Holy Habits: 5 Lifechanging Spiritual DisciplinesSample

Day 4-The Holy Habit of Worship

The fourth holy habit is worship. Notice that they “continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:46-47a). So, what exactly is worship? John Piper gives us this wonderful description of worship: “True worship is valuing or a treasuring of God above all things. True worship is based on a right understanding of God’s nature, and it is a right valuing of God’s worth.”[1]

All true seekers of Jesus are true worshipers. What does a true worshiper look like? Jesus gives us the answer in the Gospel of John: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).

What does it mean to worship God “in spirit and in truth”? To worship God in spirit means that for you to connect with God, your spirit must be alive to connect with God. How in the world does this happen? How can I connect with God since I can’t see Him, touch Him, or talk face to face with Him? The answer lies with the third Person of the Trinity—the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the one who gives you the ability to connect with God because He is your advocate. Just before Jesus went back to heaven, He gave his disciples this wonderful truth: That He would not leave us as orphans, but they would come to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-18). The amazing news is that whenever you invited Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior, something mysteriously wonderful happened: God moved on the inside of you. That’s right, the Holy Spirit made your heart His home!

The Holy Spirit serves as our advocate. The Greek Word for advocate (parakletos) paints the picture of someone who comes along side of us to support, encourage, and guide us. The Holy Spirit both counsels and supports us as He dwells within us.[2] So when it comes to prayer, the Holy Spirit is the one who helps connect you to God. Another amazing truth is that the Holy Spirit is praying for you right now to give you help with all your struggles (Romans 8:26).

Okay, so we talked about what it means to worship “in spirit,” so what does it mean to worship “in truth”? To worship in truth means that God only accepts worship that is based upon the truth of who He is. Do you enjoy it when you hear that people are saying things about you that are simply not true? What about things that are only partially true? Partial truths can turn into major misrepresentations of who a person really is. A partial truth can turn one into a caricature of who someone really is.

The same is true of God. God does not like partial truths, half-truths, or any misrepresentation of His character. If you desire to worship God, you need to first learn who God truly is. How can you really know what God is like? The answer is found in the pages of Scripture. God’s Word paints a picture of who God is really like. If you want to get to know the God of the Bible, you need to get to know the Bible inside and out!

Your Move: The next time you worship, prepare your heart and mind so that you can worship in Spirit and in truth.

Looking Ahead: Holy Habit #5-Ministry.

[1] John Piper, What is Worship? From Desiring God Site. Accessed June 29, 2021.

[2] God Questions, “What does it mean that the Holy Spirit is our Paraclete,” From Got Questions Organization.