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Q6. Spiritual Worship


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  • 2 months later...

Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that "God is spirit"? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Have you ever "gone through the motions" of worship without worshipping? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?

 

Do not the weeds and thorns inhibit the growth of the seeds [our spirit of faith?] along the "path of life?" God know when and why we might be going through the motions, we can't hide from this. So how do we prepare out hearts and minds before arriving/going to church?

 

I for one need to worry less and trust God more, so I can prepare my heart and mind in peace that is already mine for the faith level I have today at this moment

 

How can I worship in a way more pleasing to God? Trust and obey, trust and obey, breath and let Him lead me in peace to all things of the day. This is the right path to worship in spirit and truth. Let God help us do it no matter what.

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Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that “God is spirit”?

 

God is the Uncreated One....Who has always existed...He is "not one of us human beings".....He's invisible and alive in the Spiritual realm. He can't be seen with human eyes...only what He has created in the material world can be seen. But He can be known and worshipped.....desires to be known and worshipped!

 

What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth?

 

He has made known how He desires to be worshipped. First to the Jews through blood sacrifices to atone for their sins in order to be in relationship with Him. Now through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus, we worship and come freely into His Presence by the Blood of the perfect Lamb....we may dance in His presence as David did. We may sing in a known language, or in an unknown tongue as the Holy Spirit leads. We may kneel, stand, bow down, or lie down. We may pray, and praise in known words or in other tongues. Tears may be worship. I trust the Holy Spirit to lead me in Worship.

 

Have you ever “gone through the motions” of worship without worshipping?

 

Yes, sad to say, I have...a number of times, especially when I've been angry at Him.

 

How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?

 

Worship is a growing process for me. I feel much more free in worship than I did coming from an ecclesiastical church background where shaking hands with the person next to you was as "warm" as church got. Worship consisted of knowing when to stand, kneel or sit, to be in sync with everyone else.

I've been delivered from that rigidity in recent years. I ask the Holy Spirit to lead me in all things...so that I'm pleasing Him.

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God is spirit, just that.  He does not have a physical body.  He is all around us, unseen.  When we worship we are in communion with this amazing spirit who created us.  This is the truth.  What we see around us in the material world is the untruth.  Sometimes I have lost concentration and gone off into random and totally irrelevant thoughts when I should have been praying.  I try to bring myself up sharply when this happens. 

 

It is very hard to say categorically what would be more pleasing because we are all individual and have our own individual relationships with God.  For myself, I find it very helpful to visualise God sitting right next to me.  I believe that he understands me.

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Hello every one

 

(John 4:23-24)   Have you ever “gone through the motions” of worship without worshipping?

 

Yes!

 

What does it mean that “God is spirit”?

 

This is a hard question- to describe God, from the eyes of a mere mortal! I will try: God does not have a physical body. The notes comment that perhaps the apostle John is saying, by describing God this way, that He is omnipresent, "not to be represented by any kind of physical object nor confined to any single place." Gods in other cultures and the culture in Jesus time (except the Jewish culture) would revere and worship objects representing their gods. So, this teaching about the one and true God, would be a significant teaching in the context of the culture in Jesus day. Because there were gentile peoples around about that probably had their own gods represented by physical objets. Gods people have always been (from the begining of time) influenced by cultures around about them. For example when Moses went up to Mt Sinai the people exhorted Aaron to make gods, so he made golden calves (Exodus 32). God's people had given way to the influence of the surround nations.

 

What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth?

 

Perhaps worship in spirit and truth means, worshiping the one true God as we know him (revealed to us in the scriptures and through His creation), and do not worship any other god. I think the word worship- at least in the context of my church, is an over used word- often used in conjunction with music and singing.

 

How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?

 

Romans 12:1-2 says:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (NIV).

The above verses describe true worship. Givng God my all to the extent of dying for him, the ultimate love. Just as he died for me (also Romans 5:8, John 15:3). I think that part of worship is living for God each day, where ever I am.

 

Some of my thoughts.

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Q6. (John 4:23-24) 

What does it mean that "God is spirit"? 

What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? 

Have you ever "gone through the motions" of worship without worshipping? 

How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?

