“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him”. John 4:23. What does it mean to worship in spirit and...
What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Does it mean to go to church and worship? Does it mean to worship anywhere?
The words above in John 4 are part of a conversation that the Lord Jesus Christ had with a woman from Samaria. The Lord perceived and knew that the woman needed spiritual satisfaction, but He had to gently get her to see the light and the truth. I will not discuss the story or all the lessons here, because the purpose is to simply show how to worship in spirit and in truth.
This comes with maturity and growing in grace and in the knowledge of Him (2 Peter 3:18). There is no intention here of going to a particular place, or meeting in a particular congregation to worship. While we do need to gather collectively and worship, it is the question of in spirit and in truth. I would warn that if a particular congregation or group of Christians deny the eternal Sonship of Christ or deny any part of the basics of the Christian faith, e.g., that salvation is only by faith, that the Lord Jesus will come for His own and that His own people (true believers today) will not go through the great tribulation, then any worship to God is not in truth, though it may be in spirit, but not in truth. I am not stepping on beliefs of people or the way people worship, but to deny the eternal Sonship of Christ which is a blessed truth revealed in the Bible is very dangerous.
In spirit may suggest that we need to be in the right spirit, the right attitude, full of appreciation, and with a clear mind and objective to worship. If we do this out of routine like what the leaders were doing in the book of Malachi, this is not in spirit when we feel burdened and come with a wrong attitude.
In truth means that we need to have some understanding of Who we are worshipping and Who we are addressing. The whole truth is revealed to us in the Bible, the Word of God. We need to have a basic understanding of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and how we pray or worship in that truth. Firstly, we know from Romans that at times we don’t know how to pray, but the Holy Spirit guides us (Rom 8:26). Therefore, it is important that we do not address the Holy Spirit in our prayers, and it would not be appropriate to pray to the Holy Spirit and say, ‘dear Holy Spirit’, etc. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter (John 14:16, 26; 15:26) but His objective is not to seek attention for Himself, but to glorify the Son and point us to the Son. The Holy Spirit is God, and he can be grieved (Eph 4:30) and quenched (1 Thess 5:19) but He never seeks worship from believers. The Spirit guides believers to worship in spirit and in truth.
So, the question now is, do we worship God, the Father, Jesus, the Son? We can address both in our prayers. However, it would not be appropriate for a true believer to pray saying, ‘do not take away the Holy Spirit from me’, as is suggested by words of some hymns. This was a prayer of David in Psalm 51 at the time when the Holy Spirit was not dwelling in the people of God but was only upon them. David did not have the certainty of salvation as we do (please see John 10:14 onwards).
Again, it would not be appropriate to address God as ‘Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them’ as Old Testament believers have prayed. God has revealed Himself to us as Father (John 20:17) and wants us to be in close relationship with Him. While the above characteristics of God as Almighty, Creator, etc are very true of Him, He does not want us to address Him as Someone who is so far away from us, but He wants us to be near to Him and enjoy the relationship with Him as a result of the work of His Son on the cross. Also, it would not be appropriate to say, ‘Father, thank you for dying on the cross for us.’ God the Father never died on the cross. Yes, God did come to earth and die on the cross, but in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can say, ‘Father, thank you for sending your only begotten Son to die on the cross for us.’ Again, this comes with gradual growth and understanding of the knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some people say that worship is only to the Father and never to the Lord Jesus as suggested in the verse in John 4:23. However, the Lord Jesus is equal with the Father and He is God, so we can obviously and safely address Him as Lord Jesus. Remember that Jesus is Lord, so it may not be appropriate to start our prayer with ‘Jesus’ or ‘dear Jesus’ because it would take away from our addressing Him as Lord.
These above paragraphs, or snippets help us to realise and recognise the functions of the different persons in the Godhead – Father, Son, Holy Spirit and how to worship in spirit and in truth. There may be many other examples of addressing God the Father, addressing the Lord Jesus Christ, but these are to provide a guide in how to properly address the Father and the Son in prayers. Think about how you would naturally address a father and his children in a normal household.
