Worship

i feel like sometimes God just puts certain thoughts into our minds.

the other day i all the sudden got super convicted.

i wasn't listening to a sermon.

i wasn't listening to a song.

i wasn't reading the Bible at the time.

i was just chilling, doing homework. then i just became convicted about how i worship.

almost everyday i sing in chapel, but how many of those songs do i just sing flippantly?

is it really worship if there's no feeling, no conviction,  nothing behind the words i am singing?

i had to stop and think about this for a little bit, and the answer i came up with is no, it's not worship.

i am commanded to worship the Lord.

psalm 29:2 (ESV)
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

psalm 99:5 (ESV)
Exalt the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!

psalm 45:10 (NKJV)
Listen, O daughter,
Consider and incline your ear;
Forget your own people also, and your father’s house;
¹¹ So the King will greatly desire your beauty;
Because He is your Lord, worship Him.

there are a lot more verses commanding us to worship Him. but these are just a few that stood out to me. 

singing isn't the only form of worship, but it is a form, 

and it is the form that i was extremely convicted about.

psalm 150 (ESV)

Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!  Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!  Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him withstrings and pipe!  Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

psalm 59:16 (ESV)

But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress, and a refuge in the day of my distress.

john 4:23 (ESV)

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

basically, in short, i now realize that worship is necessary, it's a command. there's not to worship or not to worship-- there is only worship, and worship whole-heartedly.

and i need to actually be worshiping, especially when i'm with other believers and the whole point of our getting together is to worship Him. 

i have come to the conclusion that if i'm just singing the words to a song while i'm thinking about what's going on the rest of the day or what have you--that's not worship. 

i pray that God will change me, and make me able to worship Him how He intended me to.

*boldness/italicized-ness of words in verses was added by me.