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SET OUR HEARTS ON FIRE Chapter 9
Revival in Worship
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, "To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!" And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped. Revelations 5:11-14
Revival takes place wherever the atmosphere of heaven touches the earth. Jacob was revived in his night vision-dream, when he saw angels ascending and descending upon a ladder to heaven. The disciples were revived when they saw Jesus alive from the dead. And in each case, the human heart responded with worship. "And when they saw him they worshiped him" (Mt 28:17).
Worship: the human heart responding to glory which has come near, offering itself to God in thanksgiving, spending itself in praise. Worship cannot be engineered. No one can manipulate another person into a state of worship. Church leaders can turn down the lights, play soft music and invite us to close our eyes or raise our hands. But it only becomes worship when we choose of our own free will to present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice, when we choose to lift our hearts to God in thanksgiving and praise.
Nobody had to teach the Samaritan leper how to worship. He stood for a moment and looked at his arms. His skin was clear for the first time in years! Who but God could do a thing like this? Something inside the man's heart broke loose. His mouth opened, and out flowed a river of praise. "Lord God, I adore you! I give you praise! Hallelujah!"
The Samaritan turned, ran back to where Jesus was standing and threw himself at Jesus' feet.
"Thank you, Master! Thank you! Thank you!"
It is significant that Jesus never prescribed the "proper" way to worship. It didn't seem to matter to him whether the hands were up or down, whether the eyes were open or shut. The Samaritan leper shouted. That was fine. The woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair never spoke a word. That was fine. Mary anointed Jesus' feet with expensive ointment, worth a year's wages. That was fine. Any expression of thanksgiving was fine with Jesus. It doesn't seem to matter to God how we worship. But it matters a great deal to God that we worship, that we express to him the thankfulness of our hearts in Spirit and in truth. "For such the Father seeks to worship him" (Jn 4:23).
Yet many of us seem to have trouble expressing our appreciation to God. Personal revival ignites our hearts, and we want to worship. But we are at a loss.
We're like the young man who longs to be able to tell the woman sitting across from him at the table how much he loves her. The sun is setting over the ocean. The birds are singing. The man's heart is full. His beloved sits there, waiting for him to say what she knows is in his heart.
He blurts out, "What time is it?"
He needs to say, "I love you." He wants to say, "I love you." And all he can produce is, "What time is it" Something seems to inhibit our worship. Even in Pentecostal churches and charismatic fellowships, where more expressive worship is encouraged, the freedom of praise time often has difficulty following believers into their daily lives. They desire to keep on praising God as they drive the bus or mop the kitchen floor, but their fervor dissipates as the worries of the day crowd in.
Just as the Evil One strives to undermine our prayer life, he will also do whatever he can to stifle our worship of God, either by inhibiting it or by inflating it into an emotional balloon that has no substance. The enemy attacks our worship, because he knows worship is an essential part of our life with God. It is not too strong to say that if the revived heart cannot worship God, it will die. It must find a way to express its thanksgiving to God. It must find a path of expression for its praises.
Private Worship
As we experience personal revival, the Holy Spirit begins to help us to express our praises, first in our private, personal worship life. He helps us, but we have to open up and let those praises flow.
Don't bottle them up. Don't quench them. Your heart wants to say, "Father, I love you! Jesus, I love you!" It wants to give thanks. It wants to offer praise to God. But you have to open your mouth and give it permission to speak.
Don't just think it. Say it. Or sing it. If there are other people in the house, and you're not comfortable having them hear your private worship, shut the door of the room and whisper. But begin to speak your thanksgiving.
Jesus himself is our example in this. We have only brief glimpses of Jesus' inner life, but we see enough to behold a Son who adored his Father and expressed his adoration: "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will" (Mt 11:25-26). And, "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify thy name" (Jn 12:27-28).
Every time Jesus held a loaf of bread in his hands, he lifted his eyes to heaven and gave thanks. His daily life breathed with an atmosphere of adoration for his Father. He wasn't ashamed to speak of his Father anywhere or at any time. "My Father ... my Father" was constantly on his lips, because that's where his heart was.
