Faith grows a heart of gratitude, recognizing God’s blessings in every circumstance. And thankfulness shapes our attitudes and behaviour, which leads to joy and contentment for the believer in Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
The heart of worship is the act of assigning worth to God. Faith does this by affirming God’s good character in both the comfortable and difficult times of life. By exercising faith, we acknowledge that God is the ultimate reality and the source of all good. This acknowledgement builds worship because it places our focus entirely on God’s nature rather than our circumstances.
Worship often takes place in the “waiting room of faith.” When our lives are put on hold because of difficult circumstances, it then that we must trust God’s merciful sovereignty. It is in the “waiting room of faith” that we are able to humbly engage in silent, humble, and dependant acts of praise. Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV instructs us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Faith accepts, faith submits, faith acknowledges God, and faith expresses gratitude that rises above our limited understanding of a situation.
By not trusting in our human understanding of life and God, we step off our imagined throne of authority and allow God back onto it. This is an act of submission which sacrifices pride and self-dependence. This is faith in action, trusting God’s plan over our own doubts and fears, worshipping God instead of challenging Him.
Faith that worships God expresses itself through obedience. 1 Samuel 15:22 reminds us, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” When we act in faith, we are demonstrating that we value God and His Word above our own comfort. Faith worships God because we love Him, which is precisely what He is worthy of. The Lord explains this in Hosea 6:6, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” You see, humans can easily get trapped into thinking that religious ceremony is the best we can offer God, but that is false. A person who knows God personally through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, and has steadfast love for God, is the person that the Lord treasures as a beloved child.
When worship is energised by faith, it expresses a loving and intimate relationship between Almighty God and a reborn sinner. It is the cross of Jesus Christ that makes the difference. Colossians 1:21-22 explains the transformation. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.
Worship is not restricted to the songs we sing on Sunday; it is defined by the life we live every day of the week. When faith is motivated by love for God and for others, worship becomes a rich expression of that faith that produces joy and contentment. Faith offers our entire life as a “living sacrifice” which God says is “holy and acceptable worship” (Romans 12:1). That is the ultimate act of worship, and faith fuels it.