‘God is Spirit’ defines God’s being. He is not a mere man, subject to all the errors and limitations of humanity. Neither is He confined to any one place at any time. He is an invisible Person who is present in all places at one and the same time, who is all-knowing, and who is all-powerful. He is perfect in all His ways. It is because of who He is, that we must worship Him in spirit and truth. There must be no fake, or pretending, or hypocrisy, or going through the motions of worship; but only a genuine love of the Lord. Yes, I’m ashamed to say. I have gone through the motions of worship when I've felt down for some reason or other. Or when my mind has been preoccupied with some or other crisis. Or even when getting up and not feeling like going to church, but rather wanting to ‘chill out’. True worship does not consist of mere outward conformity to religious standards and duties, but flows from the inner spirit. It must also be consistent with the truth God has revealed about Himself in His Word. I think we need to have a mind-set of not what we can get out of worshipping, but rather what can we contribute to worshipping the Lord, that may be more pleasing to Him 

 

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What does it mean that “God is spirit”? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth?

1.  God is not physical.  His presence is everywhere.  He is omnipresent.  Our worship should be for real, from the heart. We worship Him for all that he is. We cannot just go thru the rituals of worshipping on Sunday and Monday act like we don't know the Lord.  He should be our priority. 

 

Have you ever “gone through the motions” of worship without worshipping? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?        

2. Yes, I have.  I need to decrease me and increase Jesus.  Sometimes I find myself caught up with the things of the world that become a distraction when I am trying to worship and I forget where my focus should be.  I should worship giving God the heartfelt praise and thanks that He deserves.  When I think about that He woke me up this morning, that in itself is enough that should make me want to cry out to Him. 

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Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that “God is spirit”?

 

God is omnipresent and not confined to any physical space. Only by being "spirit" is that possible.

 

 

 

What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth?

 

We must worship the Father in spirit, meaning that we must have the Holy Spirit in us in order to properly worship God. Our spirit, united with His Holy Spirit then communes with God on levels we can't reach in a worldly way.

We must worship the Father in truth, meaning that we must acknowledge His sovereignty over all things and His right to do with us as He pleases. We must worship according to the truth contained in Scripture and not make up ways of worshipping God that may feel good but have no Biblical base. Without wanting to offend anyone . . I remember when the "Toronto Blessing" phenomenon swept Christendom.  I used to watch some of the church services broadcasted on TV and there'd be idiots laughing their guts out while the preacher was preaching and one crazy dude running around doing aeroplane impersonations! That behavior was so totally irreverent as to be insulting to the God of the universe in whose house they were worshipping. It was unscriptural and not of God at all.

I know that's an extreme example, but even making up stupid pointless choruses that don't agree doctrinally with the Bible is NOT worshipping God in TRUTH. At one youth rally they sung a song that ended with "God is looking after His/Her creation and keeping Her children safe". In the space on ONE LINE the writers of that chorus (kids at an under-supervised youth convention) had not only neutered God but given Him a sex change! I was offered the lead guitarist's spot in the house band but I knocked it back after hearing that. Didn't want to be a part of heresy.

 

 

 

Have you ever “gone through the motions” of worship without worshipping?

 

Haven't we all?

 

 

 

How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?

 

Approach Him with a contrite heart for starters. Praise Him for what He's done for us. Tell Him we love Him. Then ask Him for what we need if we still feel we need it.

 

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Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that “God is spirit”? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Have you ever “gone through the motions” of worship without worshipping? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?

"God is Spirit" means that he has no physical form, he is omnipresent, all powerful and knowing all things.

God is a Spirit of truth and seeks those who worship Him in truth, doing this we must have the spirit of truth in us. This Holy Spirit comes to us when we acknowledge Christ as our savior and repent of our sins.

Some times going through the motions of worship and not having our heart and mind on God can cause us to worship that avails us nothing. The best way to worship God is to acknowledge who He is, the creator of all things and giving thanks for what he has done for us. Next we should confess to Him that we are sinners and forgive us of our sins for that day. We may then pray for any supplications or request we may have. Asking Him for his help to carry us on for the day and be ready for any situation he may want us to minister for. 

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What does it mean that God is spirit?  What does it mean to worship in spirit and in  truth?  Have you ever gone through the motions of worship in spirit w/o worshipping? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?

