Worship of God is something that brings us into a very intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father, and worship is more than just speaking words or saying words to God. Let me clarify a misunderstanding that more than 90 percent of believers have. There is a very common expression used in many churches today for their Sunday morning meeting, which is called a "worship service." In Charismatic or other Pentecostal churches, they call it a time of "praise and worship." If you want to be completely scriptural and Biblical, that is a totally wrong expression; what they're doing there on Sunday morning is not worship. If you listen to the words of the songs they sing, it is praise and thanksgiving. It's not worship at all. If you don't believe me, you can take a concordance and look at the word worship as it is found throughout the New Testament. In the Old Testament, that was the only way they could express their worship to God: clapping and singing and using instruments to sing songs to God. But in the New Covenant, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4:23-24, "The hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth."

Jesus spoke about an hour that was "coming." He was referring to the day of Pentecost, which hadn't yet come. He also said in John 4:23, "now is," which means it was already fulfilled in Him, because Jesus is the firstborn of many brothers in the New Covenant. He was the one who opened up the New Covenant for us, so in a sense, He was the first, and our Leader. And so, that hour had come where there was one man finally walking on the earth who was worshiping the Father in spirit and in truth, and that was Jesus Himself. Nobody ever had done it before. . 

1 Thessalonians 5:23 tells us man is spirit, soul and body, and this indicates that when Jesus uses the word spirit here, He was saying that all Old Testament worship up until that point was only in the body and the soul. That means they worship God with their hands, raising their hands, clapping their hands; they worship God with their soul, which is using their mind, their intellect, their emotions; they felt joy and feelings, emotional feelings just like you when you sing songs of praise and thanksgiving in the meeting. That was the extent of worship in the soul and body. But He said, "Now you've come to a deeper level of worship that you can have from now on, when the Holy Spirit dwells in you like He's dwelling in Me." Jesus was saying, "You'll also be able to worship in spirit and in truth, not just in body and soul."

What should we do today? We still clap our hands and raise our hands, we still feel emotional and use our intellect when we praise God, but beyond all that, we must worship in the spirit, and that means that we penetrate that veil between soul and spirit, and enter into that realm where we're alone with God. In the Old Testament tabernacle, there are three parts - corresponding to body, soul and spirit - and the last part, this closed part, which was covered by the veil, is the most holy place, where only God dwelt. In the outer court, they had lot of excitement with sacrifices being offered. In the holy place, a number of priests were jostling around each other offering incense and lighting the lamps, etc. But in the most holy place, it was God alone. So when a person entered in the most holy place, he was with God alone. He was not conscious of anybody else. There was nobody else there but him and God. That is worship in the spirit, where it's you and God alone, and that's something you can do in your room, and it is not something that you do merely with words.

One of the finest examples of what a true worshipper says in his attitude towards God is seen in Psalm 73:25. If you can say this honestly to God from the depth of your heart, you are a worshipper. If not, you are not worshipping in spirit. It says, "O God, Whom have I in heaven but Thee?" In other words, "When I get to heaven, I'm not looking for the golden streets or a mansion or a crown. I'm going to be happy and satisfied with God alone. I don't need anybody or anything else but God." That is saying, "I have wonderful brothers and sisters and family members who may be there in heaven, but You are going to be everything for me. "And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth." That is saying, "Not only in heaven, but before I get to heaven, here on this earth, I don't desire anything but You. I don't desire anything more of material goods than what You've given me. I'm perfectly content." Godliness with contentment is great gain. A worshiper never has a complaint about anything on this earth - he's perfectly content with all the circumstances that God has arranged for him. He's content with the family God has brought him into, the job he has, everything he has. He is perfectly content. He desires nothing but God. Like the old saying goes, if a time comes in your life where you have nothing but God and everything else is lost, you'll find that God is more than enough.

So this is true worship, where the attitude of my heart is that I desire nothing here on this earth but God. If you don't have that attitude of heart, no matter how emotional you feel when you praise and thank God on Sunday mornings, you're not a worshipper. You can call it worship and praise, but you're deluding yourself, and Satan is quite happy for you to do that to yourself because you imagine that you're worshipping God when you're not. But Jesus said in John 4:23 that the Father is seeking for those who worship Him in spirit. And what a longing the Father has. 

Do you have that longing to satisfy your Father's heart, to be a worshipper in spirit? Then go to Psalm 73:25 and don't rest until those words are the expression of your heart, that you desire nothing on earth but Jesus Christ, not even a ministry. Don't find your satisfaction in your evangelism or in your teaching or in your church building or in any ministry or in your money or your property or anything. "Lord, I have You and I desire only You."