Verse: Ephesians 5:18-20
Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thoughts
Last night I had soccer practice with the U12 girls team that my daughter plays on. Many of these players are beginners, so we are doing a lot of work on “fundamentals” – the basic building blocks of skills needed to excel at soccer. Last night we worked on a simple “cut” move with the ball, where you fake one way and go the other way. Simple.

The thing is, if you watch professional soccer at the highest level in Europe, you’ll see players doing this same move. It is a bread and butter move, like a crossover dribble in basketball, an overhead spike in volleyball, or a topspin lob in tennis.

Why am I telling you this? Because worship is a fundamental to following Jesus. Paul exhorts us to be filled with his Spirit as we sing and make music out of gratitude in our hearts. That’s worship!

The thing is, we sometimes misdefine worship as only what we do on Sunday mornings. And that is GREAT worship. I love Sundays. But worship needs to become part of our daily lives! We can listen to worship music at any point—it’s always with us on our devices. It’s just a choice! We can spend some time alone just listening, or get alone and sing (if you like that!), play your instrument, or go for a drive or a walk—there are so many ways to worship on our own.

Why is this important? For some of us, worship might seem like a religious act that we were forced to do in church growing up. Or something you see other people do, but it never really clicked for you. Here are a few reasons I find worship to be so help. I truly believe it is one of the most powerful weapons/tools that God has given us: It connects you to Jesus relationally, it reminds you that he’s in charge not you, it shifts your perspective up and on Him instead of on your problems, it puts you in a posture to receive his strength and power, it opens your heart to his love, and most importantly it gives you an opportunity to praise and worship God as he deserves.

Is worship a fundamental that you’ve incorporated into your life yet? Or do you need some practice? Today I encourage you to listen to one worship song (I’m a huge fan of Maverick City worship right now – look them up!) and allow your heart to go to Jesus!

Prayer
God, teach me to worship you more! I want my life to be marked by a heart of worship!

Author: Christian Dunn