Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness, Nourishment of mind by His truth, Purifying of imagination by His beauty, Opening of the heart to His love, And submission of will to his purpose. And all this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of human expressions of which we are capable.
From: William Temple
I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love.
From: Henry Ward Beecher
To worship God means to forget the self; an extremely difficult, though possible, act. What takes place in a moment of prayer may be described as a shift of the center of living–from self-consciousness to self-surrender.
From: Abrahma Joshua Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom
As the genuine religious impulse becomes dominant, adoration more and more takes charge. “I come to seek God because I need Him,” may be an adequate formula for prayer. “I come to adore His splendour, and fling myself and all that I have at His feet,” is the only possible formula for worship.
From: Evelyn Underhill, Worship, p 9
To worship God means to serve him. Basically there are two ways to do it. One way is to do things for Him that He needs to have done – run errands for Him, carry messages for Him, fight on His side, feed His lambs, and so on. The other way is to do things for Him that you need to do – sing songs for Him, tell Him what’s on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in Him.
From: Frederick Buechner
“If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshiped.”
From: Evelyn Underhill
For the Christian, everything begins and ends in worship. Whatever interferes with one’s personal worship of God needs to be properly dealt with and dismissed. Keep in mind that above all else, worship is an attitude, a state of mind, and a sustained act … an inward act of the heart toward God.
My heavenly Father, I begin today in joyful worship. Thou hast called me, and I answer thee in praise and adoration.
From: A. W. Tozer, My Daily Pursuit: Devotions for Every Day
The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David dance.
From: C. S. Lewis
If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer. Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of fire in our souls that can truly change our hearts. Ours is a great responsibility not to waste this Advent time.
– Edward Hays
Perhaps nothing helps us make the movement from our little selves to a larger world than remembering God in gratitude. Such a perspective puts God in view in all of life, not just in the moments we set aside for worship or spiritual disciplines. Not just in the moments when life seems easy.
Henri Nouwen
Check DisciplesWalk.org for a few comments on Nouwen’s perspective.