To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, forever and ever! Revelation 5:13 (NIV)

The deep desire of every true believer is to worship God in Spirit and truth. As the indwelling Holy Spirit prompts us in our spirit we’re continually inspired, and re-inspired to ascribe blessing, honour, glory and dominion to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Nothing should hinder a perpetual outpouring of praise and adoration. Day in and day out the Lord is worthy of praise. For He alone is holy, wonderful, and worthy.

Do you believe what you’ve just read? Now be honest. It’s often easier to speak or read about worship than to do it.

The problem is our enemy the devil opposes worship. His aim is to keep every knee from bowing and every tongue from confessing “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” Philippians 2:10-11. In an attempt to expose the devil’s schemes, I’m going to ask you to answer the following:

1. Is my will submitted to God’s will? Worship must be rooted in the Word of God. We must worship God as He’s truly revealed in the Bible. Is your worship biblically grounded or do you do what you please? Do you come to God on your terms or His? Is it all about you and what you can get out of it, or all about Him? True worship is surrendering completely to God’s ways.

2. Is my worship prescribed by tradition? A person with a religious spirit (a person who claims to know about God yet seeks to control Him) cannot worship God. Worship must spring from the heart and be led by the Spirit. Is your worship Spirit led or tradition bound? Are you informed by human expectations and norms or by the creative, life giving, and fresh dynamic of the wind that blows wherever it pleases? (cf. John 3:8). Is your worship an expression of dead formalism and denominational protocol or is it genuine, heartfelt, and relationally focused? Heartless worship is no worship at all!

3. Is my worship blocked by pride? Pride is the primary stumbling block to worship. Do you crave attention, secretly see yourself as better than others, or see the failures of others without being overwhelmed by your own spiritual need? Do you desire to be served or are you motivated to serve others? Do you worship your own worship? Worship that God finds acceptable comes from a broken and contrite heart.

4. Is my worship hindered by a judgmental, critical, unforgiving, or complaining spirit? Do you denounce, condemn or gossip about others? When you judge, criticise, and rant about others you build a wall that separates you from the presence of God. When you’re pointing out someone’s weakness you prevent God from cleansing you from your own. God won’t forgive you if you fail to forgive others. Worship begins when sinners repent.

These are just a few of the things that hinder worship. But you can break away from anything hindering true worship if, in the power of the Holy Spirit, you confess sin, humble yourself, and seek God’s face. Do that now. “Worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” Hebrews 12:28.