Whats your Worship Style?

[Aaron Wiley]

You shouldn't have to define your worship "style", I believe in just following however the spirit leads. Should we ever set ourselves a limit to the way we worship, or a pattern to how we follow Jesus? Other than what it says in the Bible, I don't really think so. We should never be satisfied with the place we are in with Christ. We should always be pushing in further, and praying harder and trying to grow to become more and more the person that he wants us to be. I don't think we should ever put our "worship style" in a box, and say "this is how I do it, nobody can change that", I think we should just be open to doing whatever God asks us to do. Some people want worship in a very laid back way, because that's how they're comfortable. They don't want people staring or anything, but that not supposed to be their focus in the first place. When in worship, we should be getting out of our comfort zones and pushing deeper in to God's present.

That's my two cents anyway...

[Tea Ess]

Who here likes to sign along with the worship songs? (no, I am not deaf or mute, one of my past churches, befor the move, encouraged signing as part of worship in the children's ministry. My current church just does it at VBS)

[HannahJ.]

You shouldn't have to define your worship "style", I believe in just following however the spirit leads. Should we ever set ourselves a limit to the way we worship, or a pattern to how we follow Jesus? Other than what it says in the Bible, I don't really think so. We should never be satisfied with the place we are in with Christ. We should always be pushing in further, and praying harder and trying to grow to become more and more the person that he wants us to be. I don't think we should ever put our "worship style" in a box, and say "this is how I do it, nobody can change that", I think we should just be open to doing whatever God asks us to do. Some people want worship in a very laid back way, because that's how they're comfortable. They don't want people staring or anything, but that not supposed to be their focus in the first place. When in worship, we should be getting out of our comfort zones and pushing deeper in to God's present.

That's my two cents anyway...

That's so beautiful and true!

[sheltiez]

We don't do drums, electric guitars, etc. We have a cello, a few violins, a piano, somtimes guitar, trumpet, and tambourine.
We do praise music, a few hymns, and such. We raise our hands, clap (it depends on the song), dance (again, depends on the song), and jump. (depends on the song.) We do a transition in the middle of worship time, from fast praise music, where we clap, to slower music, that doesn't have the tambourine. Also, we pray in tongues, mostly in the middle of worship, during the transition. Also, we do prophecies.
Fascinating, isn't it? :p

It is! Besides your music style we do the same thing Clap,Jump,Dance and pray in tongues we do prophecies too. It's cool that there is another girl that's pentecostal I was thinking it was just me and bren..

What do you two mean by prophecies?

[HannahJ.]

Prophecies are basically when someone has a vision or a word from god like if someone is praying sometimes at my church they will just start speaking words that are totally random but are from God and that mean something. Or it could be a Vision it really depends on the Spiritual gifting. It doesn't happen all the time but once in awhile it will.

[sheltiez]

I don't want to offend you, Hannah, but I do have to say it sounds rather strange.

[Bren]

We have that too. A lot of times it's a word for the church. Like if we aren't getting what's going on there might be a message about I (God) came to do such and such if only you will do this thing.

[NarniaQA Guy]

Worship as in with music? That would be with singing. Worship in all I would say is prayer.

[C-guy]

Does anyone raise their hands in worship?

[HannahJ.]

Of course but I didn't for the longest time. When I started I felt 1 step closer to my king!

[Pound Foolish]

first of all, I'm a bit skeptical that those people really aren't just imagining things if you occasionally have someone just break into a message from God every once in a while. I don't mean to offend you, and I realize that's a pathetically unoriginal and obvious statement. Just pointing out the obvious. You don't make it sound like you've ever had that experience yourself, Hannah, and that sounds rather odd, that your particular church would somehow manage to draw so close to the spirit world. Church is about community and individuals at once, not hoping God is going to give some cool supernatural show. Of course, I don't know your church. Just trying to figure that whole thing out. It really feels improbable. At my church, we just sing along with the music and do Christian rituals. I've been to several churches, read tons of books on Christianity and church, and never come across such a thing as you described. I don't mean you're making it up, of course. Just that I have a hard time believing it's much more than illusion. I'm probably wrong. But I wouldn't know.

[Aaron Wiley]

first of all, I'm a bit skeptical that those people really aren't just imagining things if you occasionally have someone just break into a message from God every once in a while.

