Worship plain and simple means “to bow down to,” originating from the Hebrew word “shachah”. We see it in the passage of Psalms 29:2 “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Throughout scripture you will see the phrase “they fell down and worshiped Him.” It is bowing down to acknowledge the right order of dependency. It is those who need life acknowledging and submitting to the one who is Life. GOD is self-existent, meaning He does not rely on anything else to be and that is why His name YAHWEH is interpreted to mean, “the one bringing into life,” “giver of existence,” “the absolute and unchangeable, ever living, self-consistent one.”
We have been called to worship GOD in spirit and in truth. In the book of John chapter 4 verses 22-24 it reads:
22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 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. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
According to this scripture, GOD is seeking true worshippers to bow down to Him in spirit and to bow down to Him in truth. This verse also said NOW is the time for this to happen and it was written over 2000 years ago, so if you haven’t bowed down to GOD yet you don’t have time to spare….
GOD never requires anything of us that He doesn’t first provide the means for. That is worth repeating …. GOD never requires anything of us that He doesn’t first provide the means for.
It’s interesting that people look at the spiritual ways of GOD and say they can’t live like that ….and they are right because they are still obeying the flesh…. But I thank GOD that when we are truly born of His spirit, we can look at the carnal ways of this world and say, “I can’t live that way any longer.” The book of 1 John chapter 3 verse 9 reads:
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Whose report will you believe? …That’s for those meat eaters in the room…AMEN!
GOD requires us to bow down to Him in spirit and to bow down to Him in truth and He has provided the means for this through Christ. Christ has made a way for us to be delivered from the captivity of the flesh, and to be liberated into the life of the spirit through providing His own resurrection life to all who will take up the cross of self-denial. Taking up the cross of self-denial means you choose to yield your freedom of doing whatever you want to do, to instead, follow the guidance and leading of the Spirit of Christ that in dwells you from keeping His words in your heart. The only way to worship the Father is through the Son. The book of John chapter 14 verse 6 reads:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.
To worship GOD the way He requires, you have to go through Christ. That means giving up your life of independence so you can come to GOD as a new child who relies on Him.
“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
That is from Matthew 18:3 (NKJV).
The work of Christ transforming us to the children of GOD is known as the work of reconciliation. By making us new spiritual children we can be reconnected to our spiritual Father. We have one spiritual Father, don’t be deceived. The book of Matthew chapter 23 verses 8-10 reads:
8 Be not called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all you are brethren. 9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10 Neither be called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
Just to be clear, Christ is not saying in this scripture don’t acknowledge the man who’s seed you are as your Father. He is talking about religious leaders who allow themselves to be recognized as spiritual fathers. Christ said we are all brothers… Now I’m just reading what’s in the book, that’s not my opinion. Every man will have a chance to explain to the King of kings why they chose to do otherwise.
People live according to their earthly orientation, also known as the ways of the flesh because they either don’t know the ways of the Spirit or they don’t trust the ways of the Spirit. Satan came into the earth to destroy us by dividing us from GOD who is our life. He succeeds whenever he is able to persuade a man to stop having faith in GOD. When man stops trusting GOD he begins trusting in his own reasoning. He turns away from the light of truth into the darkness of vain imaginations.
Now Christ has come and obliterated any reasoning that would suggest GOD can’t be trusted …His blood cries out to us saying you can trust me because I am GOD, and I have shown you a manifestation of my love that is undeniable. Christ, GOD in the flesh, went about healing the sick, giving sight to those who were physically blind and mentally blind, giving a message of hope to free those imprisoned by fear, and after doing all of those things He gave His physical body as a perfect sacrifice and forgave us all of our accumulated debt and fulfilled the requirements under the law forever. But that’s not all, after He arose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, He then sent His Holy Spirit back to earth to empower us and comfort us by reminding us of all the good news He declared and all the promises He secured and to lead and guide us from the thrown of our heart.
The fire comes from heaven to consume the offering but if there is nothing on the altar there is no place for the fire to rest…
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. (Acts 2 :2-4 KJV)
That’s some more meat for you meat eaters in the room…Selah!
Christ is not looking for us to simply bow our bodies, He is looking for us to bow our hearts. He is looking for us to exalt Him above every imagination and thought that would suggest HE is not all we need. He alone is our life and our sustainer. No one loves us more abundantly or more perfectly than GOD. We must understand that surrendering to Him is for our own good. Putting GOD above all else and submitting to all His ways safeguards us from destruction. YAHWEH is life, and His ways and principles sustain life. GOD is not some big bag of air that needs us to keep Him inflated, that would be the wicked people on earth and the fallen angels who want to be worshipped. We can’t add anything to GOD because He is already perfect. He alone is the giver of life and all good things. That is worth repeating… We can’t add anything to GOD because He is already perfect. He alone is the giver of life and all good things.
Our Father referred to the Israelites as a stiff-necked people. It is because they wouldn’t bow their heads to Him. The head represents the mind with its thoughts and reasonings. Because of their stiff necks, and unwillingness to be served by GOD, He is now offering the seats at the feast which they refused to any nation or people that will come and worship Him in spirit and in truth. See GOD is calling you to surrender, so He can serve you the bread of Life and living waters…He is calling you to bow your heart unto Him, so that He can fill it with the true treasures of life. Pause a minute and think about that…. He wants to give you Peace that surpasses man’s understanding, Joy beyond words, Strength to live well through the power of His spirit, and Rest that rejuvenates the soul.
If you are tired of the failures and emptiness that comes from living life your way independent of GOD, and you are tired of fighting against the evils of this world in your own strength, then accept the call through Christ to bow your heart in worship to GOD in spirit and in truth. NOW is the time.
theinscribedheart 
I would like to add that there are some interpretations of worship based on the Greek word “proskuneo” which comes from 4314 pros “towards” and 2965 kuon “a dog”. Meaning to move toward like a dog, as a dog licks its master hand. So, figuratively for people this has been taken to mean kissing the hand of those in authority over you. Most scholars have concluded this definition of worship came from Egyptian sculptures depicting the worship of pagan gods. This understanding has contributed to the idea that worship means to blow kisses towards God. In an attempt to bridge this Greek word with the meaning of the original Hebrew word “shachah”, some have come up with to kiss the ground. The whole inference of a kiss or a licking dog need not be conflated with the original meaning of worship from Hebrew text. The true and divine meaning of “worship” as revealed by the Spirit in harmony with Hebrew text is to acknowledge that our life and sustenance comes from YAHWEH who is greatest as the giver of all life and we need to surrender to His will to live and be fulfilled. To worship anyone or anything other than YAHWEH in this way is idolatry because it places another in the place of the true and living GOD.
Thank you, Deuntray for a deep and reach explanation of a meaning of worship. I’ve been reflecting on the greatest commandments that Jesus tells in Mark 12:28-34 and your writing makes it clear to me how someone can be “not far from the Kingdom” but not in it if they don’t know who Jesus truly is and what it means to love him.
Amen!