Worship and Wait
Worship is a wonderful place to be as you wait on God, and believe His promises. So as not to be misunderstood, my use of the word “worship” does not denote “being at church”. Let me clarify. Many people place “being at church” and “worship” in the same category when the two are distinctly different. Worship is the last thing on some churchgoers’ minds Sunday after Sunday. Worship is not a ritual or merely a weekly exercise. It is an encounter driven by a love relationship with a holy God. Both worship and coming to church are acts of the will, but the difference is one only involves physical presence, while the other involves a surrendered heart. It does not take a surrendered heart to show up at church each Sunday, but it does to enter into God’s presence - into the Holy of Holies, if you will. In the Old Testament only the priest could enter the inner court where God’s presence dwelt. (See Hebrews 9:6-7). But because of Jesus, those who have received Him into our hearts can enter into His presence by His blood. (See Hebrews 10:19-20).
Worship is a matter of the heart, as is waiting on God. We can say we are waiting on God, but are we complaining in our hearts? Or are we daily searching the scriptures to find the peace we need while we wait? We can fool other people, but we can never fool God. He knows the secrets of our hearts. He knows whether our worship is real or not. In I Chronicles 28:9 David was cautioning his son that he cannot hide his thoughts from God, and therefore admonishes Solomon to serve God with a whole heart.
If you’ve read this far perhaps you can be persuaded to read a little further. Please let me encourage you to enter into private worship; just you and God. Allow yourself to become spiritually naked before Him, and be honest with God and tell him your heart. Tell him you’ve grown tired of waiting, but turn the tide on your impatience and begin a renewed trust in God by way of total, unashamed worship before Him. In your Spirit-controlled worship, whether private or corporate, you will find that God is listening, and is ready to move you to a new level of trust in Him as you worship while you wait.
Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
One user said..."Your 5 week study course has made a tremendous impact on my life in the study of worship... I would like to express my thanks for a well written study course that leads into a higher realm of praise and worship."
This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.