In episode 138, “Connecting to God Through Worship”, we interview Joey Hensley and discuss the connection between prayer and worship through song. Hear how we are designed to be drawn to music and praise God for what He’s done. We begin our book study mini series over Autumn Miles’ Gangster Prayer in episode 131. Learn how to relentlessly pursue God with passion and great expectation.
CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN
Why Is Worship Important?
In episode 138, “Connecting to God Through Worship”, we discuss what worship actually is and why it’s important in growing closer to God. Joey Hensley, our interviewee, describes it this way, “Worship is responding to who God is and what He’s done.” Worship can look many ways. We can worhsip God through our actions, how we love others, praying, singing, living life, etc… Today, in particular, we are talking about worship through song.
Worship through song is using music, lyric, and prayer to respond to what God has done, doing, and will do for us. We chose to specifically talk about worship in our Gangster Prayer mini series so we can see the connection between the two. Song and prayer are both rooted in the same foundation of our faith in Christ. When you choose to pray to or worship something, you have faith that that thing beyond you has power beyond what you can do and is worthy of something.
God has the power to love and respond back to us, and He is worthy of praise and worship. Music and singing is one way we can show God how we can respond to Him. As humans, God has built us to respond to music, along with the larger umbrella of art. We all have a response to music, movies, visuals, quotations, books. Knowing this, Christians can use art to put theology into those areas. Art is one way we can express outwardly what is going on inwardly in our relationship with Christ.
Growing Your Relationship
Not only is music a form of art where we can share about God, it can be used to grow your relationship with Christ too. The more you listen to great worship music, the more you can learn about the character of God, memorize truths of the Bible, learn scriptures, and so on. When you think about it, you notice that songs are typically written towards a central theme, and with worship music, that reminds us of who God is.
In episode 138, Joey answers some of our off topic questions, and takes us behind the scenes on set lists for church. He explains the process and reasoning on how they choose songs and how they’re presented in the sermon. One of the main points driven home in this episode is this: connecting to God through worship moves what you’re learning from your mind into your soul. This act of learning about God, processing with through worship, and then living it out in your daily life, is one of the driving forces behind the music.
Remember that connecting to God through worship can bring peace, especially when you’re in a rough season of life. Did you know that people sang worship songs over one another? This makes perfect sense, especially since we pray over one another. When you’re going through it, get with your village, and let them pray over you and sing praises over you. This will be a game changer and it all points back to God.
Skeptical About Worship Sessions?
Ever walked into a worship service and wondered “what the heck is happening?” You’re not alone. Sometimes when you switch churches, are a new Christian, or just now regularly attending church, there may be some adjusting (which is normal and okay!). Joey’s advice is simple: Just give worship through song a chance. Participate, engage in some way, and watch God work. Don’t let what you think is your dislike for music shut you down from experiencing God in a wonderful way.
Still feel weird about connecting to God through worship? Get out of your comfort zone and let your actions precede your emotions. We choose to worship, just like you choose to pray. Do it even when you don’t feel like it, because your feelings will catch up. Let God work in you.
“…but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father.”
Ephesians 5:18-20
Experiencing God in this way helps us continually fill up, so we can live out our calling. We encourage you to find a way to engage in the worship portion of the Sunday morning service, not just “be there for the sermon”. Here are some quick tips Joey gives if you’re still on the fence:
- focus on the theme of the song
- close your eyes and listen to the words
- read the words and understand the meaning
- Google the lyrics
- look up the scripture references
- reflect on times when you’ve felt the truths of the song
Another pro tip: find ways to work in worship music into your daily routine. If you commute, switch it over to worship music like Bethel, Hillsong, Maverick City, Elevation, Passion, etc… Other times you can find would be workouts, shower/get ready time, laundry folding (personal fav). Get creative and give it a shot. It’ll be worth it!
We hope you enjoyed episode 138, “Connecting to God Through Worship” and that you have practical, actionable steps you can take. Be sure to check out this entire Gangster Prayer mini series about relentlessly pursuing God with passion and great expectation. You can do this! We’re here to help. Click the affiliate image below to get your copy of Autumn Miles’ book.
