There is so much more to worship than words. God loves it when we vocalize our love for Him. He is worthy of every bit of praise and exaltation that we can give Him. However, worship is beyond words. God is looking for our whole heart in worship. What does it mean to give God our “whole heart”?
Psalms 119:2
“Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,Who seek Him with the whole heart!”
I. Irresistible to God
When we come to God in worship, we come with the sacrifice of a pure life devoted to Him. We worship the Lord in the “beauty of holiness”. When our lives are set-apart for His purposes, when we pursue to live and breathe in Him, we find that He is our everything. It is out of this place that our worship becomes more than words. It becomes a fragrance that is irresistible to God.
1 Chronicles 16:29
“Give to the Lord the glory due His name;Bring an offering, and come before Him.Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!”
II. Not Perfect, But Pursuing
God is not looking for perfect vessels, but for those who are pressing to move in the right direction, His direction. He loves us and works with us in our life processes. God wants us to discover the joyful pursuit of His Presence in our lives. When we realize how wonderful it is to be with Him, we are then willing to give over our lives for the very best that He has for us, to follow Him being willing to pay the price.
III. The Fragrance of Heaven
As we offer our lives as living sacrifices to God, we will see a transformation in the substance of our worship before Him. Rather than our words being empty holding only repetition and ritual, they will be filled with the substance of His Presence. The heart of worship is a life laid down for His desires. Out of this beautiful place of abandon there is a fragrance of heaven emanating from within us. This is what God is looking for. This is what God loves. This is true worship.
We come before God as we are with a heart of thanksgiving and praise. I am trying to understand how to worship Him with my whole heart. Define whole heart?
It really comes down to having everything that concerns us being surrendered to God – the whole heart. Many times I will just tell the Lord, “I give you my whole heart”. It is really by faith that we give our all to Him because only by His grace can we do this. Another way to look at it is loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. I believe this is also very close the spirit of what is being said.