Biblical Worship and Praise - UBM [David Eells]

Vines Expository Dictionary on the Greek word Worship: "to make obeisance, do reverence to" (from pros, "towards", and kuneo, "to kiss"), is the most frequent word rendered "to worship". It is used of an act of homage or reverence. In other words, worship is an act of love toward God.

Father is looking for those who worship Him with all of themselves: {Joh.4:21} Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father. {22} Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. {23} But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. {24} God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. There is much fake worship -- words without heart and spirit.

Worship is the way to bring God's presence: {Psa.100:1} Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all ye lands. {2} Serve Jehovah with gladness: Come before his presence with singing. {3} Know ye that Jehovah, he is God: It is he that hath made us, and we are his; We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. {4} Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Give thanks unto him, and bless his name. {5} For Jehovah is good; His lovingkindness endureth for ever, And his faithfulness unto all generations.

Worshipping brings health: {Exo.23:25} And ye shall serve Jehovah your God, and he will bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

Worship brings freedom and freedom and humility should bring worship: {Act.16:25} But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them; {26} and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. {Dan.4:37} Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven; for all his works are truth, and his ways justice; and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

Worship reveals our love and admiration for God and He knows it: {Psa.63:1} O God, thou art my God; earnestly will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, In a dry and weary land, where no water is. {2Sa.7:22} Wherefore thou art great, O Jehovah God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. {1Ch.29:11} Thine, O Jehovah, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is thine ; thine is the kingdom, O Jehovah, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Command your depressed soul to praise and worship God: {Psa.42:11} Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; For I shall yet praise him, Who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

True worship is with the mouth and heart and fear of God: {Isa.29:13} And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been taught them.

Worship only the true God and no other thing as god: {Exo.20:2} I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. {3} Thou shalt have no other gods before me. {4} Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: {5} thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me, {6} and showing lovingkindness unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

Praise Him everywhere, with a new song, one that comes from your heart, and dancing and with all instruments: {Psa.149:1} Praise ye Jehovah. Sing unto Jehovah a new song, And his praise in the assembly of the saints. {2} Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. {3} Let them praise his name in the dance: Let them sing praises unto him with timbrel and harp. {4} For Jehovah taketh pleasure in his people: He will beautify the meek with salvation. {5} Let the saints exult in glory: Let them sing for joy upon their beds. {150:1} Praise ye Jehovah. Praise God in his sanctuary: Praise him in the firmament of his power. {2} Praise him for his mighty acts: Praise him according to his excellent greatness. {3} Praise him with trumpet sound: Praise him with psaltery and harp. {4} Praise him with timbrel and dance: Praise him with stringed instruments and pipe. {5} Praise him with loud cymbals: Praise him with high sounding cymbals. {6} Let everything that hath breath praise Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah.

It is the will of the Lord to worship in songs and hymns: {Eph.5:17} Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. {18} And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; 19 speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; {20} giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;

Worship in tongues and with understanding: {1Co.14:15} What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

Worship when you don't feel like it: {Hab.3:17} For though the fig-tree shall not flourish, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labor of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no food; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: {18} Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Praise (meaning "brag on") Him to everyone: {1Ch.16:23} Sing unto Jehovah, all the earth; Show forth his salvation from day to day. {24} Declare his glory among the nations, His marvellous works among all the peoples. {25} For great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised: He also is to be feared above all gods. {26} For all the gods of the peoples are idols: But Jehovah made the heavens. {27} Honor and majesty are before him: Strength and gladness are in his place. {28} Ascribe unto Jehovah, ye kindreds of the peoples, Ascribe unto Jehovah glory and strength; {29} Ascribe unto Jehovah the glory due unto his name: Bring an offering, and come before him: Worship Jehovah in holy array. {30} Tremble before him, all the earth: The world also is established that it cannot be moved. {31} Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; And let them say among the nations, Jehovah reigneth.

Worship everywhere lifting up hands: {1Ti.2:8} I desire therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and disputing.

Why lifting up hands? Offering our hands to the Lord for His works and to conquer His enemies: {Exo.17:9} And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. {10} So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. {11} And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. {12} But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. {13} And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Worship and praise will conquer overwhelming enemies: {2Ch.20:17} Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed: to-morrow go out against them: for Jehovah is with you. {18} And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah, worshipping Jehovah. {19} And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise Jehovah, the God of Israel, with an exceeding loud voice. {20} And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in Jehovah your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. {21} And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing unto Jehovah, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks unto Jehovah; for his lovingkindness endureth for ever. {22} And when they began to sing and to praise, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, that were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

Worship to bind the enemy and their kings: {Psa.149:6} Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand; {7} To execute vengeance upon the nations, And punishments upon the peoples; {8} To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; {9} To execute upon them the judgment written: This honor have all his saints. Praise ye Jehovah.