When you are alone with God, feel free to fall on your knees or to lift up your hands. The more you learn to worship God in your private time with him, the easier it becomes to translate that worship into a life lived among people. Alone with God you present your body as a living sacrifice. Out among people, on your job, in the neighborhood and in your church, your physical body continues to worship God as it washes dishes, repairs cars, teaches school, does word processing, prescribes medication, sells clothing. Deep within there is a temple where thanksgiving constantly rises as incense to the Father, whose Spirit has ignited you, and to the Son who is guiding your steps.
Corporate Worship
The Samaritan leper who has been healed begins his new life worshiping God with all his heart. But he is alone and needs to have fellowship. Somehow, in the providence of God, this man will be directed into the company of others who have seen the glory. They too love God. They too are thankful to Jesus for his unspeakable mercy.
But what if these people express their worship to God in a different way? Should the Samaritan keep looking until he "finds the right church"? Maybe. Maybe not.
The Lord we worship in our inmost hearts leads us into the company of others who love him and, by his Spirit, he teaches us to join them in worship – even if their way of expressing their praise differs from ours. We are tempted to run ahead of the Holy Spirit and prescribe for others a kind of worship which is more our choice than God's. The form of worship (or lack of form) is not what causes it to burn with God's life. The cloud of God's glory can descend upon any kind of worship. What makes worship live is the attitude of our hearts. Do we bring with us into the assembly an attitude of praise?
Have you ever heard a complaint like this?
One Friday evening I went to a praise meeting where there must have been a thousand people gathered to worship God. It was a foretaste of heaven! Hearts were uplifted, hands were raised, as the singing carried us out of ourselves into the presence of the Lord. Then there was a hush, as everyone waited for the Spirit to lead. One had the feeling that the whole assembly had laid its cares at the feet of Jesus and had become children in his presence. God inhabited the praises of his people that evening. Toward the end of the meeting a word came forth. It was clear, powerful and sent us on our way charged with fresh life. My spirit was renewed.
But Sunday morning, when I went to my church, the contrast was painful. The service was stiff, weighed down with centuries of tradition. The choir offered a good anthem. Our pastor brought a helpful message. But compared with Friday evening, could you call this worship?
Many of us have not only heard such complaints, we have raised them ourselves. What do we do when our church's worship is earthbound and dull? ("Let us now sing hymn 347...." "We will read responsively Psalm 46 on page 241...." "Don't forget to support the bake sale this Saturday.") Or what do we do when the worship team seems to be turning worship into a performance? Or when two or three personalities seem to dominate the flow of the praise time?
We are told that Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath "as was his custom." Jesus was a practicing Jew. As a practicing Jew he adhered to the Jewish liturgies he had known all his life. Doubtless, there were synagogues where there was fervor, and there were synagogues where the worship was dry as dust. But Jesus was always there, praying the ancient prayers, responding to the cantor with hymns and chants he had known from the days of his childhood. Jesus wasn't merely going through motions. He was worshiping Adonai, his Father, in the midst of the great congregation of Israel! If the cantor was off key, or if the lector stumbled over a word, or if the man next to him fell asleep, it was no less worship. Jesus didn't depend for his "lift" on the atmosphere around him. He brought an atmosphere of worship with him.
Can you picture Jesus coming away from the synagogue and complaining, "That place is dead! Those people don't know how to worship; they're keeping the lid on too tight!" Never. Nor could you imagine Jesus complaining, "That synagogue is out of hand! Those people are getting a little too happy. Somebody needs to bring things under control!" Jesus had plenty to say about hypocrisy and hardness of heart, when he was confronted by the scribes and Pharisees. But we never hear Jesus critiquing their worship. He joined himself to it. He stood in their midst and worshiped as one of them.
Your worship in the congregation – any congregation – is not dependent on the atmosphere around you, but on the atmosphere you bring to it. Come to that assembly with a broken spirit and a contrite heart, and your worship will be ignited. Your own attitude either welcomes the Spirit or grieves him. If you welcome the Spirit, if your heart gives praise to the Lamb that was slain, the atmosphere around you will be enriched.
The common belief is that vital worship is only possible when the atmosphere is right. No one can deny that, when the hearts around us are uplifted in praise, it is easier for us to praise God. But suppose the atmosphere around us is cold. Does this make it impossible for us to worship? Not at all. If our Lord could worship in any synagogue, by his grace, we can worship in any church. And our worship will contribute, rather than detract, as we join our hearts in love to the people around us.
