Cyrus Ministries International (CMI)

Spiritual Worship

God is Holy. He does Holy things. He thinks Holy thoughts. He desires to do Holy things. His plans and purposes are Holy. This is natural for God. His very essence, His very being is Holy. That is why all His ways are Holy.

Jesus said, "God is a spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24) Jesus knew that His Father was Holy. He called Him, "Holy Father." (John 17:11) He knew the very nature of His Father. He knew God wanted to be known and revered for His very Holy Being. Many worship God for what He has done. This is good. But this is like the Jews who only could come into the outer court. They only knew God from a distance. They knew God for what He did. When these men see God do something they do not like or do not understand they often fall away. They do not know that God is Holy. They have not known the Holiness of His very being and then they seek to evaluate Him by what they see Him do, rather than on the very nature of His being.

Some worship God for what He wants to do or for what He promises to do for them. They are like the priests who live in the proximity of His presence, but still have not come into the very dwelling place of His being. These people are constantly seeking to have God have them "feel good" or to know another promise that they can look forward to being fulfilled. Once again these things are good, but yet there is a deeper place in ourselves in which we can know and worship God. We can go deeper into ourselves and know God not just hi our minds or in our feelings, but we can know Him in our spirit. When the kingdom was divided after Solomon's reign, one kingdom, called the kingdom of Judah, lived with their worship centered in Jerusalem. The other kingdom, called the kingdom of Israel lived in territories beyond Jerusalem. The king of the northern territories set up idols in Dan and Bethel for the worship of God. This king did this because he was afraid that if he let the people worship in Jerusalem that they might join the kingdom of Judah. This form of worship, in places outside of Jerusalem, led to idolatry, and the intermingling of the northern kingdom with heathen nations and the worship of pagan gods. Jezebel and Baal worship was brought in through these abominable practices. The northern kingdom eventually was divided and dispersed. Some scholars feel that the worship of God in Dan and Bethel can be likened to worshiping God in our minds or in our emotions. This type of worship is led by logic or doctrine and by feeling good or being hyped into frenzy. It is good to know about God through what He does or through how we feel when we are with Him. But God wants us to KNOW Him for who He is and to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Paul says we can worship God with songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts. God would free our spirit and have us be aware of His working hi the depths of our spirits so that our spirits are sensitive to the Holy Spirit. He will lead us and impart into us the love and knowledge and experience of God for who He is. We can know with our spiritual "knower" who God is in His essence or in His nature. Our cries then become 'Oh God' or 'Holy, Holy, Holy' or 'Abba Father' from the depths of our being as we know and worship God for who He is. We may, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, then sing songs in tongues of angels, or we might sing 'newly given' songs. Our hearts then become places of continual worship and we begin to know what it means to be a spiritual house of worship.