Embrace Worship: Power

Creating deep wells in Christ requires a willingness to keep digging even when we don’t find water – trusting that we will. 

Think about digging. It’s a whole body effort. Arms slamming the shovel into the soil. Feet stomping it deeper into the dirt. Back, legs, and arms pulling out the dirt then emptying it away from the hole. Digging is repetitive work. Over and over the shovel enters and exits the soil as a hole slowly appears. Blisters form. Muscles ache. 

So if we apply this imagery of digging wells with our whole bodies, with determined faith, and with unrelenting repetition as a metaphor for our worship of God, we begin to understand that worship isn’t just a feeling or a lyric or an hour on Sundays. Worship is continuous delving into the Word and Spirit as a means of connecting with the Living Water. 

Whether we find ourselves in a season of peace and comfort or of dark-valley-walking, it’s easy for our faith to grow complacent or numb – even to the point of no longer believing God. It’s why every new day requires repetition of Spirit and Truth, of divine revelation and relationship so that we don’t lose our connection to the One with all the power. 

It’s why JD Walt preaches consecration as a daily practice – a stepping forward toward Christ, a bowing of our bodies before Him, a fixing of our eyes on Him, and a giving of ourselves as living sacrifices to Him.¹ Our faith of yesterday isn’t enough for today. Yesterday’s holy manna of Spirit and Truth won’t sustain us for this day. We must dig wells in Christ every day. 

Power of Curiosity

One way to dig more deeply in Christ is with our curiosity. Questions naturally draw us closer to the source of understanding. So it’s no surprise that the story of God in Scripture reveals Him as One who welcomes our questions – yes, because He has the answers but also because our queries draw our eyes and hearts to Him.

Sometimes our questions are about God’s world or His Word. There are times we want to know facts and other times we want to know God. In some seasons, we desire a simple understanding of unfathomable circumstances. Like Job.

Here’s a man who did not hesitate to look to God with his questions, especially the haunting “why?” – why was Job made to suffer such losses? Why does God allow good people to suffer? 

Most of the Book of Job is a conversation among men who strive fruitlessly to come up with answers for Job’s circumstances. As the book draws to a close, God enters the conversation with Job. Rather than ignore Job or scold him for such boldness, God addresses Job’s curiosity, helping him grasp that God is engaged in running the universe, that He is up for the job, and that He has a wider view of history than any human could ever fathom (see Job 40). In other words, God helps Job remember that God’s ways are most often beyond our comprehension (Isaiah 55:8-9). Ultimately, God asks Job to trust Him rather than try to understand why.² 

Job isn’t the only one who tosses questions at God. In fact, he’s in good company with the likes of Moses, Habakkuk, and David. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God invites His people to ask Him questions (33:3). And Jesus carries that same willingness as He walks the earth, encouraging people to ask and seek and knock (Matthew 7:7-8). 

So it’s no coincidence, then, that the woman at the well poses multiple questions to Jesus – not in challenge to Him but out of her genuine curiosity about this Jewish man who asks her for a drink of water (John 4:4-26).³ This unnamed, ostracized woman pursues Jesus with deep questions and observations. In this way, she keeps moving toward Messiah, and her curiosity leads to engagement with Him, which ignites a powerful encounter – all of which is worship!³  

Our nameless woman kept digging and got a whole lot more than answers. Because of her openness, she was able to draw closer to Jesus, grow in faith, and experience His power.

Power of the Spirit

In like manner, we are invited to ask questions – especially those that seek the wisdom of God (James 1:5). Paul picks up that theme in his first letter to the Corinthians, pointing out to them that the ‘wisdom’ he had passed on to them was not his own, but God’s, and that such understanding was given to them by the power of God’s Spirit (2:4-5).  

Friends, Paul wants us to recognize the truth that as we draw nearer to God, seeking more of Him and desiring to go beyond the surface with Him, we will experience the power that raised Jesus from the dead – Holy Spirit power (Romans 8:11). But here’s the deal, many of us have never been fully introduced to Holy Spirit.⁴ And all that not-knowing, keeps us from all that power.

If we’ve only ever known Holy Spirit to be wind or fire or dove, then we’ve learned (perhaps subconsciously) to think of Him as something that comes and goes.³ Something we don’t know how to find, much less trust or love. So it helps immensely to begin with understanding that Holy Spirit is Someone who dwells in us for great purposes in the here and now. This person knows the Father and the deep wells of His mysterious ways, and He desires to help us explore those depths so we can better understand what God has given us (1 Corinthians 2:7,10-12). 

Holy Spirit is also known as the Revealer of Truth.³ On the night of His arrest, Jesus promised that “the Spirit of truth” would come and guide us “into all the truth” (John 16:13a). Holy Spirit passes to us all that the Father speaks, which is pure, unadulterated truth (v.13b). 

Spirit and truth. God and Jesus. Living Water and the Way, the Truth, the Life. My friends, we’re getting to the heart of worship! 

When we’re immersed in such depths, we encounter our Savior with great Holy-Spirit-power, and it’s in such moments that “truth is revealed to us – truth about Him, truth about me, truth about life.”³ The eyes of our hearts are opened. And we’re left wanting even more of Him.

Power of Relationship 

To seek Holy Spirit, just as we would God or Jesus, is a means of coming into His holy presence. The longer we remain there, the better we get to know Him. The more familiar His voice becomes. And the stronger our relationship grows. 

I have vivid recollections of a season when I’d had an encounter with Holy Spirit’s power that left me longing to know Him better. But I didn’t know how. I didn’t know who to trust with such vulnerable seeking. So I sought Holy Spirit, and He led me to trusted authors who’d written about Him and His ways. I devoured everything I could find in Scripture about Him. 

