Worship is an essential part of Christianity, yet it’s a word that is often misunderstood.
Often the word “worship” is used as a synonym of “singing in church”.
Sometimes it’s used to describe “modern church songs”, as opposed to more traditional hymns.
And sometimes it’s used as a shorthand to describe “all of the things we do in church on Sunday morning”.
But is that all worship is? Or is there more to it? (SPOILER ALERT: there’s a lot more to it!)
In this guide we’ll explore what exactly worship is, why it matters so much and how you can take steps to prioritise worship in your everyday life.
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What is worship?
There is a major misconception in the Christian world that worship = singing…
You often hear people in church say things like:
“I really enjoyed the worship today.”
“I just wasn’t in the mood for worship today”
“I didn’t enjoy the worship – the drummer was all over the place”
“At our church we have the worship first, then the sermon.”
“The worship was amazing today.”
“I love worship, but I’m not really into the preaching.”
In all these cases the word “worship” is being used as a synonym for “singing praises to God.” But is that all worship is?
Not according to the Bible!
The Bible is quite clear. Worship is something we do with the whole of our lives, not just for half an hour on a Sunday morning.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul says:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform 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)
In verse 1, Paul makes clear that worship involves offering our bodies – in other words our entire lives – as a sacrifice.
In verse 2, Paul explains what that looks like in practice – obedience to God in all areas of our lives.
That’s a whole lot harder than singing a few songs on a Sunday morning!
Of course, that’s not to say sung worship is wrong or bad. Quite the opposite! The Bible clearly calls us to sing praises to God. For example:
“Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.” – Psalm 9:11 (NIV)
“Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.” – Psalm 47:6 (NIV)
And there are countless other examples in the Psalms and in many other places in the Bible.
But the point is, singing praises to God on a Sunday morning is only one small part of worship, and very much the easy part!
Worship in its fullest sense is recognising God’s infinite worth and responding by giving him the honour, love and devotion he deserves – not just on a Sunday morning at church, but in every areas of our lives.
True worship is about offering our whole lives to God, not just a few hours on a Sunday morning.
True worship is about living in obedient service to God in all aspects of our lives.
And true worship is a lot harder than singing songs!
READ MORE >>> What is worship according to the Bible?
READ MORE >>> Is worship just singing?
Why do Christians worship?
So we see clearly in Scripture than worship is so much more than what we do on a Sunday morning – that it is offering our whole lives to God in obedience and service.
But why? Why do Christians worship?
The Bible gives us many reasons. Here are 6:
1. We worship because it’s what we were made for
At its heart, we were made for worship.
We can see that quite clearly in human behaviour.
We all worship something…
Some people worship their local football team.
Some people worship their favourite band or singer.
Some people worship money, success and status.
Some people worship alcohol or drugs.
And many people around the world worship their phones and social media!
We all have this inbuild desire to bow down to something or someone.
But only when we truly worship God, do we step into who we were meant to be.
Only when we truly worship God, do we live the life we were meant to live.
The Bible explains why:
“Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them.” – Isaiah 43:7 (NLT)
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” – Psalm 95:6-7 (NIV)
If we worship anything other than God, we will always end up disappointed. Money cannot save us. Success cannot satisfy us. Relationships cannot complete us. Even good gifts become cruel masters when we expect them to do what only God can do.
If God is not on the throne of our lives, something else will always try to take his place – and whatever replaces God will always be far less worthy, far less satisfying and far less forgiving.
Every other “god” eventually disappoints us, but God alone is worthy of our wholehearted worship. And it’s only when we worship God that we will truly be fulfilled.
So we worship God because we recognize that no other thing is worthy of worship. We worship God because only he deserves first place in our lives. And we worship God because it’s what we were made to do.
2. We worship because God created us
Revelation gives us another reason to worship God:
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” – Revelation 4:11 (NIV)
Everything we are and everything we have comes from God.
He gave us life.
He sustains us every moment.
Every breath we take is a gift from him.
Without God, we quite literally would not exist.
Worship is, quite simply, the only logical response to the God who created us, sustains us and graciously gives us everything we have.
3. We worship “In view of God’s mercy”
But God did not only create us, he also saved us.
Romans 12:1 begins “In view of God’s mercy…”
The whole of Romans up to this point has been leading up to this phrase. Romans tells us how God has created us and has given us everything we have, and yet, instead of giving him the worship that is due to him, we have worshipped other gods.
At its core, sin is a failure to worship God.
As it states clearly Romans 1:
“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.”
And the punishment for this failure is death.
But Romans goes on to tell us that because God is a merciful God he gave his own Son to take the punishment we deserve, so that we might go free. So that we might be saved. So that we might not perish, but have eternal life.
