I had been praying that the Lord would teach me to worship in Spirit and in Truth and so, He has been teaching me. I've recently been convinced that sincere worship is essential to growing in an intimate relationship with God. Every week my team and I spend plenty of time in church services worshipping, but we also have our own team worship a couple of evenings a week. It does not remotely compare to any church I have visited or conference I have attended or concert I've been moved by - it is absolutely fantastic. I wish that I could explain to you all how my spirit leaps inside of me sometimes and how God moves within us in our praise, but I simply can't, not with words. I can, however, paint you a couple of pictures.

 

One Voice 

 

    Instead of the normal biweekly visit to the local public hospital, the ladies on my team (the five of us) decided to try something new last week. We asked the boys to go to the hospital, and while they did, we would worship so that light would shine in the hospital from afar. We decided to meet in a room of the hotel in town where we use the wifi, where there is a piano. We began praying, uncertain of where to go...

      An hour later we are all joyously on our feet. We are singing in brilliant harmony. It doesn't make sense, I don't sing harmonies, plain old basic tunes are difficult as it is, but I did. We would take unspoken turns belting out a song from inside and together we shouted it out in glorious repetition. I remember one point I started to sing loudly and began to lead in a quiter moment. I didn't plan it that way, my mouth just moved. I sang, "You break chains, you break chains," again and again. The group joined and I stood shocked because I had heard a beautiful voice come from my lips, certainly not my own. Angela is banging on the side of the piano, hands are raised, dances commenced, songs lifted high. I could swear that there was an angel in that room with us.

 

One Passion

 

     Worship is very freeing, but, I think, that it also requires growth. I cannot sing to my Maker burdened, I cannot dance, oppresed or divided. So, sometimes our worship sessions get serious fast, they are a time to be vulnerable and intimare with God. Last night, however, was a different story. Instead of what we normally do, when Mae leads with her voice and guitar, we plugged an ipod into the stereo. Two hours later all 19 of us are standing on a chair, although no instruction was given to do so. We could have left, we had been dismissed, but instead we shouted out a familliar song in worship together. It was really loud, that's how we do it. At a climax in the chorus I jump off my chair, meeting my team on the floor and dancing. But it was incredibly unlike a dance party because I danced and shouted not soley for fun, but because I sincerely could determine no other reasonable response, in the moment, to the passion God has given me.

 

 

I have experienced more emotions in worship than I knew existed. I have let myself be raw and real in the presence of God and have been radically moved by the Spirit in many ways. I would love to tell each one of you about it one day, but face to face.