Why Bother Worshipping?

*Disclaimer, this post may contain conviction and powerful truths. Reader discretion is advised.

Have you ever found yourself dreading worship? You come into a service tired, worried and stressed and all you can think about is life. The worship leader gets on stage, way too happy and a tad overexcited. You can guess what happens next … a fast song. Ugh. As if your day wasn’t long enough now you have to jump and clap your hands so you don’t stand out like a sore thumb. Does it ever end?

Perhaps this is you, and perhaps it isn’t. Either way, many of us walk into service with a bad attitude. I can definitely attest to this. Instead of being mature and responsible, I reek of the whining, complaining, never-ending sob story of a toddler. “Don’t you know what I’ve been through?” “Worship would be so much better if we just had a better band.” “I don’t feel like lifting my hands, God knows my heart.” “There’s no point worshipping, we sing the same songs every week. Nothing’s going to change.”

These thoughts have probably entered your mind at least once in your Christian walk. If not, I commend you! We’ve twisted worship into something so selfish that I doubt even God likes worship anymore! No wonder we don’t “feel” anything when we’ve made it all about us. There’s no power in serving our selves, there’s only power in the name of Jesus.

How do we know if our worship is selfish? How do we undo the error? If you decide how good or bad the worship service was based on how YOU felt, if you worship best when YOU need something from God, or if you are constantly thinking about YOUR life, day, worries, stresses…etc., then your worship is selfish. Fixing it requires taking “SELF” entirely out of the equation. I’m not saying that you are NOT worshipping anytime these things happen. Sometimes we need to worship hard when we have a need and sometimes God will point out things in our life during worship, but for the most part, our worship should be entirely centered around who GOD is and HE will sort the rest out. The less we focus on ourselves and the more we focus on God, Kingdom activity starts to happen. Sometimes it’s not about God removing the problem, but God showing us how little the problem really is. What we thought was a mountain becomes an ant hill and that is the miracle of worship!

So, why bother with worship? The answer is simply, don’t. Don’t bother with worship. Instead, devote days in training for worship. Spend hours becoming skilled in the heart of glorifying God. Transform into a worship olympian and strive to make God as big as possible. Don’t bother with worship, instead devote your life to it!

*This post was written as a personal heart check and reminder of what worship is really about in my life. I hope you enjoyed!

 Bailey Riza is a young, passionate, up-and-coming voice in the music industry. A worship leader, songwriter, and recording artist, she has a wealth of experience and a dynamic approach to teaching and leading. She is a member of the Faith Alive Band and travels throughout North America performing and ministering in many different arenas. Her songs have been featured on the Faith Alive Show as well as on Daystar Television Network.  Her latest EP, Coming Alive, topped the iTunes charts in Canada!  She was born and raised in Saskatoon, Sk, Canada and attends Faith Alive Family Church, where her parents are senior pastors. She loves her family, church, and country and has a zeal to see this generation experience a powerful outpouring of God’s presence.