Mind Over Matter

Worship, in a sense, is a practice of mind over matter. If the heart and the mind aren’t fully engaged in the worship, then the spirit more than likely isn’t either. In Christianity, it is very easy to make a time of worship a chore or something that happens because it follows the flow of tradition and fills in gaps.

“So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2). In verse 1, Paul mentions that we should offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God. The point Paul is trying to get across is that when we worship, we are giving God everything we have. No hesitation, no worries or doubts. God wants you to give Him your all. He wants your heart, mind, and soul fully engaged in the words you’re singing. It doesn’t matter what it sounds like, because it’s pleasing God. In verse 2, Paul stresses that we cannot conform to the standards of society during or worship. Christians are guilty of this a lot. We worry so much about singing the same songs over and over, and that a harmony was messed up on one part of a song. Why does that matter so much to us? By us conforming to what the standards of this world are, we aren’t leaving wiggle room for God to come in and transform us. We are closed off in worship sometimes because instead of feeling the Holy Spirit, we’re hearing what we think is imperfection, but would be pleasing to God if we were in the right mindset. If we stop worrying about our worship and let the Holy Spirit be present, then we can know the will of God-what is good, pleasing and perfect through His eyes.

Christians tend to fall short of making a joyful noise and worry about the technical aspects of worship. What makes a joyful noise a joyful one? A joyful noise would be classified as pouring your heart out to God without a care of what it sounds like or what is happening around you. A joyful noise is pleasing God through your singing or through your actions. If our minds and hearts are in the right place and not worrying about the technicalities of worship, you’re making a joyful noise that is perfect to him. You might even say that your joyful noise is perfectly imperfect.

Psalm 100: 2 says, “Worship the LORD with joy; come before Him with happy songs!” When we worship, we’re supposed to feel joyful. We need to drop all of the technical things of worship and lose our “Cool Cards” and just sing to our creator. We should be attentive and truthful through worship time. It’s a difficult task to ask of in this day in age, but we make it more complicated than it needs to be. Just be happy. Have a conversation with God through your worship. Let Him into your heart through your worship and let Him transform you.

John 4: 24 tells us, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Again, worship isn’t about us or how it sounds, so on and so forth. If our hearts aren’t a hundred percent engaged then why are we even wasting our time? There is no real point of “worship” if we aren’t in the correct mindset. We all have different ways of connecting to God through worship. All too often, we don’t want to lift our hands or close our eyes, etc. because we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. I personally am guilty of this. If we would just stop worrying about the sound, the way it looks, who is on stage leading or what the praise team is doing, etc., we would be able to welcome the Holy Spirit into our hearts and just have a time of worship when the only thing that matters is the time you are spending with God. Without the right mindset, we are just reading the words off the screen in a different tune.

To accomplish the idea of having the right mindset or making a joyful noise, we have to stop making worship a chore. A time of worship is a time you can connect with God. To make it not a chore, we have to realize worship isn’t something that just fills in the gaps in a church service. Worship is when you’re in your own world with God and not looking down at your watch to see if you’ll beat the Sunday lunch rush. I challenge you to try to make a connection with God. Be vulnerable during worship. Don’t worry about what others are doing. It’s just you and God. Make a joyful noise to Him.


Other Posts You Might Like:

Waiting in Darkness - Nicole Kennell

Faith - Jabbarri Jones

Give Someone a Hug! - Bob Bentley

Does God Exist? - Beau Davis

A Modern Day Persistent Widow - Mark Kennell

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