Walking With Christ

Psalm 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
John 4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.(ESV)

“Lord, we praise you.” “Lord, we worship you.” I’ve heard and said these two exact phrases so many times. I’ve heard them from pastors in the corporate body setting. I’ve said them in my own personal and private prayer life.

It’s begun to sound more like, “Hey, generic compliment.” Imagine telling someone “generic compliment” and expecting them to gush over the fact that you paid them attention. The words sound hollow. It turns actual praise and worship into a self-serving action because we expect a God we can’t be bothered to get to know to be thankful to us for giving Him any of our time. It’s like your boss at work saying “good work” but not being able to tell you what you are working on that deserves praise. It really takes any value out of the words.

Praise and worship needs to be personal and intentional. “Father, I praise You for Your unfailing love that has guided me through some really difficult times.” “Lord, I worship You because You are holy and righteous, deserving of all glory.”

Much like our prayers being more powerful if we are more specific about what we want and need, our praise and worship should show that we are actively seeking the kind of relationship with Him that lets us know Him well enough to actually be able to be specific during those times.