Guest Post, Randomness, Reflections & Introspection, Worship & Prayer
Guest Blogger, Lucas Lash shares his thoughts on Worship…
What is worship? How and why should we even worship in the first place? Worship is a necessary part not only in church but in our very own relationships with God. Every day, each one of us worships something, whether you believe in God or not. Sometimes we don’t even intend to, but by how we think and how we use our time, we are always focused on something. It’s easy to get misled and worship those things, and by this I mean we tend to get distracted by so many things we come across in our daily lives. We go to school, we go to work, some of us have kids, or we are focusing all our attention on our boyfriend or girlfriend or even our spouses. Our schedules are so full and we cram so many things into our days that we don’t prioritize the time necessary to worship God and spend time with Him. That is crucial for our relationship with Jesus, and I’m guilty of the same thing sometimes. We fill our plate with work, sports, family or friends, and all those things are great and God blesses us with those things, but I think Jesus deserves a little more than the 5 or 10 minutes a day and then moving to the next thing on our schedule.
I wanted to spend some time pondering the question of why we should even worship God in the first place. It seems like such a small question in our faith, but it really is very significant to remember why you are worshipping God. I want to share a verse that has definitely been one of my favorites ever since I first heard it. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” If you’re a Christian, then you believe Jesus died for your sins, to take the full penalty and weight of your sin and endure the wrath of God so that we don’t have to. It’s very simple, but every time I spend time thinking about this truth it breaks me down and brings me back to the simplicity of why I am a Christian. I chose to follow Jesus because I have witnessed the love God has for all of us, and I want to share that with others and give back to God all that I have. That’s why I worship, and really it’s the only reason we should worship God. Not out of a state of fear or pressure, but out of a revelation of God’s faithfulness and love. Jesus came down to this earth and endured all the pain and suffering that we really can’t even imagine, and Philippians 2:8 says this, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” I think that is amazing. Jesus was God and He came down to this earth because He loves us, and died the death we deserve, all because He wanted to spend eternity with you and I. So again I come back to the question, “Why should we even worship God?” Well, because I believe He deserves it. He deserves every piece of me; my heart, and my life. And for what God has done for you and me, and what He is doing for us each day, I will worship Him and tell the world how awesome and great He is.
I chose to follow Jesus because I've witnessed the love God has for all of us, and I want to share that with others... Click To TweetWhen you look around the world at different cultures and religions, you see different ideas of worship and what it looks like to worship. The question of how we should worship is a strange one, but I think it’s important to talk about. Each of us are very different people, but we all have the common goal and intention of worshipping a God who deeply loves us. How we worship Him will look totally and completely different. God created us to be unique individuals, He doesn’t want us all worshipping the same way and doing the exact same thing as the next guy. He doesn’t want us to raise our arms just because everyone else is doing it, or fall on our knees at the altar just because it looks like a more meaningful experience. God simply wants us to let our walls down and fully accept His love. Once we do that, we feel that incredible comfort and peace that only comes from Him. We let everything down, and open our heart to God, and in response to that, we worship. We thank Him. We praise Him and show Him how grateful and humbled we are. Showing God our gratitude and showing Him love can come in different forms, and as I said before, it will always look different for each of us. For me, my favorite ways to worship God and to praise Him is through playing music and playing drums. I’m one of the drummers for my church praise band, and I do it because I love God, want to make music for His glory, and of course, because I love playing drums! I love skateboarding and doing art, and those things are even considered worship when you do them with the intention of bringing God glory. Each of us has passions and things we love doing, and that’s great! God gives us these desires and fires us up to do things because He wants us to be happy and enjoy this life, but He also wants us to use those passions to grow the Kingdom, reach those around us, and glorify the God who made us.
Worship is such an integral part of our relationship with God. It’s a way for us to communicate back to Him our response to His love. I definitely think He is worthy of it. Worship looks different for each of us, and I believe that’s exactly what God wants. Worship isn’t always through music or singing but it’s the way we live our lives and what we choose to focus on or direct our attention to. Worship is an amazing thing, and God is always ecstatic to hear your voice, to see your heart and your actions bringing glory to the Kingdom. He is and always will be worthy of our praise.
Worship isn't always through music/singing but it's the way we live our lives & what we focus on Click To TweetLucas Lash is a 23-year-old who currently lives in Wichita, KS. His hobbies include drumming, art and design, skateboarding, and running his faith-based clothing brand “Urban Society Co.“
Clothing Company, featured, Lucas Lash, ministry, Urban Society Company, worship
Randomness, Reflections & Introspection, Worship & Prayer
I believe I’ve found my anthem for the year…. absolutely LOVE THIS SONG, Set My Heart by Vertical Church Band! Nothing communicates my heart in this moment and season of life than this….
“Quiet the voice of doubt again,
Echo within me every promise,
Let your Word be louder than my fears.
Speak to the void when I can’t see,
Lift up my head in every valley,
Let your joy be greater than my grief.
I have set my heart,
Set my, set my heart on You.
You have every part of me,
I set my heart on You.
Nothing will ever break me, ever slay me, all my hope in you.
Nothing will ever shake me, overtake me, all my hope in you.”
Words cannot express what this song is ministering to me even now as I write this journal. My one focus this year is on Jesus and making his name and glory famous. So I will set my heart to pursue him more intently and fervently. I am eagerly excited to see what God does in me and through me as I continue to lean on his Spirit and draw closer to him. I am believing that 2017 will be a landmark year for me in ministry and in my personal life.
*** Watch the video above or click here ***
Embrace the Worship, featured, Frontiers, Jesus, Set My Heart, Vertical Church Band, worship
So 2017 is here and I am praying for the biggest and most God-filled season of ministry I have ever had to happen. 2016 year started off a little rough, due to some unforeseen incidents, but progressively got better since March. I did the most traveling and speaking I have ever done in one year from April to November. I’ve spoken at some school assemblies, some conferences, preached 10x @ a week-long Summer camp in MI, traveled/preached in Austin, TX and Kansas City, MO amongst other things.
“Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing. Believe in yourself. And believe that there is a loving Source – a Sower of Dreams – just waiting to be asked to help you make your dreams come true.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach
I am praying and asking God for these things this year — and know God will exceed these goals. I have really been praying the Prayer of Jabez (1 Chronicle 4:9-10) over my life and 3 main goals for my ministry, Awaken This Heart. This year the goal is to:
To prepare for this, I will be doing a fast, starting next week. I am asking all my friends, supporters and partners to join me in prayer daily for me and the ministry. Some key things to pray for:
“When you seek God with fasting added with prayer, you cannot see his face in vain…” – John Wesley