Often when we think of worship, we think about songs of praise. However, worship can be anything that honors and shows reverence to God. Worship can look like seeing God’s hand in creation and responding with awe and gratitude, spending time with God in prayer, or trusting God with an uncertain circumstance.
Worship plays a significant role in spiritual warfare.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
For us, the main battle was already won when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, allowing us to directly access God’s presence and develop a close relationship with Him. However, the enemy is always trying to plant things like fear, doubt, and mistrust in our minds to cause us to stumble and turn our eyes away from God.
We can’t fight the enemy on our own strength, but when we worship God, He fights our battles for us.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
Psalm 22:3 (ESV)
God inhabits the praises of His people and He helps us fight those battles. We know that when God’s presence touches things, things start to change.
Our faith starts to get involved in our worship when we face challenges. When things aren’t going well, can we still worship and praise God for who He is? When Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison for healing a possessed slave (Acts 16:16-40), they were in a tough spot, but they chose to sing and praise God regardless of what they were experiencing. Worshiping God when our circumstances aren’t what we want, when we’re struggling, is hard and takes a lot of faith! However, when we praise God in the midst of challenge, we declare that He is greater than our circumstances and that He’s got it.
How will you choose to worship God this week? How can you trust God with your circumstance, beyond what you can see?