Do you struggle to feel connected to God? Is there a lack of close fellowship with the Holy Spirit?
God has promised in Psalm 22:3 to inhabit the praises of His people and God is always true to His promises. Our worship provides a place of meeting with God — a place for us to encounter His very presence and embrace His invitation to join Him as He works.
Psalm 95:1–2; 6–8
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts…” NKJV
There’s a beautiful progression in this Scripture that brings us into the immediate presence of God. It starts with loud and jubilant praise and thanksgiving: “let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.”
“Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving.” God encourages us to express freely our praises, our thanksgiving. Praise and thanksgiving lead us on into worship.
Worship is not so much an utterance as it is an attitude. It’s bowing down, it’s kneeling, it’s submitting ourselves to God. And when we come into that attitude of worship, then we qualify to hear God’s voice. As we go further into the passage, it says, “Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.” This posture communicates humility, and respect for God’s holiness.
And then the psalmist says, “Today, if you will hear His voice…” Sadly, there are so many Christians and churchgoers who hardly know what it is to hear God’s voice, and yet that’s the key to all success in the spiritual life – is hearing God’s voice. And notice the verse says if. “If you will hear His voice.”
This reminds me of what Jesus said, “For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing” (Matthew 13:15). It is up to us to remain sensitive and attentive to the voice of God. If you are one who feels your heart has become dull and your spiritual ears have become hard of hearing. Repent and ask God to help you. Then commit to practicing praise and worship… until… you hear God speaking to you.
If we’ll follow the pathway of praise and thanksgiving, leading us to worship, bringing us to an attitude where we can hear God’s voice, then we have the key to measureless blessings.
Lastly, this passage says, “Do not harden your hearts…” So often we harden our hearts toward God due to disappointment, a prayer not answered, a tribulation we face, or the guilt of sin. When we harden our heart, our fellowship with the Holy Spirit is broken. We must first repent. Only then can we worship and create an atmosphere where God is welcome.
Make a clear path for God’s presence to connect with your spirit. If you are harboring unforgiveness, sin or rebellion—God, in His holiness, cannot approach. Even though you are still God’s child, you are in rebellion and He is unable to fellowship with you.
Too many have lost the habit of judging themselves, and daily allowing the Holy Spirit to search their hearts. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:24-25).
In addition, many have lost the willingness to repent of sin. All Christians stumble while living in this fallen world. But we have a Savior who cares for us. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16).
Just as Jesus went daily to the hills to be alone with God, to worship Him, to hear His voice, and become strengthened by fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit, we can do the same. Welcoming the Holy Spirit, is offering an invitation for Him to more fully overtake our hearts and to make His presence more evident to us, in revelatory and transforming ways. The Holy Spirit’s presence can open new doors of our understanding, and fill our hearts with overflowing joy.
Do you want to sense God’s presence? When you are born-again, you gain the privilege of access into God’s presence through worship. God is drawn to an atmosphere of worship and praise, but we must create that environment for Him–expressing our desire to fellowship with Him.
He has already done so much for us; in providing eternal life, by paying in full for our sins and our healing (Isaiah 53), and so much more. Is it too much to expect us to take time regularly to thank Him and worship Him—our Savior and Lord?
Today is a great day to hear the voice of God!
With God, nothing is impossible!
Dale and Paula Black
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A beautiful reminder to worship and praise with thanksgiving to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ; bringing us into an intimate relationship with no hindrances to hearing His voice.
Dale, you write so beautifully!