 

God is invisible  In that He does not have a physical nature as we do.

To worship in spirit and in truth means you have been cleansed by the Holy Spirit of your sin and that you know the truth which is Jesus Christ and that He died on the cross for our sins that we might come before a just and holy God in true worship.

Yes especially when the pressing needs of family or the immediate world around me are right there in my face.  I read once of a lord in England who came home every night dropped his robe and said lie there lord so and so.   I need to take off my mask and say lie there Jen.

Praise Him, praise Him praise Him,  adore, adore, adore, confess my sin, repent, repent repent, tell Him how much I need Him every minute , every second and ask Him to give me a right heart and do unto others as I would have them do unto me.

 

God Bless!

Jen

Numbers 6:24-26

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Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that "God is spirit"?

This question was difficult for me to answer as I know little about the “Spirit world”, I know about God and about the Holy Spirit, so in my quest for an answer, this is what came to my mind.

 

The things of the spirit are that of the ”Supernatural”, God was seen by the Israelites in a THICK CLOUD, so that the people may hear when He speaks to them, in the day, the LORD went before them in a pillar of a cloud, and by night, in a pillar of fire, to give to them light.

 

(Exodus 14:20-21) And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night, and Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

 

We serve a God that is above all things and what man calls impossible, we who believe through faith understand, He who is spirit does it supernaturally without blinking an eye.

 

Acts 1 tells us, after the Messiah spoke, they saw him taken up; and a “cloud” received him, taking him out of their sight, and this Messiah will come in the same manner which was spoken of by Daniel when he saw in a dream, one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, a prophecy I am looking forward to - The dictionary tells us what cloud in (Exodus 19:16) means, the word “cloud” comes from the root word - aw-nan' to cover; used only as denominative, to cloud over; figuratively to act covertly, that is, practice magic:- X bring, enchanter, observe times, soothsayer, sorcerer; that of the “supernatural” - A “CLOUD” (as covering the sky), that is, the nimbus or “THUNDER” cloud.

 

It is sad that many denominations have turned the Spirit, God Almighty, into some kind of marshmallow cloud, when in reality the Spirit is a “Thunder Cloud”, a God to be “feared”: (Heb 12:26) Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

 

The Spirit to me means that which is “SUPERNATURAL”: science teaches, mathematically it would be impossible for the Universe and all of God’s creation to be – it would be impossible if just a minute fraction of measurement was off, the creation of the universe is outside the scope of presently known laws of physics.” There are seventeen specific prophecies about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is only one chance in 480 Billion x 1 billion x 1 Trillion that these Old Testament prophets could have accurately predicted these prophecies that have been fulfilled - except they be of the Spirit; The Bible is not just any book, it is the very breath of God, Spirit breathed and in it God is revealed to all that seek for Him.

 

Q. What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth?

To worship in “SPIRIT” is to offer up to God worship that is rooted in “FAITH” - Faith is of the Spirit, a gift of God and not of men.

To worship in “TRUTH” is to offer up to God worship that is genuine, that which is true and not hypocritical. Let us not be a people who honor God with our lips, when our heart is far from Him, for He who called you is holy, we also are to be holy in how we conduct our lives, for it is written, Be holy for I am holy.

 

Q. Have you ever "gone through the motions" of worship without worshipping?

 

Because I am a new creation in progress is the reason I sadly say, that at one time and other I have allowed the things of life and the trials that it holds to distract me from the things of God, however, I am finding that the “WORSHIP” God desires of me does not restrict me to when I worship in church, the worship he is looking for and that pleases him is how I face and live each day, God sees my worship when I ask forgiveness from others, when I go to Him even when I feel my faith is at its weakest, asking him to enlarge my faith, I believe God sees my worship when I desire to walk in obedience to his laws, not because I have to, but because His Son has written them on my heart.

 

There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death, today I see man turning away from the things of God and are going their own way, how sad for them when the day comes when they “WILL” stand before the Spirit and be judged.

 

 

 

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(John 4:23-24) What does it mean that “God is spirit”? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Have you ever “gone through the motions” of worship without worshipping? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God? 