But suppose you see a way in which your congregation's worship can be improved. You feel it would be helpful if the worship team introduced an occasional time of silence after a chorus, to allow people to reflect on the words they just sang or to pray. Approach the people on the worship team and share your thoughts. If they receive your suggestion and include it in the next praise gathering, fine. If they have reservations about this change, leave it with them and with the Lord.
Shortly after revival broke out at Messiah Church and our Wednesday evening Bible study mushroomed from fifteen people to one hundred fifty, as a "bold departure" we decided to open the meeting with a song. After several months of this one-song opening (followed by prayer), Dave Yon came up to me and said, "Couldn't we have a little more than one song to open this Bible study? We like to sing. We want to worship a little." Dave had put his finger on what we lacked. The one song opening gave way to a time of worship led by a group of musicians and singers who helped us all to leave the cares of the day behind us and fix our hearts in praise to God.
Or suppose you are the worship leader or on the worship team. This puts you in a place of responsibility under God for doing everything you can to help encourage genuine worship. While worship cannot be engineered, it can certainly be aided or hindered by the people who lead it. You are called and gifted to lead these people into the presence of God, to help them "take off their shoes" as they stand on holy ground, to encourage them to believe that Jesus is once again keeping his promise to come into the midst of disciples who have gathered in his name. So you prepare for worship by having everything ready that can be made ready. The team knows and is in agreement about what it is going to do. The worship leaders pray. And then you take your place before the assembly, fully conscious that you stand before these people in the name of the Lord Jesus himself. You are going to help them find their way into his presence as they lift their hearts in praise.
Whether we are leading or participating, it is important to make sure that five essential elements of corporate worship are present every time we gather to give thanks to God. They are: (1) waiting for the Lord; (2) praise and thanksgiving; (3) reconciled hearts; (4) unity; (5) continuity.
Waiting for the Lord
"I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning" (Ps 130:5-6, KJV). In all worship there is the element of waiting. We are waiting for the Lord to come to us, to manifest himself in some way, to speak. We await his pleasure, not he ours.
He promised that he would never leave us desolate. He would come to us. So we begin with that promise and wait for him, as we stand in the congregation and worship. We are not waiting for a feeling to come over us. We are not waiting for bells to ring. We are waiting for the Lord himself.
And we are not waiting alone. We are surrounded by brothers and sisters who love him as we do, and we are joined to them as we wait. We see their faces and thank God for the privilege of worshiping with these people. Some of them have been faithful to the Master at great cost to themselves. Some of them have experienced suffering such as we have never known. There are men and women in this congregation whose hearts are overflowing with gratitude. Others are here because they are looking for some sign of hope. But all of them are waiting, like Elijah standing at the mouth of the cave, waiting for God to make himself known.
"Lord, I want to open my spirit wide to you. I want to meet you in the voice of a gentle stillness. I want to praise you 'in the great congregation.' I want to join my heart to my sisters and brothers as you join your heart to them, so that nothing will hinder our praises."
Praise and Thanksgiving
One Wednesday night during worship I looked over toward the window and saw John with his hands raised toward heaven in praise to God. His were the only hands that were raised at that moment. But this was not merely John with his hands up. I was looking at praise incarnate. This man was offering himself back to God for the miracle of a transformed life. He did not need the support of a thousand other uplifted hands to give him the courage to express his praise.
Nor was John trying to "set an example." He was just giving thanks to the Lord Jesus who had lifted him out of the shadows and brought him into the light. Praise is the expression of a grateful heart, but it begins with an act of the will.
"I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad" (Ps 34:1-2, KJV, emphasis added).
You choose to express to God the thanks you feel in your heart. Now the words of that hymn or chorus you are singing with the others take wings and fly toward the throne. Your faith is strengthened as you express the gratitude that was cramped and bottled within you. Somehow the assembly is helped in its praises by your praises.
But suppose the atmosphere of praise seems to be missing. A heaviness hangs over the gathering. Isn't it harder to give praise and thanks to God when there's no life in the place? It may be harder, but not impossible. Our Lord continued to give thanks to his Father, even when he was surrounded by skeptics (Mt 11:24-25). If you decide before God that you will "bless the Lord at all times," that his praise shall continually be in your mouth, the Spirit will help you express your praise and thanksgiving to God even when the service is restrained and the music drags.
