Grace & Truth to Send the Body
Candid Confession: Similar to prolonged public displays of affection, overt physical acts of worship make me uncomfortable.
I learned how to worship in a 200-year-old Irish Roman Catholic, one-room church where believers rely on an outhouse to this day. Worship was reverently quiet and obediently still, lest we take the spotlight from our Holy Father to ourselves.
But these days, I’m so grateful for Jesus that I sing out loud and tap my foot to the beat. You may even catch me unwittingly swaying side to side a little!
I think Lisa Burgess might understand me. She also worships with her head and her heart. It’s not natural for her body to follow, but in a special church service, she learned that “sometimes the whole body needs to show up, not just the head or heart.”
A little nudge to worship with more than your heart on Grace & Truth Click To TweetPut Your Body Where Your Heart Is
This week the Holy Spirit used Lisa’s post “Put Your Body in Position” to stir something in me. I couldn’t explain what it was, so I waited until Wednesday night to write this introduction (sorry, Heather!). I still can’t articulate He is using Lisa’s words to change me, but I know that actions speak louder than words. I’m full of words, so maybe He wants me to put my body where my laptop is.
And if you see me with my hands reaching towards Heaven this Sunday, please just pretend it’s no big deal.
In the meantime, please join me at LisaNotes.com for a little nudge to Put Your Body in Position.
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Put Your Body in Position
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Thanks for sharing the post, Valerie. I didn’t grow up in a Catholic church, but the quiet worship experience you described is very similar to the church I grew up in. No one was demonstrative at all.
Since changing churches when I turned 50, it’s been a huge difference. Sometimes a shocking one to this introverted soul, but a growing one. There is more freedom in our new place than I allow myself to use (so far). lol. I’m grateful God continues to show me that old dogs can indeed learn new tricks though. 🙂 And using my body more fully in worship to him is one of those.
Quite and still is one way to worship and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not the only way. Thank you for sharing the freedom you are learning to embrace with other introverts like me!
Yes, being still and quiet is a very worshipful posture that I’ll continue to use as well. Being in awe of God produces all kinds of reactions from us, different ones at different times. I’m just thankful that I have more of a selection to choose from now. #teamintrovert 🙂
I used never to raise my hands in church, and now I can barely keep them down. I say try it, if you have never done it. It’s amazing.
It helps me to connect with God. To say I am here – I surrender it all to you. Thank you for all you do. It also helps me to express what I am feeling on the inside, which is awe for God.
I agree with you, Maree. You can’t put the genie back in the box. 🙂 Now that I’ve found the freedom to lift my hands, I can’t not do it.
I love the idea here, that we need to put more into our worship. Worship brings us into the presence of God and when we come into it prepared we find blessing beyond compare!
Yes! I know God is with us all the time, but there’s still something special about dedicated and devoted time to focus on nothing but worshiping him. It both pleases God and satisfies the longing in our own hearts to worship him.
Raising hands in worship was totally alien to me coming from a Church of England heritage. However, after experiencing a connectedness to God through worshiping in a Pentecostal Church, it now has become second nature. I can understand people who are new to more active worship would be taken aback at first… great post. Thanks for sharing.
I totally relate to what you’re saying, Glenys. While I’m grateful for the things I did learn in the church of my youth, I’m also grateful for the things I’m learning in the church of my adulthood. It’s nice when we can combine them all together in our worship of God.