True Worship and Guarding Your Inputs

I have found recently that my wife and I have had several conversations with our son about why we don't let him watch certain shows or play certain video games that his friends get to watch or play.  The simple answer is that inputs (music, TV, movies, video games, etc.) into your life matter.  What you watch, play, hear, etc. impacts your life and your walk with the Lord.

I realized that about myself around junior high or high school.  Music is a vital aspect of my life and I began to realize that what I listened to affected my attitude and the things I did.  When I went to college, I was introduced to praise and worship music.  I began to listen to the music and watch how people were worshipping.  This experience began to whet my appetite for more of this type of experience.  It was then that I began to understand that this avenue of worship was the best way for me to connect with my Creator.  I began to learn to play guitar soon thereafter and taught myself to play in my dorm room.  I was relatively music minded, so I thought that I could learn to play these songs that I heard on my own.  I began to lead worship in small youth group settings, and the more I did, the more I realized that I wanted more of those experiences.  I became a worship addict I guess you could say.  However, those experiences were very hollow because my heart was not where it needed to be.

Let me give you a little background...I grew up in a typical Southern Baptist Church.  Experiential worship was something that was foreign to me.  I don't remember seeing people lifting their hands, falling on their knees in worship, or even closing their eyes.  Now, there was nothing wrong with how my church "did" worship, it was just different.  As I begin to experience different avenues of how to worship, I began to realize that I wanted something more than what I was used to.

So, as I began this journey, I thought that playing and singing the music I was hearing was the answer.  It wasn't until I met and married my wife that I truly began to see and understand what "true" worship was.  When I watch my wife worship, she truly connects with God.  If you read my first post, you'll know that she was instrumental in making me what I am today.  My wife comes into worship expecting to have an encounter with God.  I would come into worship hoping that God would show up and that I might get a taste of His presence.  And, as I began to peel the ugly layers of junk away in my life, I began to see and understand how to truly worship.  I started to understand that my talents (what little there may be) are not what God was seeking after.  He didn't want my ability to sing or play...He wanted an empty vessel.  I realized that there is nothing of value that I can give God.  As I came to that realization, I felt as though I caught a glimpse of heaven and what an eternity of praising God might look like.

What are the keys to experiencing this type of worship?  I don't know if I can quantify them into any kind of steps or procedure, especially since I am continuing down this path, too.  The older I get, the more I realize that my spiritual journey is not a set of lists and steps in order to hopefully experience God in a new way.  Instead, it's more of a tearing down process.  The more I die to myself and release my dreams and aspirations, the more room there is for God to fill me up with His dreams and aspirations.  Each time I have an encounter with God, He points out aspects of my life that aren't truly His.  Isn't that what we are seeking after anyway?  People are always saying that they want to know God's will is, or they want to just hear a word from God.  The reality is that God speaks to us, you just may not like what He has to say.  Because, in my life, when God speaks, it's often another aspect of my life that needs to be refined.  Therefore, I choose to embrace this refining process, because it means I'm one step closer to being what God wants me to be...empty of myself.