Praise the Lord

About forty men were loudly singing with the accompaniment of a four piece band. The man behind the keyboard was leading us while the words to the music were projected onto the wall. Everyone seemed to know the tunes. We sang on and on for half an hour without any breaks. Most of us were standing – though a few became tired and sat down after a while. We sang out – every song praising God – some with their hands in the air others just swayed with the music. Every so often I would look out the floor to ceiling windows onto the lake. It was autumn and the trees shimmered in northeastern mountain fall colors. The surface of the lake reflected the reds, yellows, and oranges and played with them as the wind danced across the surface. The atmosphere at the Christian Men’s conference was amazing. The singing, the beauty of God’s creation, the good times between people – this was what I call a worshipful experience.

I try to relive this kind of experience whenever I am in a worship service. There is something about praise music and the natural world that brings my heart to the throne of God. It is like no other experience that I know. And so I have been puzzled about the attitude of some that going to a church to worship is out. I can certainly understand why a Urantia Book reader would be unhappy with current organized religion. But what stops us from just going to a church or synagogue or mosque and praising God with other people? I can’t understand why anyone would not avail themselves of the many various worship opportunities that are always present. To try and come to some understanding of this issue I looked to see what the Urantia Book had to say about worship. I hope that some of the insights that I have found will be helpful to you and maybe even lead you into the presence of our Father in Heaven.

What was the core of Jesus’ message? Worship God and love people (1769.5). The worship God part of this statement is a little hard to pin down. I have been to many worship services but I can’t say that I have worshipped at all of them. Some have been empty and unsatisfying. But every so often I walk away feeling that something happened. What is that something and how do I describe the experience? The Urantia Book says that true worship is “fellowship with deity” (195.1). It says that the goal of worship is for a person to commune with God and create an eternal partnership (1221.8). It is a joyful acknowledgment of our personal relationship with the Creator (303.7). Worship then is to experience God’s presence – to build a real relationship between a small creature in a vast universe and the creator of that vast universe. Worship is for me to seek out God’s presence and to joyfully and thankfully spend some time in that presence. This is “true religion” – the development of a close relationship between a person and God. What we call religion is the socialization of worship (1616.4). Seeking to attain that relationship creates the best way for the Father to speak with us. And as the book says many times our seeking enables us to become more and more like God (1641.1). All of this is voluntary. God does not demand us to fall to our knees and worship. God does not require us to speak the magic words and do the magic actions. God considers our choice to do his/her will and worship him/her as the greatest gift that we can give (22.6). Worship of and service to God is our choice to make. It says that all creatures who seek to do God’s will look upon worship as a privilege and the most important of duties (303.6). God doesn’t require it – we require it of ourselves. Worship therefore is us reaching out – our joyful desire to seek and find God.

True worship happens in Paradise. Does this mean that we are wasting our time in worship here on a place that is as far from Paradise as one can get? No, because God’s Spirit helps us to aspire to true worship (304.4). All beings are encouraged to worship because the Sixth Adjutant Spirit constantly stimulates the desire within us (948.7). The sincere attempt to worship our Father in heaven is what matters. God always accepts our heart felt praises (1598.4). God wants us to commune with him in whatever manner that works for us. Therefore we are capable of knowing something of true worship. The Urantia Book says that true worship is for its own sake. An individual that is truly worshipping God is doing so not to receive anything but is responding to a “natural and spontaneous reaction to the Universal Father’s love” (65.6). Attempts to win God’s favor, achieve power or control, alteration of natural events of life are all in vain. True worship is spiritual communion with the Father. It is not a payment for godly blessings. We are assured that our attempts to worship are received by the Father as the Thought Adjuster conducts such worship to God (66.5). True worship then is a person reaching out to God for no other reason than to commune with him. True worship may be fully expressed in paradise but all of us are capable of truly worshipping the Father.

I’m so glad that Jesus and I have something in common. Jesus also liked to worship in natural surroundings (1840.4). We all know how often he went off by himself to commune with his Father in Heaven. But the Urantia Book encourages us to build structures that reflect the beauty of God’s world when not worshipping outside (1840.5). Jesus frequently worshipped by himself, but the book also encourages us to fellowship with each other. For example we should share food prior to worship to put aside our self focused feelings in preparation of focusing upon God (1133.1). And the book talks about the magnificent worship on Edentia at the Shrine of the Most Highs as just one example of the worship taking place in the midst of the heavenly hosts (492.3). Therefore true worship happens alone and with others. Both forms of worship are encouraged in the Urantia Book. After all worship is being in the presence – and shouldn’t we in every way seek to be in the presence of the one who loves us so much?

I can’t understand why anyone would not want to seek out this experience. Either alone or with other people – worship is wonderful. What could be more meaningful than to praise God and to thank him for the blessings he has given to us? What could be more spiritually fulfilling than to sit by a lake looking out over the water and the trees, the birds and the sky and lift up our hearts to say to God “how wonderful is your creation”? What could be more encouraging than to stand next to friend, in the midst of a crowd of fellow sojourners, and sing out loud “How Great Thou Art”? I say, there are few experiences in the universe to match it.

So go and worship the Lord in the cathedral of his creation. Go and worship the Father with the people of faith. Go and worship God in some quiet place where you can find the presence of the Lord of all Creation waiting for you.

(Psalm 150: 1 - 6) Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD.

God bless you,

William Whitehead