True Worship in Spirit and Truth – Part 1

David W Palmer

(John 4:23–24 NKJV) “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. {24} God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Here, Jesus declares that God seeks “worshippers”—those who will worship him in “spirit and truth”; he wants “true worshippers” who will surrender themselves to his will, and who are open to the supernatural work of his Spirit. God wants us to live in sweatless holiness through his amazing grace; and that grace is received through faith as we eat the spirit food of his word (Rom. 4:16, 10:17, Mat. 4:4). What does worship have to do with this? True worshippers surrender themselves to God in their spirit, desiring his will, valuing his word, and wanting his holiness. Let me explain:

A. Worship in Spirit

(Romans 1:9 NKJV) “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.”

First, Jesus said that God’s true worshippers are to worship him “in spirit.” What does this mean? The apostle Paul said in the above verse that he “served” God with his “spirit.” In Matthew 4, Jesus connected the ideas of worshipping and serving. During his confrontation with the devil, he said: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve” (Mat. 4:10). From this, we can see that the one we worship is ultimately the one we serve. Confirming this from the other side of worship, we see that in the book of Revelation, many refuse to repent and serve God; they continue to worship and serve the devil through his idols etc.:

(Revelation 9:20 NLT) “But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—Idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!”

God seeks those who will worship and serve only him with their spirit. That is, those whose spirit man falls in humble yielded prostration before him—leading to obedient surrender to his will. The worship comes first, then the service.

Serving with our natural man is straightforward, but in what ways can we serve him with our spirit? Our spirit is the place where faith operates, and where mountain-moving words emanate. A study of Scripture shows that the spirit is also where we:

Hear from God (Rev. 3:16),

See what God is doing (John 5:19, Heb. 11:13),

Walk with God (Gal. 5:16),

Receive God’s strength (Eph. 3:16},

Receive renewal from God (2 Cor. 4:16),

Speak faith-filled words (Rom. 4:17),

Know things supernaturally (1 Cor. 2:11, John 3:11),

Are willing to obey God (Mark 14:38),

Perceive supernaturally (Mark 2:8),

Have fervency towards God (Acts 18:25),

Receive guidance from God (Acts 18:5; 20:22, Rom. 8:14, 16),

Have Jesus’s grace operating (Gal. 6:18),

Receive sanctification (1 Thes. 5:23),

Have life—the body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26, Luke 8:55),

Worship God (Phil. 3:3, John 4:23-24),

Serve God (2 Cor. 3:6, Rom. 1:9; 7:6),

Glorify God (1 Cor. 6:20),

Speak in tongues (1 Cor. 14:14),

Pray (Romans 8:15, 26; 1 Cor. 14:14; Eph. 6:18),

Sing (1 Cor. 14:15),

Rejoice (Luke 1:47; 10:21),

Love (Col. 1:8),

Reap what we sow (Gal. 6:8),

Reap everlasting life by sowing to the spirit (Gal. 6:8),

Bless others (1 Cor. 14:16),

Put the deeds of our flesh to death (Rom. 8:13),

Reveal things to others from God (Acts 11:28),

Discern things (1 Cor. 2:14),

Grow the right kind of fruit (Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:9), and

Fight and win our warfare (Eph. 6:10–18; 2 Cor. 10:1–3).

This impressive list confirms that we really do serve God with our spirits (Rom. 1:9). So what is a worshipper in spirit? Someone who not only sings and praises God with their spirit, expressing love and devotion to him, and who surrenders to his will; but it is also someone who serves him with their spirit in all the ways listed above.

Today, I encourage you to begin where you can; start by loving God, adoring him, bowing in homage to him, and yielding to him. Then as he leads, obediently follow every prompting, imitate every action he shows you, and say everything he gives you to say. Enjoy the adventure.