Expressing adoration to our God

By Eric Tworek

Eric Tworek is a worship leader at Community Church and one of the featured blog writers for Peak Reflections. Eric will encourage us to connect with God through praise and worship.

In recent years the church has talked a lot about worship and worship styles. One person is more comfortable worshiping quietly in solitude, while another finds the company of others more enjoyable. Worship is personal because it involves the expression of our love and devotion to God. We can worship with our eyes closed, head bowed and our hands folded. Someone watching us could even mistake that we’re sleeping.

But what about praise and thanksgiving? Praise by definition is an active thing.

Praise, 1 to express approval of; applaud. 2 To express adoration of; glorify (God, etc.) -Webster’s Student Dictionary.

Can we praise sitting quietly with our head bowed? Maybe, but it’s not one of the ways the bible tells us to praise. The bible tells us to “…proclaim the praises of Him…” (1 Peter 2:9 NKJ). I know this makes some of us uncomfortable, but isn’t God always calling us out of our comfort zones? Some of us (including me) are uncomfortable sharing our faith or tithing or giving to the needy or visiting the sick, but those are all things that God has called to do. We can’t just write them off because it’s not our area of giftedness or personality style. We are supposed to be changed into the image of Christ, who always did what glorified God

Let me suggest that expressions of praise and thanksgiving will change us. Have you ever found that saying something out loud has more power than just feeling it inside? Kind of like the person who says, “you know” instead of “I love you”. If we praise and bring thanksgiving into the house of God, into the assembly of His chosen ones like David did (Psalms 100:4), perhaps our heart will become more like David’s (“a man after Gods own heart” 1 Sam. 13:14).

And if our heart seeks God, it will be changed and we will be more like Jesus.

After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?