Wally,

Excellent question! It is also a loaded question. In our consumerist and therapeutic culture such a question raises myriad expectations and yearnings. Worship is more about seeing life through God’s eyes and less about ‘warm fuzzies’; it’s about truth, not comfort.

A technical definition may read, “Our faith response to God’s initiative in Christ to meet our deepest and most pressing needs by his Holy Spirit.” In essence worship is a spiritual discipline initiated by the Triune God for both his glory and our spiritual well being. It is a reminder that man cannot live by his means alone, and that God desires to be with us. It is also an exercise in our ongoing acknowledgment of God for life; it raises our consciousness of his commitment to us and our dependence upon him. Worship is an outgrowth of the perennial Biblical theme, “I will be your God and you shall be my people.” To worship is to participate in the eternal conversation of the Godhead.

In my view, the real issue here is not our experience of God but our responsiveness to his initiatives. He is present. He is taking the initiative. Why do we not acknowledge this by responding to him? Would we 'experience' God more often if we were more responsive to his presence?

Traditionally, I've thought of worship as time spent solely focused on Him, usually praying or singing my praises or thankfulness or acknowledgement of His holiness. But I am now reminded daily that every moment is an opportunity for worship. My work, when done to glorify Him and when His provision in that venue brings me to a greater understanding of His grace and mercy, is an act of worship. Sitting at my son or daughter's athletic event for the third night of the week, when it brings me into gratitude for the gift of having children and for their health and His spirit in them, is an opportunity for worship. I now have a longer commute to work and often use that time to focus on Him and be thankful for life in Him. Worship is not a definable event or a formulaic task...but a chance to let God knead my soul into a shape He defines.

I look at worship in a totally different way now, than I did, when I first began my walk in Christ. Thanks to my experience in Al-Anon, I've become aware of the fact that worship is something we must do one minute at a time, rather than something we do only once a week in church. We can worship in prayer, quiet time, bible reading and music. But, we can also worship in the weather as we go for walks, and tin time we spend with others who know Him. We can even worship in our witnessing to others.