WHEN IT DOESN’T FEEL LIKE WORSHIP

“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name;

bring an offering, and come into his courts!

Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;

tremble before him, all the earth!”

Psalm 96:8-9

When you hear the word “worship,” what comes to mind? Maybe it’s the music playing as you walk through the doors at church on Sunday or the picture of hands lifted high to the Maker or believers falling to their knees in response to the goodness of God. As I’ve been thinking about the idea of worship and praying over God’s heart for worship in motherhood, it occurred to me that this picture of worship, we have created in our minds, feels much different than the reality of our day-to-day and moment-to-moment as mothers. While motherhood is filled with many beautiful and magical moments of seeing God’s blessings pouring out through the little hearts of the children in our homes, it’s filled with even more messy and mundane moments that can so often feel like they are writing the story of motherhood.

The other day, as I was cleaning chicken salad off the floor, after asking my sweet 18-month-old son for what felt like the umpteenth time to please show mommy that he’s “all done” rather than throwing his food on the floor, I began thinking about all the little tasks that fill my day as a mother. Though my love has grown beyond what I could ever imagined since God brought our sweet boy into the world, my heart has grown weary and burdensome over time with all the everyday doings as a mama. The reality is that most of our mothering doesn’t feel like worship, but motherhood is constantly leading our hearts into the posture of humble submission, into the practice of dying to self and into the realization of our need for the grace and mercy of God.

All throughout scripture, we read of God’s call to a posture of worship and see the beautiful narrative of believers bowing down in worship to God out of reverence for who He is and what He’s done. Have you ever thought about how all the hard things in motherhood bring us to a physical posture of bowing down? Whether it’s changing diapers, cleaning the food off the floor, kneeling down to kiss “owies” or picking up our children when they ask to be held? God is teaching my heart that this is our worship, our offering, our response to Him, even if it feels mundane, burdensome or unseen. I believe that God is inviting us into a life of worship, rewriting the narrative of motherhood, declaring that even in all of the mess, mundane and everyday doing, we have a reason to sing. Motherhood might just be one of the greatest invitations to the worship of our Savior.


WHAT IS WORSHIP?

Worship is our response to knowing who God is and what He’s done.

“O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you;

I will praise your name,

for you have done wonderful things,

plans formed of old, faithful and sure.”

Isaiah 25:1

As we acknowledge who God is and what He’s done, the result is living every ounce of our lives in light of this truth. Our worship is our whole-hearted, unfettered adoration and reverence in response to God’s presence. We worship because God is God, and our extravagant love and extreme submission flows out of knowing Him.

“Worship is to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission.” – Webster’s Dictionary, 1828

The reason we can worship in the weary and burdensome seasons of our lives, like in the everyday doings of motherhood, is because worship isn’t a feeling. While feelings are based on self, our knowledge is based on God, of who He is and what He’s done. As feelings rise and fall with the ever changing circumstances of life, God is constant, holy and worthy of every ounce of our worship and praise. There’s no such thing as willing our hearts to worship Him, but rather our worship becomes the outpouring of the heart in response to Him, because of the wonderful things He has done.

“I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.”

Psalm 9:1-2

WHO WE WORSHIP?

God.

If we truly know who God is and what He’s done, it has the power to change everything. So let me ask you, what comes to mind when you hear “who is God?” 

Our understanding of who He is impacts every ounce of our worship, and our extravagant love and extreme submission to Him. As I find myself seeking the words to describe the greatness of our God, I am at a loss. Every time I try to start a sentence, I find my mind declaring “how much more is the Lord.” It would take a million lifetimes to describe the magnitude of who He is and what He’s done for us.

I pray that these scriptures serve as a starting place for understanding who God is and that these sweet promises of God lead our hearts into reverent awe of our Savior.

  • God is holy. (Exodus 15:11-13)
  • God is gracious and merciful. (Ephesians 2:4-9)
  • God is sovereign. (Romans 8:28)
  • God is good. (Psalm 25:8-10)
  • God is love. (John 3:16)
  • God is just. (Deuteronomy 32:4)
  • God is joy. (Psalm 16:11)
  • God is wise. (Romans 16:25-27)
  • God is constant. (Psalm 102:26-28)
  • God is peace. (Philippians 4:4-7)
  • God is faithful. (Isaiah 25:1)
  • God is hope. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

WHY WE WORSHIP?

We worship because of who God is and what He’s done.

“I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless you

and praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

and his greatness is unsearchable.”

Psalm 145:1-3

When God is our why, the reason we do what we do, then everything we do is in response to Him becomes our worship. If all of our worship comes out of response to Him, on the days when it doesn’t feel like worship, the first question I ask myself is “do I know my why?”

We can’t will ourselves to worship, but when we lose sight of our why, God calls us to seek Him, and is always faithful to remind our hearts of who He is and what He’s done. I believe this is why God calls us to hide His word in our hearts and keep our minds stayed on Him. He knows that we are prone to wander, forget, and lose sight of our why, but His word always draws our hearts back to Him.

“Glorious things are said of Him, both as MOTIVES to praise and MATTER of praise.” – Matthew Henry


WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE WORSHIP?

When we worship, it changes everything.

When we are dwelling the presence of the Lord, declaring who He is and what He’s done, it changes everything. Even in the heavy, weary, mundane moments of our lives and motherhood, we have a reason to sing. As we ask God to renew our hearts and minds in the knowledge of who He is, we gain vision, purpose, and the sweet reminder that every mama needs, that all of this is our worship.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

When trials come, let us look back at His faithfulness and remember the promise of what is to come. May we fix our eyes on Jesus, press into the promises of God and respond with whole-hearted, unfettered adoration and reverence to His presence. When we feel overwhelmed and burdened by all that motherhood brings, let’s thank God for the gift of using motherhood to draw us to our knees, humble our hearts and show us our desperate need for a Savior.

“Sing to the Lord, praise his name;

proclaim his salvation day after day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”

Psalm 96:2-3

So mamas, may this be a sweet reminder that everything you do matters. While all of this is motherhood, it is your worship to the Lord and He sees, knows, and loves you in all of it, and He is using it to draw the little hearts in your home to His love. I pray that God may use this reminder to breathe new life into our everyday doings as mamas, remembering all of who He is and what He’s done for us, asking Him to lead us into living lives of praise. Mama, you have a reason to sing; let us give thanks to the Lord with every ounce of our hearts, recount of His wonderful deeds and worship the Lord, with all that is within us, forevermore.

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