Creative Worship

This was taken by a friend during our Sunday morning worship. That is me. We often have artists on stage during worship at my church.

Worship is a vital practice in Christianity. In essence, worship is defined as a formal expression of adoration, reverence and honour in homage to a deity. That’s not a terrible definition, but it leaves us thinking about religious rites, sacrifices, or solemn monks, and unfortunately, to many Christians, it means just singing songs on a Sunday morning. But worship is actually so much more.

I have a high value for worship. It is where I go to be faced to face with God. Worship is about giving all my attention to God with the intention of affection. It is where I pour my love out on Him. I paint to worship; I make music to worship; I write to worship. Worship has many forms, but when I create in worship, I am creating beauty for and with my King. There is nothing more precious.

There several words used for worship in the Bible. The Hebrew word tehillah is used in several instances. It means “spontaneous praise.” It is the word used to describe a song or expression from the heart that is totally unique and made up in that moment. Another word is hallal which means “to praise and celebrate,” and “to make oneself foolish.” Barach means “to kneel.” Shabach is “to soothe,” or “to shout.” Zamar, “to play an instrument.” Makal, “to dance.” A Greek word used is latreuo which means “to serve sacrificially.” Another Greek word, and the most prominent, is proskuneo which means “to turn towards to kiss,” or “to prostrate oneself.” Overall, the words used in the Bible reveal the many expressions we use to give glory to God. In my church, we explain worship as “to turn our attention towards God with the intention of affection.”

The Bible even gives a definition for worship in Romans 12:1. Paul writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.” (NIV). In the Old Testament, people used to worship by sacrificing lambs, bulls, or food to God. But this verse reveals that after the Cross, God didn’t desire lambs, bulls, or food. That sort of sacrifice wasn’t what He was looking for. Instead, He was searching for hearts. He was looking for people who will give Him their all. This verse means that God wants you and all of you. God’s greatest desire, and why He sent Jesus, is you. Worship is more than us just singing songs, it is us giving everything we are to God.

Worship is a sacrifice. Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:36-50, and John 12:1-8 all recount the story of when a sinful woman (or Mary, Lazarus’ sister) anoints Jesus with a jar of very expensive perfume. He was reclining at the table for supper when she came in with an alabaster jar of pure nard which she broke and poured on His head, or feet depending on the account. The disciples and people who were with Him became indignant, some even scolded her, wondering why the perfume wasn’t sold and given to the poor. Nard was extremely expensive during Jesus’ time and cost about a year’s worth of wages. However, Jesus defended her saying, “Leave her alone! She has done a beautiful thing to me.” The disciples felt that she had wasted the nard, and what they essentially said was that Jesus wasn’t worth it. What they didn’t understand though was that Jesus was worth far more than even her costly sacrifice. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us, why wouldn’t He be worthy of our worship?

God is very involved in our worship. I like to describe it as a two-way conversation. We give our love to God and He gives His love to us. God’s attention is always on us – His thoughts, His love, His pride, His desire is always turned towards us. Worship centres our attention on Him, and when our attention is on Him, we become aware of His great love turned towards us.

God always wants to meet us in worship. He delights in it when we give Him our love and He greatly desires to give use His love. I once heard Bill Johnson illustrate it like this: “In some places in the Bible it says that God is at my right hand. In others, is says that I am at His right hand. How could it be both?” Then he had someone stand up and face him, holding hands. Now they were both at each other’s right hands, but they were face to face. Worship brings us face to face with God. It brings us into an encounter with Him.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, my church had to go fully online since we couldn't meet in person. Here's a bit of my set up so I could paint and join in online at the same time.

The Lord once spoke to me about expectation. He said, “Allie, expectation has a lot to do with your worship.” I asked what He meant. He went on: “If you come expecting to meet Me, expecting to see Me move, then you will experience it.” Often Christians come on a Sunday morning expecting to sing songs, but not expecting to meet God in true worship. I think that breaks His heart. There is so much that He wants to pour out on His kids, but will we recognize it if we don’t turn our attention towards Him?

How does all this relate to art? Creativity is used as a form of worship in the Bible. We see that in the words tehillah, zamar, and makal. We see that in the psalms of David, in the dance and song of Miriam, and in the craftsmanship of Bezelal for the Tabernacle – the house of worship for the Israelites. For fine artists, the image we create with our creativity is an expression of the encounter we have with God in worship. It depicts our love for Him and His love for us. God is very active in our worship. Sometimes He heals, sometimes He has prophetic words to share, sometimes He brings peace to heavy hearts, and sometimes He just simply wants to love us. Our artwork reflects what He is doing and saying.

It's actually very simple. Why don’t you try it? Sit down with whatever colourful medium you prefer (you will need colour for this exercise). Give yourself a few minutes to quiet your heart before God and turn your attention towards Him (if your mind keeps wandering to other things, I find it helps to write them down so you can come back to them later and not feel like you need to dwell on them). Start by giving Him your worship: sing a song or speak out praise. The point here is to centre your heart on Him. Then pick a colour to offer to Him. Whatever colour you want. Put it on your surface in whatever way you feel like. Next ask Him what colour He wants to put in response to your colour. After adding His colour to your work surface, offer another colour in response to Him. Repeat. Pay attention to what you feel. Do you feel happy, excited, peaceful? What do you see? Do you hear God saying anything? Write down anything you can. Colours do have meaning which I’ll write about later. If you know those meanings already, great, if not, don’t worry about it. Don’t focus too much on the meanings of the colours, focus on what you feel with each colour.

Here's another exercise you can do in your personal worship or in a corporate setting (at church). During worship, with whatever medium you prefer, pay attention to what you feel or see. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what He is doing. He may give you colours, words, emotions, or images. Draw it out and ask Him what it means. Be sensitive to His Spirit.

It might take some practice is you’re new to prophetic art, but you’ll get there. Remember that His attention is always on you, and He always wants to meet you. He won’t let you down.

Be blessed!