A Lifestyle of Worship

When God puts a new heart and a new spirit within us, it naturally results in a lifestyle of worship. A lifestyle of worship sets the platform for a person to become the “Psalms 84 Christian” who brings about blessings to his communities. Having the right heart is the first pre-qualifying condition and living a lifestyle of worship is the second pre-qualifying condition for us to become agents for bringing God’s blessings to the communities around us.

Worship means that we acknowledge the worthiness of God – it means that we want to give God all the honor and glory that He deserves at all times and in all circumstances. The new heart and spirit that God puts in us will have a constant desire to worship God, regardless of whether we are going through the heights of victorious times or the depths of difficult and challenging moments. When we worship God constantly, it is the best defense we have against negative feelings and thoughts. When we worship God, we put into practice what Paul talks about in the book of Philippians about thinking positively all the time. This will in turn bring about a sense of assurance of God's peace into our hearts - an assurance that God will help us to be victorious in every situation that we encounter in our lives.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9, NIV)

Worship creates the atmosphere for us to operate in faith and bring about the victories of God in our lives. In 2 Chronicles 2:20, king Jehoshaphat was confronted with a huge army that was invading his country. The news brought about fear into his heart and he proclaimed a fast to seek the Lord. The Lord then spoke a revelation to Jehoshaphat and his people: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. When the people received the promise of God, the spiritual atmosphere changed and hearts were strengthened and encouraged to believe that God would bring about the victory. How did they operate in faith to receive the promise of God? It was through a time of praise and worship that they offered to God!

Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful." After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever." (2Chronicles 20:20-21, NIV)

The rest of the story was a great testimony as to how God helped the people to completely eliminate the giants that they were confronted with. God can help us to conquer any challenge that confronts us, but we need faith to believe in the promises of God, and worship creates the atmosphere for us to operate in faith.

What does a lifestyle of worship look like? 2 Chronicles 29 gives us a good idea of how we can come back to a lifestyle of worship. In this passage, we read of how King Hezekiah cleansed the temple and restored worship back to the temple of God. We can learn from here principles on how we can restore worship back to our lives.

1. Preparing our hearts to be ready for a lifestyle of worship

The first thing that Hezekiah did was to open the doors of the temple of the Lord and repair them.

In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them. (2 Chronicles 29:3, NIV)

In the same way, we need to open up our hearts to the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to do a restoration work there. True worship can only flow out from a heart that has been restored by the Lord.

How do we go about allowing God to restore our hearts? The key is simple - we need to get rid of sin in our lives and renew our covenant with God. Hezekiah confessed 3 sins that the people had committed.

- They turned away from the presence of the Lord
- They shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamp
- They did not offer incense and burnt offerings

As the Holy Spirit brings about conviction in our hearts of the attitudes or acts in our lives that are not pleasing to God, we should repent immediately and ask God to remove them from our lives.

The Bible gives us a very practical advice in Ephesians 4:26-27.

In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (Ephesians 4:26-27, NIV)

We should spend some quiet moments every night repenting of our sins before we go to bed. It is important that we spend some time allowing the Holy Spirit to convict us of the attitudes and acts that are not pleasing to God, so that we allow God to remove them before we go to sleep. In this way, we prevent Satan from establishing a stronghold over our lives through these negative attitudes and acts.

Besides repenting of our sins, we should also be constantly reminding ourselves of the covenant that we have made with God - the covenant that we want Him to lead and guide us in every aspect of our lives.

When our hearts are ready for a lifestyle of worship, our lifestyle of worship will be expressed in three ways.

2. Expressions of a lifestyle of worship

There are 3 natural expressions of a lifestyle of worship that flows naturally out of a heart that has been restored by the Lord. We see three ways in which Hezekiah and his people worshiped God - through their songs, through their sacrifices and through their service unto the Lord.

2.1 We worship God through our songs

Singing is a great way to express our worship to God. Music has the ability to stir up emotions within our souls. If we want our souls to be constantly filled with positive emotions and a passionate love for God, one great way is to find regular time to sing praises and worship to God.

In the fourth and fifth chapter of the book of Revelations, John was given a revelation of what worship looks like in heaven. Essentially everyone in heaven was constantly worshipping God through their songs, declaring the worthiness of God to receive all glory and honor and praise.

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." (Revelation 4:9-11, NIV)

And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:8-10, NIV)

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Revelation 5:11-12, NIV)

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:13-14, NIV)

2.2 We worship God through our sacrifices

God is not asking us to sacrifice animals to him today as in the times of the Old Testament. God is looking for living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, in other words, lives that are fully surrendered to God and willing to be used by God. We worship God when we offer up our time, treasures and talents for Him to use according to His purpose for our lives.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2, NIV)

Practically this means that in every aspect of our lives, and in every decision that we make, we are not motivated by selfish desires. Instead, we are always motivated by what can bring glory and honor to God's name, and what can maximize the advancement of God's kingdom.


As we offer ourselves fully to be used by God, He will renew our minds and enable us to walk in his perfect will for our lives. There is no better place to be in than to be walking in the perfect will of God for our lives!

2.3 We worship God through our serving

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45, NIV)

We are called to follow the example of Jesus Christ. When we have a heart of wanting to serve others around us, it pleases God.

Jesus once told a parable to teach us that we serve Him when we serve the people around us who are in need.

The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:40, NIV)

In John 21:15-17, three times Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me?" And each time when Peter affirmed that he loved Jesus, Jesus commanded him to feed His sheep, who represent the people out there in the communities who need Jesus in their lives. In other words, Jesus is asking Peter to demonstrate his love by serving the people out there who are in need.

The Bible is very clear that if the love of God is burning strongly in our hearts, we will feel a sense of compassion for the people around us who are in need, and we will have a desire to serve them with the love of Jesus that is in us.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (1 John 3:16-17, NIV)