What you focus on, you empower. Worship shifts your focus from you (the one who died with Christ and whose efforts can only produce death) to the One who IS LIFE, who is infinitely miraculous and who cannot help but produce supernatural fruit.
It’s easy to become selfish when you’re hurting. When we are experiencing stress, fear, lack, trauma, adversity or pain, we tend to become self-focused, desperate, introspective. It’s easy to take on a victim mentality, where we feel entitled to take the emotional and spiritual energy, time or material resources of those we feel have plenty to spare. We can even turn inward in our relationship with God, only coming to Him desperately receiving and feeling that we have nothing to offer Him. Of course, He is generous and kind beyond our comprehension, and it is His kindness – not His need for affirmation – that asks us for worship. Worship turns our attention from ourselves and to Him, opening the door for Him to invade our lives and circumstances. Worship pulls us from lack, limitation and poverty by reminding us that we are one with Him and that, as His channel, we are limitless.
There are numerous Hebrew words that are all translated as the word “praise.” Here are some of them:
- YADAH: to lift your hands in worship
- TEHILLAH: spontaneous, unrehearsed, prophetic song
- BARAK: to kneel or bow before the Lord in adoration and surrender
- HALAL: to make a show, to boast, to be clamorously foolish, to rave, to celebrate (like he wild dance that Davide did before the Ark in II Samuel 6:22)
- TOWDAH: extending the hand, as if offering a sacrifice (praising when you don’t feel like it)
- ZAMAR: instrumental praise and worship
- SHABACH: a loud shout of praise
- CHUWL: a spinning dance that has to do with travail and birthing
- MACHOL: a round dance, a dancing chorus
- GUL: to spin around under the influence of intense emotion
- MACHOLAH: a dance company
- KARAR: to dance in a circle or whirl, leap or run
- REKAD: to dance, leap, jump, skip or spring about wildly for joy
- DALAG: to spring or leap
- PAZAZ: to leap, to bound, to be light and agile
- HILIYKAH: a walking procession or march
- SHUWR: to sing while strolling
Did you notice how many of these words have to do with engaging the physical body? Moving your body in worship – whether it is lifting your hands, spinning in dance or worshipping wildly – serves to align your body with your spirit and with God, so that your miracle can manifest. And not only that… there is a direct connection between dance and co-creating with God. In fact, this is how Wisdom co-created with God in the beginning! She danced with Him!
In the beginning I was there, for God possessed me even before He created the universe. From eternity past I was set in place, before the world began. I was anointed from the beginning. Before the oceans depths were poured out, and before there were any glorious fountains overflowing with water, I was there dancing! Even before one mountain had been sculpted or one hill raised up, I was already there dancing! When He created the earth, the fields, even the first atom of dust, I was already there. When He hung the tapestry of the heavens and stretched out the horizon of the earth, when the clouds and skies were set in place and the subterranean fountains began to flow strong,
I was already there. When He set in place the pillars of the earth and spoke the decrees of the seas, commanding the waves so that they wouldn’t overstep their boundaries, I was there, close to the Creator’s side as His master artisan. Daily He was filled with delight in me as I playfully rejoiced before Him. I laughed and played, so happy with what He had made, rejoicing in His inhabited world, while finding my delight in the children of men.
– Proverbs 8:22-31, TPT
The word in verse 30 translated “laughed and played” (also translated as “rejoicing” in some versions) is Strong’s #H7832. It is the same Hebrew word used in II Samuel 6:21, when David danced wildly before the Lord as he brought the Ark of God into Jerusalem. Notice David’s response when his wife, Michal, criticized him for being undignified.
So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord [that I did this], who chose me above your father and all his house, to appoint me as ruler over Israel, the people of the Lord. Therefore I will celebrate [in pure enjoyment] before the Lord.
– II Samuel 6:21, AMPC
The application is obvious….. When we usher in the Ark of God’s presence, yielding our bodies as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13), we are functioning as gates of heaven upon the earth. We can either be like Michal, who represents the religious spirit and who did not understand the dance of heaven and earth. Or we, like Wisdom, can dance before the Lord, co-creating with Him!
Demonstrative worship may be a struggle for those with a more introverted personality type. But if you are unable to lift your voice, lift your hands or move your body in worship, it is not just a personality trait. It is a manifestation of a spirit of fear. Just as an angry or controlling person must deal with his character weakness as he grows to maturity, so must the fearful, timid or avoidant person. Remember, this is about manifesting spiritual reality in the earth realm… starting with you!
In this teaching, I will explain the Hebrew words for praise in detail and will give you practical keys to worshipping your King extravagantly…so you can manifest your miracle!
Click here for video teaching: Extravagant Worship
Worshipping my King with the passion of which He is worthy has become my heart’s cry! I’ve learned that this journey is not for the faint of heart. Thank you for being part of my crazy-wonderful adventure….
-Virginia