Because judgment and enemies are near, fear God and worship Him: {Rev.14:7} and he saith with a great voice, Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters. {Dan.3:16} Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter. {17} If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. {18} But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. {2Ki.17:38} and the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods: {39} but Jehovah your God shall ye fear; and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

We can clap and shout our triumph over enemies. Triumph is celebrating the victory before we see it: {Psa.47:1} Oh clap your hands, all ye peoples; Shout unto God with the voice of triumph. {Jos.6:20} So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets; and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

We also celebrate the Lord's triumphs in worship: {Exo.15:20} And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. {21} And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously; The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

We are taught to worship, praise and pray with hands lifted up to the Lord: {Psa.63:4} So will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. {1Ti.2:8} I desire therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and disputing. {Lam.3:41} Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. {Neh.8:6} and Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with the lifting up of their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground.

We raise our hands in praise when we grieve over sin or bondage to conquer these enemies: {1Ki.8:38} what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: {2Ch.6:29} what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, who shall know every man his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house: {30} then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling-place and forgive, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of the children of men.

We worship and praise to break the curse: {Exo.9:29} And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto Jehovah; the thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know that the earth is Jehovah's.

Humbling oneself is a part of worship. {Rev.4:8} and the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. {9} And when the living creatures shall give glory and honor and thanks to him that sitteth on the throne, to him that liveth for ever and ever, {10} the four and twenty elders shall fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, {11} Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created.

Praise in Hebrew is "Hallal", meaning brag on the Lord. Give credit or ascribe to the Lord: {Psa.29:1} Ascribe unto Jehovah, O ye sons of the mighty, Ascribe unto Jehovah glory and strength. {2} Ascribe unto Jehovah the glory due unto his name; Worship Jehovah in holy array. {3} The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters: The God of glory thundereth, Even Jehovah upon many waters. {4} The voice of Jehovah is powerful; The voice of Jehovah is full of majesty. {5} The voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars; Yea, Jehovah breaketh in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. {6} He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild-ox. {7} The voice of Jehovah cleaveth the flames of fire. {8} The voice of Jehovah shaketh the wilderness; Jehovah shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. {9} The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to calve, And strippeth the forests bare: And in his temple everything saith, Glory. {10} Jehovah sat as King at the Flood; Yea, Jehovah sitteth as King for ever. {11} Jehovah will give strength unto his people; Jehovah will bless his people with peace.

Confession of sin and God's grace and mercy in worship is needed for His favor: {Neh.9:1} Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them. {2} And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. {3} And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their God a fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped Jehovah their God. {4} Then stood up upon the stairs of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto Jehovah their God. {5} Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless Jehovah your God from everlasting to everlasting; and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. {6} Thou art Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are thereon, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. {7} Thou art Jehovah the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham, {8} and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it unto his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous. {9} And thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red Sea, {10} and showedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land; for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them, and didst get thee a name, as it is this day. {11} And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their pursuers thou didst cast into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters. {12} Moreover in a pillar of cloud thou leddest them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way wherein they should go. {13} Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments, {14} and madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them commandments, and statutes, and a law, by Moses thy servant, {15} and gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and commandedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them. {16} But they and our fathers dealt proudly and hardened their neck, and hearkened not to thy commandments, {17} and refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and forsookest them not. {18} Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; {19} yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud departed not from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go. {20} Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. {21} Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. {22} Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and peoples, which thou didst allot after their portions: so they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. {23} Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land concerning which thou didst say to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. {24} So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. {25} And they took fortified cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns hewn out, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit-trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness. {26} Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their back, and slew thy prophets that testified against them to turn them again unto thee, and they wrought great provocations. {27} Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours who saved them out of the hand of their adversaries. {28} But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee; therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies, {29} and testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law. Yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thine ordinances, (which if a man do, he shall live in them), and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear. {30} Yet many years didst thou bear with them, and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit through thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. {31} Nevertheless in thy manifold mercies thou didst not make a full end of them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God. {32} Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and lovingkindness, let not all the travail seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. {33} Howbeit thou art just in all that is come upon us; for thou hast dealt truly, but we have done wickedly; {34} neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies wherewith thou didst testify against them. {35} For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. {36} Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it. {37} And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have power over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. {38} And yet for all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal unto it.

An offering of service is worship: {Heb.12:28} Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service (sometimes translated as worship) well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: {29} for our God is a consuming fire. {Rom.12:1} I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service (sometimes translated as worship). {2} And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Notice that worship should be a sacrifice of flesh:

Worship is an active response to the character, words and actions of God, initiated by His revelation and enabled by His redemption, whereby the mind is transformed (e.g. belief, repentance), the heart is renewed (e.g. love, trust), and actions are surrendered (e.g. obedience, service), all in accordance with His will and in order to declare His infinite worthiness.
In both Hebrew and Greek, there are two categories of words for worship. The first is about body language that demonstrates respect and submission; to bow down, to kneel, to prostrate oneself. The second is about doing something for God that demonstrates sacrifice and obedience; to offer, to serve.
Biblical words for worship in Hebrew

shâchâh Strong's Concordance #7812 This term literally means to depress or prostrate oneself, and is translated in the King James Version of the Old Testament as "worship" (100 times), "bow down" (54 times), "do obeisance" (9 times), "do reverence" (5 times), "fall down" (Psa 72:11; Isa 45:14;), "crouch" (1 Sam 2:36), "humbly beseech" (2 Sam 16:4), or "make to stoop" (Pro 12:25).

