Practical Application of John 4:24 TodayThese days, worshiping anywhere and everywhere seems so easy—perhaps too easy. A lot of people say they are too busy to read their Bibles or to pray, but they also seem to think it has to happen in a certain way, at a particular time, and only at a church. Show Many non-Christians also mistakenly think they have to get their lives sorted out before coming to Christ. Two things that help us relate John 4:24 to our own time are: 1. God meets you where you are. He doesn’t wait for you to get your act together. Try him out. As Spurgeon says, “It will be a new thing if He shall have to say, ‘You are beyond My power. You have sinned beyond the reach of My love.’” 2. Trying to hide our sin is what separates us from God. He expects us to mess up, but He also wants us to be real about our mistakes. The Spirit intercedes for us, so that we can worship in truth, by the power of the Holy Spirit, without being condemned. The truth is that God accepts our repentance, forgives us, and we are free to worship. 5 Ways to Worship in Spirit and Truth1. Connect people to God. God detested how His people “compartmentalized. They disconnected what God connected.” Even if someone won’t hear the truth of the Gospel, treat him or her as a child of God, created by Him. Don’t compartmentalize based on faith, ethnicity, socio-economic standing, or education. 2. Be real. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” (Psalm 139:23) Invite God to know you, and be prepared to show Him the real you...the truth. Repent of sin. 3. Don’t be afraid. Jesus said the truth has set you free (John 8:32), so even though you are inviting Him to see the real you, know that nothing can separate you from the love of God. Jesus saw into the heart of the Samaritan woman, and He offered her grace in exchange for sin. Recognize your sin. Admit it. Give it up. Consider this: if the Samaritan woman had not recognized her sin and felt shame, she would have come to the well in the cool of the day. She would not have met Jesus. 4. Invite refinement. God will let you experience fiery trials. Remember King David’s son Adonijah? “His father had never rebuked him by asking, ‘Why do you behave as you do?’” (1 Kings 1:6) Adonijah exalted himself, was humiliated, and later killed. God loves you too much not to rebuke you. He will discipline those He loves (Hebrews12:6). The Samaritan woman endured the noon-day sun. Jesus used her discomfort to bring her to Him. Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Rawpixel Last week, I started a series on “Worship.” The article last week was, as an introduction, entitled, “Does Worshiping Come With Rules.” There are only two rules of worship but they both have many implications. These rules can be found in what Jesus said in John 4:23-24. He said, But the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Today allow me to elaborate a little on rule number one. We must worship God in spirit. Notice that God is seeking for true worshipers. God has not lost any of His children and he is searching to see who among His children are worshiping Him in spirit and in truth. The question then becomes why is He seeking true worshipers. God is a God of love. He loves His children so much that He wants to shower them with all they need for an abundant life here on earth. As a result, God wants to bless and give his children favor beyond measure. But he cannot do so if we, as His children do not worship Him in the manner that He wants to be worshiped. Have you ever wondered why there is not much of an outpouring of blessings and favor upon those who attend worship services on a consistent basis? Yes, it does rain on the just and the unjust. But the just can have more sunshine if they abide by God’s rules of worship. First of all, you cannot worship God if you do not have the Holy Spirit. God looks upon those who claim to be saved and born again with an expectation that they can worship Him. It is the Holy Spirit inside of you that brings you into the realm of true worship. That is why true worship can take place at any time, any place and any where. God must be present in order for there to be true worship. God is not just inside your church building. He is everywhere you go. True worship can take place without music, without a choir, without a preacher and without being inside a building designated as “church.” In essence, true worship only requires you and the presence of God. And since the Holy Spirit dwells and abides in you, so does God. Your best true worship experience is when you are worshiping God with nothing else or no one else with you. Hebrews 13:10 says, “we have an altar.” One of the things that hinder worshipers from being or becoming true worshipers is the visible altars in churches. Most church services end with people standing at the altar. In fact some only go to church to be prayed over at the church thinking that make them “good to go” for the rest of the week until the next Sunday. That is why you see the same people going to the altar every week and doing the same thing. But you, as a believer have an altar. You cannot see it no more than you can see God. Anything that you can see is not spiritual. Because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we can now come boldly to the throne of God. And you can do so at any time if you walk by faith and not by sight. God is looking for true worshipers who can worship Him in spirit as a result of believing in His Word and acting on His Word. True worshipers do not need a man-made altar because they know they have a spiritual altar built specifically for them. To worship God in truth, one must worship Him according to what He has outlined in His word. We will deal with worshiping God in truth next week … stay tuned.  https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Owens_2-2.jpg What is meant by worshiping God in spirit and truth?To say that we must worship God “in spirit” means, among other things, that it must originate from within, from the heart; it must be sincere, motivated by our love for God and gratitude for all he is and has done. Worship cannot be mechanical or formalistic.
What is a true worship?Jesus laid out what real true worship is, first it's to worship God in spirit and truth. That means you understand who God is and all about the Godhead. So real worship is more than singing songs, real worship involves what Romans says; “your body as a living sacrifice.”
What is to worship God in truth?To worship God in truth, one must worship Him according to what He has outlined in His word.
Why does God want us to worship him?God is an infinite, perfect, communion of persons, responsible for the intentional creation of everything around us - which begs the question, if God is perfect, why does he need us to worship him? Well, he actually doesn't. God doesn't need us to worship him because there is nothing he lacks.
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Worship him in spirit and in truth
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