The Discipline of Worship

To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of GOd, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.

William Temple

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God is actively seeking worshippers. Jesus declares, 'The true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him' (John 4:23).

It is God who seeks, draws, persuades. Worship is human response to the divine initiative. Worship is our response to the overtures of love from the heart of the Father. Its central reality is found 'in spirit and truth'. It is kindled within us only when the Spirit of God touches our human spirit. Forms and rituals do not produce worship, nor does the disuse of forms and rituals. We can use all the right techniques and methods, we can have the best possible liturgy, but we have not worshipped the Lord until the Spirit touches spirit. The words of the chorus, 'Set my spirit free that I may worship Thee' reveal the basis of worship. Until God frees our spirit we cannot enter this realm. Singing, praying, praising, all may lead to worship, but worship is more than any of them. Our spirit must be ignited by the divine fire.

Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster