Here I Am To Worship

    This is the title to a fairly popular and well known praise and worship song.  It was written by Tim Hughes.  He penned the words on many other worship songs including Beautiful One and Name Above All Names.  It took him nine months to finalize the lyrics and complete Here I Am To Worship.   I have sung the song many times before as I am sure many of you have as well.  It is powerful and leads me to a place of humbleness and nearness to God each time I sing it.  Although the whole song is beautifully written and each line equally strong, I would like to focus on the phrase "here I am to worship".

    Over the past few weeks and months, God has been revealing to me glimpses of how people worship.   I am blessed to have a different perspective than most of the congregation.  As a member of the worship team, I have the privilege of standing on stage for our worship sets and even leading worship most Sundays.  From this view I can see hundreds of other people worship.  Over the years, I have watched people grow in their ability to "freely" worship our Savior.  Some that used to be afraid to stand or afraid to raise their hand, now do so eagerly.  I have seen them grow spiritually.  I see the look in their eyes coming from their heart silently shouting, "here I am to worship".  Philippians 2:5 states that we should "have this mind among ourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus."  This is the scripture reference that inspired Hughes to write these lyrics.  Worship is an attitude that we must allow to develop and grow as our relationship grows.  That's what I 've seen happen at our church.  People from all walks of life and various ages silently saying, "here I am to worship".

    As of late, God has led to me to two experiences that have not occurred while I have been leading music.  The first happened a few weeks ago.  It was a Wednesday evening and we were singing praise songs.  My daughter, 15, standing beside me nudged me to look to the right.  I glanced and saw what you now see in the picture.  It is one of our members holding his infant son.  I was moved by the look in the baby's eyes.  His dad was worshiping with hands raised while the baby watched so intently.  The picture is a bit grainy, but you get the gist.  Psalm 143:6 says "I stretch out my hand to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land."  This is exactly what the father is doing; stretching out his hand.  This baby is being led by his earthly father to develop an attitude of worship to his heavenly father.  How cool is that?  Dad's face shouts, "here I am to worship".  He hasn't a clue the impact he is having on his son.  Our church doesn't have a nursery.  We want our families to worship together and this is why.  What a loss for this baby to be in a room separated from this experience!  Consequently, my own daughter, having also been raised "in the sanctuary" noticed what was happening.  She was growing in her own attitude of worship.  My heart shouted this is a win, win!

    The second experience happened on a Wednesday night.  Some of our younger females were leading in worship.  One of them, who is now maybe 14 years old was leading a song and playing guitar.  I could stop there and be amazed.  Leading and playing simultaneously is NOT an easy task, not even for an adult.  What happened next brought me to tears.  I saw her lift her sweet little hand to our Savior.  I stared in awe.  I have watched this young lady grow her skills and talents, but this was a deeper, more important step.  She was freely and openly unhindered in her worship.  She had reached a whole new level.  What a wonderful way to say to her Savior, "here I am to worship".  This pleases the heart of God.  

    All of this may sound unimportant to some readers and that's okay.  But as of late, God has laid this on my heart.  He has been intentional in showing me the significance of these acts of worship and reminded me that we are all there to worship.  We have to put aside ourselves and say to Him, "I am here Lord, to worship."  That is the goal of our worship team EVERY Sunday morning.  We believe that God has called us not only to worship in ourselves, but to take part in leading other believers to His presence.  My hope is that through this post, you will take the time to think about your worship experience.  When is the last time or has there ever been a time when you just simply said to your heart, "here I am to worship"?  Don't worry about what others think or what they might say.  Just submit to Him and I pray that you can have an experience like no other.  John 4:23 says, "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."  He is seeking you to worship Him and He is worthy of our praise!

Kim