 

God is spirit, He does not have a human form. Jesus took on human form and frail humanity on earth to redeem us to Himself. Worshiping in spirit and in truth, in my opinion, is worship not directed to a physical being but rather having an attitude of gratefulness and love towards a God whom we cannot physically see. Many times, I have gone through the motion of worship and singing songs and praising God, but my mind is on other worldly issues. This is not pleasing to God as we are not focused on Him but on other things. This then leads me back to the point about worshiping in spirit and in truth - focusing on our Lord and Saviour and not on other things. Worshiping in spirit and in truth also means that we need not necessarily be in Church to meet and worship God. We can be in the middle on a busy shopping mall and yet be worshiping God. I think worshiping speaks more of our attitude and focus rather than being in a specific place and time. 

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Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that “God is spirit”? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Have you ever “gone through the motions” of worship without worshipping? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?

“God is spirit” means that He is not flesh and blood as man is; His substance is not corporeal, rather He is invisible and omnipresent.  To worship God in spirit and in truth means that we worship Him not from what can be seen but that which cannot be visibly seen.  Its an offering from the heart.  Many times we've gone through the motions of worship without worshipping, at times when we're distracted or we're worried and not trusting God.  To worship in a way more pleasing to God I must enter into worship by the Holy Spirit and intentionally set those distractions aside to truly worship God.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that "God is spirit"? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Have you ever "gone through the motions" of worship without worshipping? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?
 

"God is spirit" means He is invisible and omnipresent.

 

To worship in spirit and in truth means we worship in and by the power of the Holy Spirit with all our minds and hearts focused on God.

 

Yes, several times when the mind wonders away to other things/ places. Holy spirit help to worship in spirit and in truth.

 

Worship that pleases God is that which involves all our hearts, minds and in sincerity.

 

 

 

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John 4:23-24 tells me that God is a spirit meaning he is not physical being limited to one place. He is present everywhere and can be worship anytime and anywhere  

 

To worship in spirit and in truth is to know Jesus Christ as our Savior. When we worship we to have all iniquity out of heart to do this we pray for forgiveness and asking the Holy Spirit to help us. if we cannot find the right words to pray the Holy Spirit prays for us.(Romans 8:26).I always ask for forgiveness before I pray.

 

Yes I have come to worship with every thing on my mind but worship. this is where we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to come into us and clean up our mind and let the Spirit flow.

 

We are more pleasing to God in our worship when we come with worshipping in truth and Spirit  with nothing else on our minds and we do this by praying for the Spirit to fill us and clear our mind. To pray for all iniquity to be taken from us.

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God is Spirit: I believe Pastor Ralph was correct in saying that it emphasizes that God is not a physical body as we understand physical with its many limitations - but that God is omnipresent but also that God is omnipotent in that the Holy Spirit is frequently a manifestation and working out of the power of God.

To worship God in Spirit and Truth probably means we don't have to worship God in a special place or building since He is not confined to such a place. The word Truth has to do with the genuineness of our attitude and the honesty of our approach to God. Are we approaching the throne of God in a truthful way?

We are to be humble as we worship.

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The meaning is of “God is spirit” means that He doesn’t have an actual body but that He has a spiritual body. To worship in spirit and in truth is to make sure that our whole mind is on worshiping God. Sometimes I have just gone through the motions without really worshiping. My mind was on something else. I can worship with my whole mind and block out the world and focus on God.

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  • 2 months later...

“God is Spirit” means he is not a physical being limited to one place. He is present everywhere, and he can be worshiped anywhere, at any time. It is not where we worship that counts, but how we worship. Is your worship genuine and true? Do you have the Holy Spirit’s help? How does the Holy Spirit help us worship? The Holy Spirit prays for us (Romans 8:26), teaches us the words of Christ (14:26), and tells us we are loved.

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  • 2 months later...

God is everywhere. God is able to see all, be all and know all. We must come into worship with truth and honesty in our hearts. We have to feel the excitement in our spirits, in our souls. We have to be true in our statements. We cannot just sit there and repeat words with no thoughts of what we are saying. There have been times where I actually did not think about God once while I was in church. I was too busy thinking about those around me and judging people. I needed to rework my thought pattern. I needed to find a new church where I was able to feel the spirit around me. I needed to be around real people and not fake ones.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that "God is spirit"? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Have you ever "gone through the motions" of worship without worshipping? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?