Which can be a problem sometimes. I'm part of a traveling ministry, so I've been to thousands of churches in my life, and sometimes there are those times when someone starts "prophesying" and you can just tell it's not really from God. But I do know that messages from God exist. Not all of them are super specific, or word for word dialogues, but sometimes God just gives you a feeling about something and you're inclined to share it with the congregation.

It's sometimes hard to tell the difference between people feeling like they have a word from God, and when it's actually from God, which is why you just need to be careful when you do hear these "words from God" to make sure they line up with God's word. When someone just walks up to you and tells you "God told me you should go sell everything you have and move to Africa as a missionary", you might want to be careful not to just take that and run with you. You've got to be careful, and pray through things like that and make sure it's actually God's will for you life, and not just someone trying to sound spiritual.

Prophesies do exist, but there is a difference from a divine message, and am immature Christian trying to sound more spiritual than everyone else. I don't think that means that people should stop given messages "from God" in church meetings, I just think that for the people listening, they should be careful to take the message with a glass of water.

[Pound Foolish]

NICELY SAID! As for worship style, though, allow me to respectfully disagree with you excellent post. Worship style makes a fascinating conversational topic, so kudos, Hannah! But it causes no affect on your prayer, usually. Yes, the body, to a greatdegree, influences the spirit. But raising your hands, joining hands, closing your eyes, and yodeling, are all optional and do not necessarily have great impact on your prayers. You pray with your heart. You worship with your heart. The man who throws himself prostrate on the floor is not necessarily praying more forcefully or lovingly than the little girl sitting down quietly.
"You've got to make changes on the inside before results start showing on the outside."
Mr. Whittaker, Promises, Promises

[gabbygirl17]

NICELY SAID! As for worship style, though, allow me to respectfully disagree with you excellent post. Worship style makes a fascinating conversational topic, so kudos, Hannah! But it causes no affect on your prayer, usually. Yes, the body, to a greatdegree, influences the spirit. But raising your hands, joining hands, closing your eyes, and yodeling, are all optional and do not necessarily have great impact on your prayers. You pray with your heart. You worship with your heart. The man who throws himself prostrate on the floor is not necessarily praying more forcefully or lovingly than the little girl sitting down quietly.
"You've got to make changes on the inside before results start showing on the outside."
Mr. Whittaker, Promises, Promises

So are u saying praying in a big group doesn't make your prayers greater?

[Pound Foolish]

Certainly not! I never mentioned community. That's a very different issue from worship style.
A congregation doesn't necessarily make your personal prayer as a individual stronger. That depends on you and God.

-- Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:17 pm --

however, it can. And praying, if you and the congregation are all praying for the same thing, if mathematics is at all applicable to metaphysics, then it should be more powerful.

[gabbygirl17]

Certainly not! I never mentioned community. That's a very different issue from worship style.
A congregation doesn't necessarily make your personal prayer as a individual stronger. That depends on you and God.

-- Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:17 pm --

however, it can. And praying, if you and the congregation are all praying for the same thing, if mathematics is at all applicable to metaphysics, then it should be more powerful.

Okay sorry i misunderstood ya!

[Aaron Wiley]

As for worship style, though, allow me to respectfully disagree with you excellent post. Worship style makes a fascinating conversational topic, so kudos, Hannah! But it causes no affect on your prayer, usually. Yes, the body, to a greatdegree, influences the spirit. But raising your hands, joining hands, closing your eyes, and yodeling, are all optional and do not necessarily have great impact on your prayers. You pray with your heart. You worship with your heart. The man who throws himself prostrate on the floor is not necessarily praying more forcefully or lovingly than the little girl sitting down quietly.
"You've got to make changes on the inside before
Mr. Whittaker, Promises, Promises

Sure, God doesn't just looks at the actions, he looks at the heart, but that's not what I was trying to say in my post. The point I was trying to get across is that we shouldn't predefine what our worship should be like, we should allow God use us in any way he so chooses. If we feel in our hearts that God is telling us to raise our hands or something, we shouldn't immediately shrug it off because it's not part of our "worship style", we should simply follow as the spirit leads.

