How to worship like heaven, part 1: Around the Throne
“Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said to pray that earth would look like heaven - that what’s happening there would happen here! One of the things that is directly impacted by that prayer is our worship. The issue is, many times the church is impacted more by earth’s culture than by heaven’s glory. We’ve cared more about being relevant than reverent. God wants to reset our hearts to heaven’s standard of worship where it’s all about giving honor to the King!
For the next few weeks, I want to look at worship according to the pattern in heaven. It won’t be an exhaustive list, but a sampling of how the worship of God is demonstrated in heaven - and how that should impact and inform our worship here.
I remember hearing a Baptist minister share about how he preached Isaiah 6 on a Sunday morning at his church. It’s a throne room encounter that Isaiah had with the Lord. The pastor said when he shared it, he gave no practical application to the message; he just basically talked about God.
At the end of the message, a couple came up to him and shared how it had profoundly impacted their struggling marriage. Without any practical application to the message, just hearing a sermon about the King seated on the throne brought life transformation!
Freedom comes when we lift our eyes unto Him who sits on the throne. This is what throne room worship is all about.
In Revelation 4, John gets a glimpse of the Throne Room of Heaven.
This is the place I believe worship leaders should be leading people into. It’s Jesus that gives us access, but the worship leader's job is to lead people there.
Worship like heaven looks like worship in the throne room.
Here’s 3 ways to worship like heaven around the throne:
1. Throne room worship is prophetic
The throne room is the headquarters for the prophetic.
Jesus told John in Revelation 4:1, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
Then John said, “Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.” (Rev. 4:2)
Surrounding the King upon the throne, John saw fascinating and mystical things -
A rainbow like emerald
Twenty four elders with white robes and crowns of gold
Lightnings, thunderings, and voices
Sea of glass like crystal
Four living creatures
Read the chapter and meditate on it. There’s much more than I'm writing here.
All of these things have prophetic meaning and God is speaking through it all. When we worship like heaven - it’s prophetic. God is speaking.
The fact that God is seated on the throne tells us He reigns!
The rainbow points back to God’s covenant with Noah.
The white robes point to the redemption of Christ.
The thunder speaks of the power of God’s voice.
The sea of glass like crystal shows us the power of His peace.
...and way more than I know and could put in a blog.
The point is, the atmosphere of the throne room is prophetic. God is speaking through it all.
If you want your worship to be “on earth as it is in heaven”, embrace the prophetic.
Sing spiritual songs.
Sing prophetic songs.
Sing what God is showing you and saying.
Let the musicians prophesy upon their instruments!
Sing the song of the Lord!
Let the Spirit of wisdom and revelation flow and reveal the heart of God. (Eph. 1:17)
2. Throne room worship is God-centered
All of heaven is centered around the One who sits on the throne.
Heaven’s worship is God-centered.
You can always tell what is captivating people’s hearts by what’s coming out of their mouths. I believe it's the same in heaven:
“The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”Revelation 4:8
As they worship, the twenty-four elders join in worship and declare the worth of God.
The hosts of heaven are captivated by the King.
Freedom comes when we take our eyes off of ourselves and onto Him who sits on the throne.
Things come into alignment in our hearts when we fix our eyes on the King of the kingdom.
He should be at the center of our worship.
After all, He is the One we’re worshiping.
It’s not wrong to sing songs that talk about what He’s done for us, how we feel about Him, or songs that are asking God for things...just read through the Psalms.
Worship just goes to another level when it’s all about God.
Minister to the Lord in your times of worship.
And watch as He can’t help but minister to you.
3. Throne room worship is beholding
How could they sing the same song over and over? ...and not get bored?! (Rev. 4:8)
Because it's less about the song and more about the One they’re seeing.
They keep seeing who God is. They keep beholding Him and are ever fascinated by His multifaceted nature.
The perpetual fires of worship are fueled by perpetually beholding God.
True worship is birthed out of seeing God.
If the landscape of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park is awe-inspiring, if the sandy beaches of Hawaii call you to relaxation, if the carved out valleys in the Grand Canyon draw visitors from all over the world - how much more will the captivating nature of our Majestic God call us to worship?!
If worship has ever gotten boring to you, it’s because you haven’t seen God in a while.
How could you exhaust the inexhaustible nature of God?
He’s the Prince of Peace, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the King of kings, the Savior of the world, the Lamb that was slain, the God of all grace, the Holy One of Israel, our Apostle, our High Priest, Creator, Provider, Healer, Everlasting Father, Mighty God, Son of God, Son of man, Friend, Hope, Life, Lord of glory, Servant of all...He is JESUS!
I love what Psalm 24:6 says that there’s a generation who seeks God’s face. The word for “face” there in Hebrew is actually plural. It’s the “faces” of God that this generation seeks; the multifaceted nature of God.
It’s a generation whose hearts are pure, whose lives are upright and godly, who’ve renounced idolatry and deceit and yielded themselves completely to the Lord Jesus. In purity and hunger, we join and seek God!
It’s this generation that sees the King of glory come in power! (Ps. 24:7-10)
Meditation brings revelation and revelation brings manifestation. Take time to meditate on the nature of God, center it all on Him, and let Him speak and reveal Himself!
Fuel your worship by meditating on who God is. Stir your hunger again to seek His face.
This is what you were made for!
The ultimate pleasure and fulfillment in life are found in relationship with the One who sits on the throne.
“You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Psalm 16:11
Question: What facet of the nature of God has impacted your worship the most?