act you claim to be worship. 

David, one of the veterans of worship that the Holy Scriptures gives the accolade of one who is after God’s heart, said, ‘I will not offer unto God that which costs me nothing.’ 

I’ll be very frank with myself because I realize I need the Holy Spirit’s help in the journey of worship – I want you to also be real with God and to re-examine yourself which is why I’m being divinely inspired to write this blog post.

 

Sometimes, when I wake up early in the morning and I feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit to wear my spiritual mantle of worship and come up hither to the realm of His throne room, even though my spirit is so willing, that’s when Mr. Flesh will come to start telling me how weak  I am, how much work I have to tackle in the day, how God will understand if all I do is just a 3-minute prayer; In fact that will be the only time that I know there’ll be internet connection in my area and that I need to go on social media (that’s like the greatest temptation of all). 

If I then proceed against all odds to fellowship with my Father, my mind will become so distracted that I’ll even wonder if God will hear me at all. 

I don’t know about you, but for me worshipping God isn’t always a bed of roses; I can as well describe it as a bed of rocks. There are even times when it seems as though the heavens are shut and there is no rain. Oh, how difficult it is at such moments to worship God.

The solace I have is that no matter how rough the terrain of worship may be for me while I am still flesh and blood, I have the Holy Spirit to be a cushion for me. 

Hear what prophet Habakkuk said:

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olives shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no more herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Hab. 3:17-18)

God isn’t particularly concerned about our disposition before we come, but once we do come, He expects us to give it our best shot. The best time to worship God is when you don’t feel like it.

I was doing very well in my secondary school days and then I met Jesus and things became absolutely amazing; I never dreamed I could be the best until He proved himself to me. I was young in Christ and still growing at that time. 

There was a day I made a silly mistake. I got my exam script for further mathematics and I was shattered at what I saw. I had scored an average mark and I was so devastated to the point that I couldn’t speak and I wore a sad look. I was actually mad at God (can you imagine that effrontery) almost accusing Him for not keeping His promise to make me the head as long as I am His child.  

But then, the Holy Spirit told me that He wants to train me to be grateful at all times. He told me that what if I had gotten a zero and that I was actually blessed not to have failed. At that point, I repented and this scripture in Psalm 42:11 came to my mind.

Why art thou cast down, o my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God.

When I switched to the mode of praise, God proceeded to prove himself. At the end of the entire semester, I got an award as the best student in Further Mathematics for that year in my class.

Worship becomes a sacrifice when it is offered despite inconvenience; when the bill keeps mounting, when there is no food on the table, in times of sickness, when you are sleepy, when you ought to be doing something else…

In this respect, Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter once shared from his own pastoral diary with a group of pastors who had inquired about the discipline of prayer. Here we’ll consider prayer as a perfect similitude or mode of worshipping God. 

He began by telling how in 1982 he entered into ministry with a determination to devote time to prayer but, it didn’t take long for his increasing responsibilities began to crowd prayer out and he began to make excuses for himself.

Then one morning it all came to a head when as he stood over his work-strewn desk the Spirit of the Lord called him to fellowship. At the same time another velvety voice told him to be practical and get to work as he was not one of the spiritual sort. “That last remark,” says Baxter, “hurt like a dagger blade, I could not bear to think that it was true.” 

That morning, he took a good look at his heart and found that there was a part of him which did not want to pray and apart of him which did. The part which did not was his emotions; the part which did was his intellect and will.

He determined to go to the place of prayer dragging those wicked emotions back on track when they sailed off course. Sometimes, the struggle was so tough that it didn’t seem as though he had done what he could call true worship – because his emotions kept wandering to the golf course and even to the pulpit to preach while he was on his knees. 

As time moved on and he became more consistent, his emotions gave up the struggle. In his own words: “In a couple of weeks later, when I was no more thinking of the emotions than of a man on the moon, one of the most vigorous of the emotions unexpectedly sprang up and shouted Hallelujah! At which all the other emotions chorused Amen! And for the first time, the whole of my being _ intellect, will and emotion _ was united in one coordinated prayer and worship operation.”

Make up your mind today to submit your flesh and give prominence to the Spirit in times of your weakness so that the Holy Spirit will be the conductor of your worship and so that it will be a sweet fragrance to the Father. It might not be easy, but trust me, it’s absolutely worth it.