 

1) It simply means that God doesn’t have a physical body as we know it.  The Son, Jesus came to earth in a physical body but God (the father) and the Holy Spirit are invisible, they are not physical beings in human form.  Numbers 23:19 (NKJV): “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.”  2) Worshiping in spirit means to worship God passionately, from the heart, not just simply going through the motions out of some feeling of personal obligation.  Worshiping from the heart means truly honoring God and not just satisfying our own personal needs; Deut. 6:4 says that we should “love the Lord with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our might.”  Worshiping in truth means that we need to “know” God on a personal level.  We get to know Him but studying His Word, knowing what He wants and expects of us and then applying that knowledge in our daily lives.  3) Yes, of course.  I think we all “go through the motions” at times but before I go to worship I always begin by praying that my conduct will glorify Him in some small way.  4)  We all need to know and understand what God is all about.  Our worship should ALWAYS be passionate and it should ALWAYS glorify God in every way.  Through prayer and study we will come to know and understand exactly what He wants and expects of us and our worship will reflect a positive, loving, spiritual attitude.  When our worship is sincere, the more we glorify God.  

 

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  • 6 months later...

God is a personal living being, but He does not exist in a visible human state. His immortal existence transcends a physical body and all the rules of the universe He created. He is spirit who manifest Himself to man as a man in the Person of Jesus.

 

For us, to worship in spirit and in truth means to engage the heart, mind, and soul in connecting with God with humble recognition of His preeminence and our subordinate relationship to Him. This is the opposite of going through the motions of rituals and traditions in a special location on certain days of the week, thinking these so-often-mindless acts to be worship. We can only experience authentic worship through the indwelling Spirit of God and the defining truth of the Word of God, not by man-made or self-glorifying approaches. 

 

I have certainly been guilty at times of sitting through a sermon, singing the songs, even praying prayers like a robot without honestly worshiping God. I have become much more convicted about that and more sensitive to looking deeper to seek God Himself in it. I try to consciously sing to Him, pray to Him, listen for Him from my heart.

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  • 2 years later...

“God in spirit” means that He is omnipresent and that He is always there to help us. To worship in spirit and in truth means that we are really focused on God and we are just going through the motions. My problem is it feels like I go through the motions most the time. My mind wanders when I am worshiping God. The only time it doesn’t is when I sing praises to Him.

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  • 7 months later...

Q6. (John 4:23-24) What does it mean that "God is spirit"? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Have you ever "gone through the motions" of worship without worshipping? How can you worship in a way more pleasing to God?

It means that God is a spirit and He is always present at all times. It means to worship Him as God like He should be worshiped. 

Yes I have many times especially when I have appointments for pain procedures and my mind is on those instead of on Him. 

By learning to trust in Him when I have something going on and also being willing to participate in worship fully and sing with all my heart. 

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  • 2 years later...

God is spirit meaning that God isn't the sun, moon, the stars nor an image of wood. Nor is God an impersonal universal mind.

To worship God in spirit means to worship with one's whole soul, and desires. To worship intelligently not bound up in long journeys to a temple with fatigue.  Yes, we must press in to worship the Lord no matter what the weather is or how we feel.  We must be wise not to ruin our health..  St Paul and his coworkers were hard pressed many times.   Even in the prison they had church or by the house church in Rome

In truth we worship.  In harmony with fully revealed truth as revealed in the Holy Bible.  Not in fallacies, legends, rituals nor in ceremonies.  We don't base our worship on old wives fables nor on controversies.

In the past, there were times that I went through the motions of worship.  During my college years, we had mandatory chapel services each day.  Sometimes I may not have been wanting to confront what God was trying to teach me.   Sometimes I brought nature books into chapel to read during silent meditation times.  Or my mind was concerned on extraneous events instead on  devotional  time. As I have become more mature in the Lord,  I treasure my silent periods of prayer.   Quietly and prayerfully read the Bible.   I go on prayer walks and pray out loud short prayers.   Than return to Bible study and write down my meditations.

 

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