What Does Worship Look Like?

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings.

Day and night they never stop saying:
“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

Revelation 4:8-11

One day as I was worshiping, I asked God a question. “What does it look like to worship You?” I heard the Lord say back to me, “If I walked into the room and you could physically see me, how would you worship me?” I immediately was reminded of the passage in Revelation 4 that talks about the living creatures who day and night are around the throne singing, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come!

I can only imagine what it would be like to physically see Jesus in all His splendor and glory! I realized at that moment that I didn’t worship him like that. I had grown so used to singing songs and leading people in worship that I had lost the pure realization of Who I was worshiping. I can say now that that revelation has changed the way I worship the Lord by bringing a fresh awe and wonder of the One I am worshiping!

We can only imagine what it would be like to physically see Jesus in all His splendor and glory.

So what does it look like to worship God? Revelation goes on to say: “Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.’”

So let’s look at three ways worship happened around the throne by these twenty-four men that were actually looking at God!

1. They worshiped with their body.

Before anything it says that they fell down before God. I know it’s hard to define what our worship should look like but it should look like something! In this case they fell to the ground. Whether we humble ourselves before God by falling to the ground or lifting our hands, our bodies were designed for worship!

2. They worshiped with their soul.

The elders’ crowns were around their heads. Our minds are the place of our thoughts and desires. By doing this, these worshipers were making a conscious decision to recognize that whatever we have received (in this case rewards) has only come from God to begin with. When I think about how I worship God, one of the key areas is my mind. It’s giving all my thoughts and my will to God. It’s recognizing that if anything good has come into my life–my husband, my kids, my ministry–it’s all because of Him. So I make a decision to lay all my crowns, or anything I hold dear, at the feet of Jesus!

3. They worshiped with their spirits.

1 Corinthians 12:3 says “…no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” God has given us a voice so that our spirit can express our love for him. The elders and angels and the living creatures expressed their worship through words. Whether it’s through song or prayer or praise our voice gives expression to what is happening in our spirit—and our spirit is crying out “Abba Father” (Romans 8:15-16).

I remember sharing my experience with our congregation a few weeks later while I was leading worship. It seemed that at that moment there was a renewed sense of the awe of God as people reflected on how they would worship God if He was physically in the room. Even though we didn’t physically see God, we know that He was present through his Spirit.

So what about you? Do you need a renewed sense of the awe of God? How would you worship if Jesus walked into the room?

My prayer for you today is that God would give you a realization of who He is and that it would take your worship of Him to a place you’ve never been before!