?âbad Strong's Concordance #5647 This term literally means to work in any sense, but by implication to serve or enslave. It is used more than 250 times in the Old Testament, most often translated as "serve" and 31 times in conjunction with shâchâh (see above). However, three times the translators of the ESV chose the word "worship" (2 Sam 15:8; Psa 102:22; Isa 19:21).

Some foolishly believe that self-control prohibits freedom to worship in a Biblical way. But self-control stops the flesh from hindering freedom to worship: {1Co.9:24} Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. {25} And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. {26} I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: {27} but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.

Considering that actions are surrendered in worship to the Holy Spirit and that the flesh doesn't like to worship, here is a portion of our newest book, Faith For All Things:

At another Pentecostal-type church in Louisiana, the congregation would run around the auditorium and praise the Lord and shout with great freedom. Sometimes the whole church would be running around praising the Lord. Now I'm not making any laws here for an an order of worship. A lot of people told me the church was carnal because they did that in the flesh. When I went there just to see what was going on, I had the distinct impression that the Lord wanted me to go against my flesh and "buffet my body", and my shyness, and to crucify it. It didn't matter to me that they might not begin in the Spirit, it mattered that they would go against their flesh, and I wouldn't. It is of the Spirit that we put to death our flesh which doesn't want to worship God boldly. They had a couple of rooms in that building, and all the men would go in one room, and all the women in the other room, and they would turn down all the lights. Then they would run up and down in the room, praising and worshiping the Lord. I went in there and it took me five minutes before I could even see very well but I just decided I was going to put my flesh to death and I started running and jumping up and down with them and praising the Lord. I discovered that it was good for me, because even though I didn't start it in the Spirit, I was doing it against the flesh. It was really a blessing to me for it freed me up to not worry what others thought.
You know, I got hooked on their freedom to worship. It's true that they weren't necessarily beginning in the Spirit, but it's also true that they were going against their flesh, and that's what we all should do. I saw some tremendous miracles there. In their big auditorium, this guy jumped up on the front pew and took off running on the backs of the pews with his eyes closed. He ran the length of the auditorium as fast as he could, from pew to pew, with his eyes closed. There was a balcony in the back and I was sitting right where the balcony came down, so I saw that his eyes were solidly closed. He ran up to the balcony and just before he bashed his head into it, he gracefully ducked and kept on running. That could only have been done in the Spirit. Then there was released a wave of excitement and freedom in worship. They had another lady who loved to dance going backwards. She would dance as she was bowing down all the way down to the floor, running backwards, not seeing where she was going. She would run backwards down the stairs, all the way around the auditorium, never bumping into a thing, and then all the way back up. That was in the Spirit. I saw people jump out of the choir loft, land on the other side of the altar, and run 90 miles an hour around the corners without ever slowing down. The whole congregation would just bust loose when somebody would do that. When the Spirit hit one man, he'd jump off the choir loft, clearing the podium and the altar in one leap, and take off running when he landed on the floor. I would watch him running down one side, and by the time I turned my head the other way, he was coming up the other side. One day I saw him run down the isle with his eyes closed, jump over a small child who was playing in the aisle. He never broke stride and kept on running. That's definitely what we would call "in the Spirit". It just excited everyone in the building to worship and praise the Lord.
We need to humble ourselves; we need to come against our flesh so that we won't worry about what other people around us are thinking. God expects us to worship Him in front of other people, just as this verse says. (Mat.10:32) Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. We need to break loose in the Spirit and worship God, and not care about what the next guy is thinking. (Joh.4:23) But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. (24) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. If you start doing it, that makes it easier for the other person to do it, too. I'm not talking about jumping pews, but you have to start going against your flesh. (Rom.8:6) For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace: (7) because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: (8) and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Your flesh is the enemy of God; it is the oppressor, you have to put it to death.

We have seen Jesus, the Holy Spirit in the form of fire, and big angels join us in worship and study here at UBM. We have seen Jesus lay hands on people more than once when we were worshipping. When I was young in the Lord, outside LSU College campus we had a place of Bible study and worship for the students. I have personally witnessed the glory cloud of the Lord's presence enter from the center of the room there when the people were lost in worship. {Exo.33:9} And it came to pass, when Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the door of the Tent: and Jehovah spake with Moses. {10} And all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man at his tent door.

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