Reconciled Hearts
Whatever we offer to God is an act of worship – our praises, our bodies as living sacrifices, our gifts of money, our fasting, our hymns of thanksgiving. Worship is offering ourselves back to God in thanksgiving. When a gathering of believers offers itself to God in worship, heaven touches earth and the very walls around us tremble at the presence of the One who draws near and fills our house with his glory.
But suppose, as I look across the room, I see a man who is angry with me. Yes, I know why he is angry. It's over something unbelievably petty. So let him simmer. If he chooses to walk around in a snit over the fact that I forgot to mention his name as one of the landscapers who put in those five bushes near the church entrance, that's his problem. There he is, singing, "This is the day that the Lord has made." But when our worship ends, he will avoid me. And here I am, singing the same words, trying to keep my mind on things above; but I'm distracted by his attitude.
"So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Mt 5:23,24). Jesus commands us to interrupt our worship as soon as we remember that this person has something against us.
Drop everything. Leave your gift there before the altar, and go. Because your worship will not rise beyond the ceiling until you have made a genuine attempt to get things right with that brother.
It's not just "his problem." It's yours as well. How can the Spirit of God ignite your worship or his, when the dark fires of resentment pollute your relationship?
I will have more to say about reconciliation in chapter eleven, but it is important, in this discussion of revived worship, to understand that worship and reconciliation can never be separated.
The best gift you can offer to the worship of that assembly is to slide over to the man during the next chorus, and say, "Can we talk?" Go for coffee. Whisper in the vestibule. Do whatever you have to do to be able to say to this person privately, "Will you forgive me? I want to make things right between us. I will do whatever is necessary to restore our friendship." When you return to the assembly, your worship, and the worship of that church, will be enhanced by your obedience to the Word.
Sometimes in our frustration with lifeless worship we try to help it along, to "prime the pump." I remember a "prophecy" which came from a sister who felt that she had been patient long enough. "My children, lift your hands and worship me! If you keep resisting my call to raise your hands in worship, I shall have to leave this place." The woman had made a few sacrifices to join herself to this rag-tag fellowship and was convinced that the Lord had put her there to help it to rise out of its inhibitions into a full-blown "charismatic format."
The elders had to decide whether the prophecy was coming from the Holy Spirit or from this dear sister who wanted only the best for the church. They decided that the prophecy came from the woman's well-meaning spirit rather than the Holy Spirit, and the worship of that assembly continued to follow its own unique course, which somehow attracted charismatic Christians, anti-charismatic Christians and everything in between.
For our unity in worship is not the way we worship, but the One we worship: Jesus. We are gathered in his name, covered by his blood, submitted to his Spirit. We partake of one loaf, drink of one cup.
The best contribution I can make to unity in worship is to approach the men and women who worship with me in an attitude of unpretentious friendship. I have far more to learn from them than they from me. I draw near to them, not as a superior, but as a peer, with the simple desire to join my heart to theirs, and theirs to mine, in worship. "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together" (Ps 34:3, KJV). Magnify him any way you choose. Praise him in whatever way seems best to you, and I'll join my heart to yours, as we exalt his name together.
Continuity
Revived worship always manifests continuity between the praises expressed in the gathered assembly and the lives that are lived beyond the church walls. We continue to praise God with our service to him in our daily walk. If the life I live with my wife and children does not match my praises in church, my praises are empty. True praise to God becomes a river of living water flowing out of me into the lives I touch. At work. In the neighborhood. On the freeway. In the supermarket. Worship in the assembly has renewed in me a spirit of servanthood. And now I live that servanthood with a heart which never ceases to give thanks to the Father.
As you come to the city, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. Then the spirit of the Lord will come mightily upon you, and you shall prophesy with them and be turned into another man. I Samuel 10:5-6
Samuel promised Saul that, as he worshiped, he would be "turned into another man." He would be empowered to serve God in ways which were impossible to him before. And it happened.
So our worship in the gathered assembly empowers us to serve God in Spirit and in truth – in everything we do. We gather in the name of Jesus to worship the Father; the Spirit comes upon us afresh as we lift our hearts in praise; and we are turned into "another man," "another woman." Then we go forth into a troubled world – still worshiping God – to manifest the love of Jesus.
From "Set Our Hearts On Fire" published by Servant Publications 1998
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