Because of all this, Paul tells us in Romans 12:1, worship is our only logical response. It’s the only response that makes sense.
The Greek word that is translated “true and proper” in the NIV is λογικὸς or logikos – and it’s the root of the English word “logical”.
It almost feels like the sense of Romans 12:1 is “Given everything God has done for you it would be illogical to do anything BUT worship God.”
4. We worship because it’s good for us
So we worship God because it is what we were made for and because of everything God has done for us. But we also worship God because it’s good for us!
As we’ve seen already, worshipping God is what we were made to do – when we don’t do what we were made to do, when we don’t do what we were created to do, something always feels out of place. We become restless, dissatisfied and spiritually adrift.
But when we worship God… when we do what we were made to do… we thrive!
Worshipping God stops us focusing on ourselves, our problems and our circumstances and it shifts our gaze onto who God is.
Worship helps us get everything in its proper perspective.
Worshiping God shifts our focus away from worldly anxieties and onto God’s unchanging character.
And when we do that, our worldly concerns begin to shrink as our view of God grows bigger.
5. We worship because it transforms us
We become like whatever we worship.
Those who worship celebrity become obsessed with image and approval.
Those who worship money become consumed by acquiring more.
Those who worship power become driven to control others.
Those who worship the things of the world become more worldly.
But those who worship God become more godly.
Those who worship God gradually become more loving, more humble, more joyful and more like Christ.
And the more we worship God the more we become like him.
In Romans 12:2 it talks about being “transformed by the renewing of your mind”.
We often take “the renewing of your mind” to mean reading Scripture – and that is certainly part of it. But we are not only transformed by the reading of Scripture, but also by putting it into practice, or in other words, obeying Scripture.
And to go back to my original explanation of “what is worship” – true worship is about living in obedience to God in all aspects of our lives.
Therefore we are transformed by worship.
The more we worship God – the more we read Scripture and put it into practice in our lives – the more we will grow in Christlikeness.
6. We worship because it is our ultimate purpose
In Revelation, we get a glimpse behind the curtain to what Heaven will be like…
“The throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.” – Revelation 22:3
“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!” – Revelation 5:13
In heaven we’ll see God as he really is – in all of his power and glory and majesty.
What will happen when we see God in all of his power and glory and majesty? We also get glimpses of that in Scripture…
“This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down” – Ezekiel 1:28
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” – Revelation 1:17
God is far greater than we realise – and when we enter Heaven and see him as he really is, our immediate response will be to worship.
But, just like on Earth, that worship won’t be limited to singing! When we meet God face to face, we will truly worship him with our entire being. And we will truly do what we were created to do from the very beginning.
READ MORE >>> Why do Christians worship?
Worship as a spiritual discipline
Worship is considered a spiritual discipline because it requires intention and consistency.
Spiritual growth isn’t about random bursts of devotion or occasional spiritual highs. It’s about building consistent rhythms that shape your heart over time.
Just as exercise strengthens the body, spiritual disciplines strengthen our relationship with God.
Worship sits alongside the other spiritual disciplines – like reading the Bible, prayer, fasting, evangelism and fellowship – each one helping us remain rooted in God and formed into the likeness of Christ.
READ MORE >>> What are spiritual disciplines?
Worship – It’s not for YOU!
There is one thing I want to clear up, before we move into the “how” section of this article and that is this…
Worship is not for you!
As I mentioned above, we so often hear phrases like:
“I really enjoyed the worship today.”
“I really got a lot out of the worship today.”
“I didn’t enjoy the worship this morning – they sang too many old/new/slow/fast songs”
“I didn’t get much out of the worship today.”
“The worship today was awesome!”
“I really like the worship at my new church”
“I left my old church because the worship was so bad…”
All of these phrases really badly miss the point.
The point of worship is to bring pleasure to God, not ourselves.
We worship for God’s benefit, not our own.
Of course, as I’ve covered above, there are many benefits to us of worshipping – but that should never be our primary motivation.
How to worship
So, we have seen that worship is so much more than songs, and that we worship primarily for God’s benefit, because it is what we are made to do and because it is the only logical response to who God is and everything he has done for us.
But how? How do we actually put this into practice? How do we truly worship God? And how do we make worship a habit?
Love God
We cannot worship God if we don’t love God.
When asked by an expert in the law, which is the greatest commandment, Jesus replied:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” – Matthew 22:37, NIV
God deeply loves us (so much so that he sent his Son to die for us) and he longs for us to love him back.
I have written this article assuming you are already a Christian, but if you are not, that’s the first place to start.
You cannot worship God if he is not Lord of your life, if you have not given your life to him and if you do not love him above all other things.
