Guest Post Written by: Morgan Harding
“Worship is our gift back to God. In this season of giving to others, let’s first take time to give to God.”
For some of those who don’t know who I am, my name is Morgan Harding and I’m honored Thanh asked me to write part of this. So here’s a little background of what worship means to me.
I’ve been leading worship at church since I was 15. I’ve always loved music and especially worship music because that’s what music was created for: For us to sing back to God what He first sang over us. I love Hebrews 13:15 that says,
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”
Worship is a lot more than just music to me, it’s one way I can always connect with the Lord. There’s been times in my life where I didn’t know if I could make it one more day, but then I turned on my worship music and started to praise and worship and automatically it shifted my focus from my struggles to how good and able my God is.
With all that to say, worship is a sacrificial act. Every time I worship I want to bring something to God. Whether that be my voice, my heart, my struggles, my thanksgiving, my admiration of who He is, my ugly cry — whatever it is, I want it to cost me something. I don’t ever want worship to become just 3 to 4 songs we sing on a Sunday morning because that’s what we’re supposed to do.
Each and every one of us has our own heart song that only we can sing, that God has put in each of us individually to release. I can’t explain to you the freedom I feel in worship, when I’m fully abandoned and in awe of who God is. Every time we worship, He shows us something new about who He is which then shows us even more of who WE are in HIM.
So, in this Christmas season of giving I want to challenge to not let worship be something mundane. I know God does not need anything from us, but what if we think about these next weeks leading up to Christmas like this:
What if each day, as a gift back to God, we start each morning with just 10 minutes of worship? In the car, while you’re getting ready for the day, at home in your quiet time — take that time to give God thanks for something you’re grateful for.
Even in our times of deepest despair there’s always something to be grateful for. Nothing is too little or too big for God. If that means right now the only thing you can thank Him for is for your everyday necessities, that’s a good start.
In Revelation 4:8 it says,
And the four living creates, each of them with six wings, full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was and is and is to come.”
We were made to worship God for all eternity. Sometimes I think to myself, “How in the world could we worship for all eternity and not get bored?” Then I’m reminded about that verse in the Book of Revelation, how the seraphim worship God day and night, and have been for all eternity. And every time they open their eyes, they see something new about God. How cool is that?
I don’t know about you, but that gets me pumped to worship because God wants to do the same for us. To show us something new we’ve never seen about Him. To take us deeper into His presence, to show us more of Heaven’s perspective.
So what do we do from here? Well, we worship. In this season of giving to others, let’s first take time to give to God.
What I imagine every time I worship is God looking down from His throne just smiling right back at me. Every time I finish a worship set, I see Him looking back at me with the biggest grin saying, “You did it! I knew you could.” Even if it was messy, or I forgot the words, or if it was just me worshiping alone in my room.
God doesn’t want our clean and rehearsed worship, He wants our ugly cry, all out messy worship. He meets us where we’re at every time — and He looks at the heart, not the talent.
Matthew 21:11 says,
On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened up their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”
From the very beginning of Jesus’ life, He was worshiped even before they knew all He would do.
Sometimes we have to go back to the beginning, when we don’t know where to start. So let’s get back to the “basics”. Let’s return to awe and wonder, let’s worship Jesus even before we know what the outcome may be, and let’s bring Him the gift of our whole heart.
I pray this sparked something in you like it has me.
Peace, blessings, and a very merry Christmas to you all.
-Morgan
For Week 3 of this Advent Song series, Morgan and I are sharing these 7 worshipful Christmas songs, taking us right to Christmas Eve:
- Sunday, Dec 17: Receive Our King – Meredith Andrews
- Monday, Dec 18: When I Think Upon Christmas – Hillsong Worship
- Tuesday, Dec 19: Tell Me the Story of Jesus – Kim Walker-Smith
- Wednesday, Dec 20: Messiah – Kari Jobe
- Thursday, Dec 21: Seasons – Hillsong Worship
- Friday, Dec 22: Go Tell It On the Mountain – Francesca Batestelli
- Sat, Dec 23: Peace Has Come – Hillsong Worship
Catching up? Start here: Advent 2017: Preparing Our Hearts for Christmas, Week 1.
About Morgan
Morgan Harding is a worship leader at Monterey Church and stylist at Tranquility Day Spa and Salon in Haymarket, Virginia. Follow her on Instagram at thebrave.redhead and on Facebook The Brave Redhead.
Beautifully penned Morgan! Wisdom and depth beyond your years!
Blessings and peace with love,
Pamela