Worship from the Heart

There are countless ways in which we all dishonor God. One of the most common is when we cease to praise Him with our heart, and only give Him glory out of stale religious duty. In the same way that we might tell our spouse or children that we love them – while still remaining bitter on the inside – we can just as easily “pretend” to worship God with our actions and our speech.

For instance… Anyone can go to temple, mosque or church. Anyone can pray a prayer in front of others. Anyone can memorize Scripture and recite it correctly. Anyone can fast from food and drink. And anyone can call themselves a “believer”. But what does Allah truly want from us? Is He really content with all these outward acts of reverence?

When some of the religious leaders around Jesus became upset that his disciples didn’t properly wash their hands, Isa responded by saying: "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

'This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'" (Mark 7:6-7).

What a convicting truth this is! How many times have we honored the Lord with our lips but had our hearts far from Him? How many times have we worshipped Him in vain? How often have we acted as if our man-made traditions are actually the commandments of God? How often have we washed the outsides of our bodies while our hearts are still unclean?

The Lord is worthy of our sincerest adoration. He is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex. 35:6-7). He is a powerful God who “is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (Zeph. 3:17).

This is the God we are privileged to worship – both with our lips and with our hearts. If we only honor him with our mouths and our deeds, then it’s time to “examine [ourselves], to see whether [we] are in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5). Do we truly yearn for the Lord with all we are? Do we seek Him with our whole being? Does our soul pant after Him “as a deer pants for flowing streams” (Ps. 42:1)?

I’m reminded of Al-Anfal 8:2: “For, believers are those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts, and when they hear His signs rehearsed, find their faith strengthened, and put (all) their trust in their Lord.” May the name of the Lord put a tremor in our hearts. May our faith be strengthened as we put our deepest trust in Him. And may our hearts be near to Him as we worship the Lord “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). To God be the glory forever. Amen.