(Not sure whether you’re a Christian or not? Head here >>> What is the gospel message?)
Obey God
But it’s not enough to merely be a Christian or say we love God above all other things. That is not worship.
Remember what it says in Romans:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform 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)
And consider also what it says in James:
“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions?” – James 2:14 (NIV)
True worship is about living in obedience to God in all aspects of our lives.
But how to we know what God wants?
As we covered above, we need to read Scripture carefully and apply it to our lives diligently.
This is true worship.
In his conversation at with the woman at the well, Jesus says:
“God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” – John 4:24 (NIV)
Worship never begins with us – it’s always a response to truth. And how can we know the truth unless we read our Bibles?
So, as it says in Ephesians
“Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.” – Ephesians 5:10 (MSG)
Make reading the Bible and putting it into practice a priority in your life, for if you don’t you are not truly worshipping God. And no amount of singing will make up for that!
READ MORE >>> How to read the Bible
Do everything as worship
Another common misconception is we are only worshipping God when we are doing “spiritual” things: when we’re reading the Bible, praying, going to church, singing worship songs etc.
But that is not at all how the Bible portrays worship.
For example David says:
“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” – Psalm 34:1 (NIV)
And Paul says:
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)
And The Message puts Romans 12:1 like this:
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” – Romans 12:1 (MSG)
How can we do this? How is it possible to worship God with every activity we do?
Colossians gives us the answer:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” – Colossians 3:23 (NIV)
Worship should not be a part of our lives, it should be our whole lives. Everything we do should be done as worship to God.
Surrender to God
But worship goes even deeper than doing everything for his glory.
It also involves surrender.
For example, in Proverbs it says:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
And Jesus says:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” – Matthew 16:24 (NIV)
Surrender means giving God 100% control of our lives.
Surrender means saying “yes” to whatever God asks you to do and wherever God asks you to go.
Surrender means not doing things God tells you not to do – even if you don’t quite understand why he is saying “no”.
Surrender is waiting when God tells you to wait.
And surrender means trusting God – even when his plans are inconvenient, painful or seem downright impossible.
One of the greatest examples of this is Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she was told she would give birth to the Messiah – something that would most definitely be inconvenient and would almost certainly lead to her being shunned by her community, because she appeared to be pregnant outside marriage. And something that, to Mary in that moment, seemed completely impossible.
And she replied simply:
“I am the Lord’s servant… May your word to me be fulfilled.” – Luke 1:38 (NIV)
That level of surrender is true worship.
Praise and thank God
But of course, worship also involves praising God for who he is and thanking God for what he has done. And that most definitely includes singing!
I haven’t left this part until last because it is unimportant or secondary. Even the briefest of glances at Scripture will tell you that praising and thanking God is an essential part of our worship.
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” – Psalm 100:4 (NIV)
“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”– Psalm 95:1-2 (NIV)“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” – Colossians 3:16 (NIV)
I have left this part until last merely because I wanted to highlight that singing praises to God is only one part of our worship. A very important part, of course. But not the only part.
In fact, the Bible makes it very clear that if our only worship activity is singing, God’s not interested!
“Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” – Amos 5:23-24 (NIV)
The context of this passage in Amos is that the Israelites were doing really well at outward religious practices. They regularly attended festivals, brought sacrifices and sang songs of praise. However, their daily lives were not lived as worship to God and instead they were marked by bribery, corruption and a complete disregard for the vulnerable.
And there are LOTS of similar passages in the Bible. For example: Micah 6:6-8, 1 Samuel 15:22, Isaiah 1:11-17 and Isaiah 58:3-7.
Don’t get me wrong. God loves it when we sing praises to him… but ONLY when that is an overflow of a life of worship.
Not when we live our life as we please and then think we’ve “done worship” because we’ve sung a few song on a Sunday morning.
READ MORE >>> How to worship God with your whole life
Final thoughts
Worship is one of the most important spiritual disciplines.
But worship is far bigger than music.
Singing is important. Gathering with God’s people is important. Lifting our voices in praise is important.
But true worship begins long before the first song starts on a Sunday morning.
It begins every time we choose obedience over convenience.
Every time we choose God’s will over our own.
Every time we surrender another area of our lives to him.
Every time we say, “Lord, not my will, but yours be done.”
And as we learn to worship God with our whole lives – not just our voices – we are transformed, we become more Christlike and we truly become the people he created us to be.
READ MORE >>> How to worship God with your whole life
Recommended books on worship
- The Air I Breathe – Louie Giglio
- Facedown – Matt Redman
- Why Worship? – Tim Hughes, Nick Drake et al.
- True Worship – Vaughn Roberts
- The Purpose Driven Life – Rick Warren
READ MORE >>> Recommended books on worship
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