31 Days of Worship: Day 20 – Freedom

Another repost… a recent one… but an important one. I don’t think we can ever be reminded too many times how important it is to freely worship Jesus. So, if you have already read this, here it is again. Maybe something new will hit you this time. If you haven’t read it before, I’m glad you’re here now… you are about to get a glimpse into something that has infiltrated my heart over the last couple of months. Plus the song that really got me started thinking about all of this is below…

—-

Since returning from the GROW conference, one word has stayed constant in my mind… freedom. It’s a concept we desire to be prevalent in our lives, but it’s also something that a lot of us don’t truly experience. We miss it in our private lives, we miss it in our relationships, we miss it in our worship. Today, we’re going to talk a little about how a lack of freedom in Christ inhibits our corporate worship.

During one of our first worship experiences at Highlands, I was taken aback as I watched the sea of worshipers. The Holy Spirit was flowing freely in this place. It was so obvious. There was an incredible sense of freedom. From what I could see, there were no inhibitions. People weren’t afraid of what others thought. They were focused on Jesus.

So many times during corporate worship, I fear that we are more focused on what people think than on what God has for us that day. We are afraid to lift our hands because, well, there aren’t a lot of others raising their hands. Or maybe people will think we’re being fake. We are afraid to allow tears to flow freely because, well, people may think we’re just going on emotions. Now I’m not saying that to worship freely, you MUST raise your hands or cry. That’s not freedom either. The freedom comes when no matter if you listen silently, shed tears, pray, raise your hands, clap, sway, or just sing at the top of your lungs… you’re doing it because of an intense connection with your Master… one that started before you walked in the doors of the church.

What happens in our hearts and minds on Sunday mornings is a direct reflection of what is happening in our private prayer closets. Have you ever noticed how differently you experience corporate worship when you have spent a lot of time with your Creator that week? And what about the disconnect you experience when you haven’t met with Him a lot? Don’t blame your lack of worship on the songs or the leader or the missed notes or the words on the screen. Our worship experience comes more from our own constant (or broken) connection with Jesus than it does from anything tangible that happens in the worship center.

So, what’s the state of your worship? Do you find yourself connecting freely with God on Sunday mornings? Or do you more often hold back, worried about what those around you will think? My challenge is for all of us to seek the freedom in Christ that God is calling us to! May we experience true and free worship, both privately and corporately!

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

If you are reading this in an email, click here to visit Grow Where You’re Planted and listen.