Worship starts with seeing Him

One of the songs which has spoken a lot to me and helped shape my worship leading over the last year or so is Matt Redman's song 'Worship starts with seeing you', and in particular the lines 'no-one can sing of things they have not seen......Worship starts with seeing you...Our hearts respond to your revelation'

There is an awesome truth revealed in these lines that true worship is a response to God. Worship is not something which is simply stirred up or forced, it is the natural heartfelt response to an understanding of who God is and what He has done.

I think one of the biggest temptations when leading a congregation into worship is to focus on the response itself. There is a visible outworking when somebody worships God - whether it is being joyful, clapping our hands, shouting, being lost in awe and wonder, or simply smiling! However if we try through our own efforts, or our techniques, or even the way we play our music to simply produce a response we will either struggle or have times of worship that are empty and dry.

God wants more than a religious tradition or an inbred pattern of behaviour. God wants us to know Him. He wants us to know that His character and His nature - that He is an all-powerful, omnipotent God, a loving Father, and a merciful saviour who has set us free.

So, how can we have awesome worship? I don't claim to have all the answers but I think the following things all help:

• Have good songs which declare real biblical truth about God
• Make good use of scripture concerning who God is and His promises to us
• Give people reasons to respond rather than just instructing them to shout, clap, raise hands etc.
• Don't berate people if they're struggling to worship - teach them about God, encourage them to have faith in His word and respond with a joyful heart.
• Overflow - Know God personally, be joyful, and model what it means to let that joy overflow in our worship

Most importantly, let's be a people who seek earnestly after God and pray that we might know more of his life and presence in our churches.