It's not in my "worship style" to get down on my knees and pray, but sometimes I feel inclined by the spirit to do so. I'm just saying we shouldn't focus on defining our worship style, and lose focus of what worship itself is. We should simply praise God, and worship him in any way he asks. I feel like if you "make changes on the inside" and really focus on God, "results (DO) start showing on the outside." Things like raising our hands, and jumping around like a flipping gazelle are just a product of that change on the inside.

It's like in James how he talks about works and faith. You shouldn't lose the balance between either of them. You can't have one without the other, works are a product of faith.

[gabbygirl17]

As for worship style, though, allow me to respectfully disagree with you excellent post. Worship style makes a fascinating conversational topic, so kudos, Hannah! But it causes no affect on your prayer, usually. Yes, the body, to a greatdegree, influences the spirit. But raising your hands, joining hands, closing your eyes, and yodeling, are all optional and do not necessarily have great impact on your prayers. You pray with your heart. You worship with your heart. The man who throws himself prostrate on the floor is not necessarily praying more forcefully or lovingly than the little girl sitting down quietly.
"You've got to make changes on the inside before
Mr. Whittaker, Promises, Promises

Sure, God doesn't just looks at the actions, he looks at the heart, but that's not what I was trying to say in my post. The point I was trying to get across is that we shouldn't predefine what our worship should be like, we should allow God use us in any way he so chooses. If we feel in our hearts that God is telling us to raise our hands or something, we shouldn't immediately shrug it off because it's not part of our "worship style", we should simply follow as the spirit leads.

It's not in my "worship style" to get down on my knees and pray, but sometimes I feel inclined by the spirit to do so. I'm just saying we shouldn't focus on defining our worship style, and lose focus of what worship itself is. We should simply praise God, and worship him in any way he asks. I feel like if you "make changes on the inside" and really focus on God, "results (DO) start showing on the outside." Things like raising our hands, and jumping around like a flipping gazelle are just a product of that change on the inside.

It's like in James how he talks about works and faith. You shouldn't lose the balance between either of them. You can't have one without the other, works are a product of faith.

yes if we feel inclined to do it by the Lord we should! It shouldn't matter if we kneel or stand up to pray as long as we aren't going against the Bible. I agree with ya we should follow the Lord as he leads us through our walk with Him!

[Tea Ess]

Good posts from everyone above. However, to both Pound Foolish and Garrett, I must respectfully disagree with you. In his book The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis reminds us that 'man is half animal and half spirit'. Obviously, this is to be taken figuratively, and he has an excellent point. He tells us that our body position very much matters, not as much as a pure heart focused on Him, but position does matter. For example, head bowing helps us to focus and submit our will, or raising our hand could help to re-direct our attention to Him. Garrett, you are right in the sense that we should remain open while in worship, and not try to control it. However, while in worship and prayer, sometimes we have to force ourselves to get up and submit to God's will, not on an immediate basis, but through a longer period of time as a commitment.

Pound foolish, I agree more than disagree with you. I especially like the last two sentences of your post. I do believe that worship style if very interconnected with worship, and that negligence in one area will influence the other. The last point was beautiful, and I agree with the facet you are covering. However, willfully throwing yourself to the ground, can be done in a) response to God or b) if, for example, you had an issue with pride (I do, but I have never tried this in it's full extent), you committed to praying in a prostrate position every morning. Either one of these would have great influence on worship. In the sense you were using, I concur.

Well, that's my opinion on the issue. How does everyone else feel?

[Pound Foolish]

TS, this may surprise you, but the first thing that comes to mind is how much we think alike! That very instance of Letters came to my mind as I wrote. Please don't think I mean to say what one does with one's body while praying is gratuitous. Nor even somewhat unnecessary. Only that it's less important than what goes on in the heart. All the things you say are true. I just disagreed with Aaron that, as he seems to say, one should be constantly open to signals from God saying how to pray. God simply isn't that involved with most people. If he is communicating with you that way, you are either amazingly holy... or a huge sinner God is trying to get ahold of. God shows himself to us gently. We need to be open to whatever he says, but if we are always getting cues on how to pray, we are probably imagining things. In which case, we need to simply do what you yourself said. Bow our heads and, when we feel like it, get on our knees. Not because of God divinely causing ideas to pop in our heads. Because we love God.