School of Worship: Intimacy with God
It can be hard to understand what a program called SOW “School of Worship” actually means! But that’s okay, I can share a few insights as a student and now serving as a staff this year.
When I first heard about School of Worship, I thought “Oh, it’s probably just a program about music skills and how to lead songs in church.” Little did I know, the moment I said yes to joining this program in 2020, God was going to take me into a deeper relationship with Him.
We are created to worship.
As human beings, whether we believe in God or not, we worship something. We can worship different things in our lives. At times, we can give our full attention to certain things like our work, success, recognition, people, religions, celebrities, politicians, and even ourselves. God created a space in our hearts to worship. Our hearts yearn for it.
Worship is a journey – praise, thanksgiving, and worship.
As I learned about different Biblical topics about worship through out my time as an SOW student, worship became more than only playing instruments and singing songs. It has been a process of learning what the Bible actually says about worship. As disciples of Jesus, we know that it is through Jesus that we can encounter our Heavenly Father! (John 14:6) We worship the Father, in Jesus Christ, through His Holy Spirit.
At times we feel like we need to go so deep with God within the first 5 minutes of the Sunday service. “We only get like 15 minutes, so I need to hurry and encounter God!” (Can you relate?) I remember thinking and asking myself these questions as I sang out worship songs at church: “Why are these lyrics not moving my heart right now? Why am I not feeling emotional? Why do I keep thinking about what I need to do later in the day?” I would start to feel guilty about not being able to focus my whole mind and heart to Jesus. I’ve learned that worshipping God is so much more than just a feeling. He gives us the freedom to meet us where we are at, even when we are struggling.
We are able to use our minds to thank God for what He has done. We use our lips to proclaim praises to God, speaking out who He is. Going to that intimate place of worship is a journey. Worship is a response. Worship is an action that my whole body can respond to who God is!
God desires all of me.
When we worship God, we worship Him with our whole being!
Heart (Emotions and feelings)
Mind (Thoughts)
Soul (Everything I am)
Spirit (Connecting my spirit with God’s Spirit)
It really is a journey to encounter God in worship, whether it’s for 5 minutes or 4 hours, God is looking into our heart. Often our physical response can look differently! In the Bible, we can see how people would respond when they would encounter God face to face. We can see how people would react when God would send them an angel to communicate to them.
Most of us understand what worship is but sometimes the English word itself can mean a lot of different concepts. Let’s dig a little deeper with the original languages of Hebrew and Greek.
“Shachah” is the primary Hebrew word for worship and ”Proskuneo” is the primary Greek word for worship.
"Shachah" means "to bow down."
"Proskuneo" means "to kiss" as in to kiss the hand of a superior. It is commonly associated with bowing down or lying prostrate on the ground with the idea of kissing the ground before someone. Some scholars believe the word actually is derived from the idea of a dog licking its masters hand. The idea is to show profound reverence and submission to someone.
(Reference: Worship Parts)
Check out a few ways that people would worship God in the Bible:
Genesis 4:3-5 - Abel offered the best of his sheep to God
Genesis 12:7-8 - God spoke to Abraham and he built an altar for the Lord
Exodus 3:2-3 - Moses saw the burning bush and he took off his shoes and knelt down
2 Samuel 6:5 - David playing instruments and singing
1 Kings 18:39 - “When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”
2 Chronicles 5:12-14 - Big choirs and people playing trumpets
Nehemiah 12:27 - While rebuilding the walls, people sang and played instruments like cymbals, harps, and lyres strings
Matthew 2:11 - Wise men fell down and worshipped Jesus as a child
Matthew 14:33 - Disciples worshipped Jesus in the boat
Acts 2:1-4 - The power of the Holy Spirit fell on people
Acts 2:42-43 - The church would gather and worship together, seeing signs and wonders
Revelation 11:16-17 - Elders fell on their faces, what worship will look like in heaven
I’ve been learning how I connect and respond to God in worship.
It doesn’t look the same every time. I’ve been growing more in connecting with the Holy Spirit when I worship God and there are moments when He leads me to dance, jump, sing loudly, shout, and bow down and sometimes speak in tongues. It’s still very new for me to literally bow down or lay flat faced on the ground, but the times I’ve responded to God in this way with my body, I experience the reverence, humility, and submission that I am showing to God. I can do all these actions before God, but what is most important is my heart posture – loving God with everything in me. It reminds me of what it says in 1 Corinthians 13.
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
School of Worship: Blessing the nations!
It’s been a very adventurous and meaningful time with pioneering School of Worship. Everyone is full of passion and have a desire to grow in their relationship with God!
When we worship with the community and in our personal times, we grow in our intimacy with God.
The word “intimacy” was a hard concept for me to truly understand. It often relates to what happens within a marriage between a man and a woman - since I’m not married nor have that kind of deep relationship with a person, learning about intimacy with God was challenging at first. Looking back in the past two years, I’ve felt more connected with God than ever before. I can go before Him with all of my thoughts, emotions, and all my heart. It is a decision and a commitment every time. He continues to fill me with His love, truth, understanding, and freedom to worship and grow closer to Him.
When we worship with our community - our church family and as a group of believers, we all carry a gift to bring before the Lord. There’s something so special about worshipping God as a group! It encourages, uplifts, and brings us together at the feet of Jesus.
When we worship in our personal times with the Lord, it brings more understanding and revelation of who God is! I’m still growing in what it looks like for me to worship Him in moments when I am by myself. I often write and draw a lot when I spend time with God. I use instruments and songs to express my love for Him. I want to keep growing in just responding with the simple action of bowing down.
Go deeper and deeper with Jesus!
Growing in our spiritual walk with God is a journey, as well as learning what worship is. I’m thankful for all the teachers and missionaries who have helped me understand more Biblical truth about worship and to actually try new things when I express my worship to God. I hope this can encourage you to go deeper with the Lord in your times of worship – whether it’s at church or wherever you are, He desires to connect with you, heart to heart! :)