It’s so wild how when we come to the Bible guided by Holy Spirit, we see it all anew. Like this passage:

“As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?”

Psalm 42:1-2

Filled with Holy Spirit, my heart read well-known verses in a whole new way. My heart connected with the feeling of thirsty-longing for more of my Living-Water-God. Like the woman at the well, I resonated with the question – where can I go and meet with Him (John 4:20)? And my spirit unexpectedly knew Holy Spirit in me was saying, “I am right here!” 

This is the power of relationship! This is the power of getting to know God, Jesus, and Spirit! We hear our Three-In-One God’s whispers and recognize His nudges. We experience the Word with a new depth of understanding. And our longing for more of Him, like thirsting for water, motivates us to keep digging.

Power for Transformation

I’m tempted to say that we’ve been building a bit of an equation here today – but that’s dangerous because I can’t think of anything in our spiritual lives that works so linearly. There are certainly no magic methods for spiritual encounters, to knowing God, to living hidden with Christ in God. 

However, there are rhythms we can engage in, practices we can put to use, truths in Scripture we can grab hold of, conversations to have with the Triune God, and moments of consecration we can step into. Yet these are not formulaic nor prescriptive – otherwise all we’d have to do is check off a list or follow some rules. 

Rather, at the heart of it all, this faith journey and our worship really are about relationship. If we know anything about relationships, it’s that they require attention. Hence, the rhythms and practices. The seeking and digging. The Spirit and Truth. 

When we seek God at the well each and every day, offering our bodies and lifting our hearts to Him, we are repeatedly coming to Him to be consecrated – to be set apart by Him, for Him. Like the women of Jesus’ day, we need to draw from the well every single morning in order to have what we need of our Living Water for the day. 

This is a picture of worship – the kind we enter into by faith every single time. And it is powerful.⁵ In fact, it’s life-changing. The woman who met Jesus at the well with shame was not the same woman who left with confidence, telling everyone she could about Jesus. She’d been transformed by her encounter with Messiah. And so are we!

But we don’t change ourselves by our efforts. 

It’s so challenging, isn’t it?! The way this life of faith requires effort but is not based on earning. This life of worship demands something of us, but it’s not dependent on us. God is the One with all the power! And it is by His grace that we are saved (once and for all) and sanctified (a little bit everyday).⁶ Our “life of faith is a response to God’s power” (1 Corinthians 1:5 MSG)! 

We do the seeking and the showing up, the digging and the surrendering, the laying down of self. He meets us where we are, as we are. He tells us everything we’ve ever done and how He loves us anyway. And we respond. We receive His grace, His truth, His love. We allow our encounter with Him to forever transform us. 

Then we meet Him at the well again tomorrow. 

This is worship.

Father God, thank You for coming to us in Word and Spirit, for showing us throughout Scripture that You love it when we come to You with our questions, and for giving us examples of people who have stood before You full of curiosity and found a Father who patiently responds. How we marvel that You come to each one of us to speak truth over us, to share your wisdom with us, and to show us your heart for us. Lord Jesus, we hear your invitation to ask, seek, and knock, and we move toward You with all our wonderings, with all our hope for wisdom and grace. We lay ourselves before You with great awe and gratitude for the relationship You offer to us. We long for more of You in our lives, so we say YES and move in closer. We listen for your words and receive your grace. We worship You in Spirit and Truth, laying aside our need to have all the answers – because knowing You is always enough! Holy Spirit, we desire to know You better, as a holy person who loves and leads, who counsels and comforts, who teaches God’s truth to us. We lean-in for more of the Living Water that You offer. We ask that You would walk with us through the pages of Scripture and through each moment of our lives, reminding us of all that Jesus has taught us. And we humbly confess that we finally, finally see the role of digging wells in our faith lives and commit to keep digging, to keep showing up everyday by lifting our hearts to You and fixing our eyes on You. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
(inspired by John 4:4-26, 6:63, 14:26, 15:26, 16:13; Job; Matthew 7:7-8; 1 Corinthians 2:6-13; Lamentations 3:41; Colossians 3:2; Hebrews 12:1-2)

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• 1 – JD Walt, Sower-in-Chief of Seedbed and author of The Wake Up Call, has consistently for years and years harkened all who will listen to step into the dailyness of consecration. So many times in his writings he has offered explanations of consecration and how it is but one step in a three-part “substance of the Christian life” (see this article) – consecration, transformation, and demonstration. You’ll continue to hear more about all three in this series.
• 2 – This Bible Project article does a great job of summarizing the last half of the book of Job and the overarching theme of Job’s seeking to understand why and God’s desire for Job’s trust.
• 3 – Lisa Harper in the “Theology of Worship Part 2” episode of her Back Porch Theology podcast. In both episodes, Lisa and Ali sit down with worship leaders: Rita Spring, Hope Darst, Tasha Layton, and Hillary Scott, and both episodes dig really deep. I’ve listened to them more than once and took voracious notes. LOL
  • Imagine my awe when their conversation turned to the woman at the well! I love these comments: “The kindness of God will meet us where we are. Even when we are alone. We just keep asking for more of Him! Just keep moving toward Jesus – even if it looks like just moving through ‘the ritual of life’ with a sincere heart, dry as it may be. That’s what this woman at the well was doing. She hadn’t gone there to worship. But she arrived curious! ‘When we bring our questions to God, that is worship!’”
• 4 – I have a new practice that I’m adopting from my New Zealand and British friends, that of dropping “the” when talking about Holy Spirit. And my auto-correct hates it! LOL. The more I’ve gotten to know Holy Spirit as a person, the less it has made sense to always throw that article (the) in front of His name. We don’t call God’s Son the Jesus. So why objectify Holy Spirit? In the middle of processing this subtle, yet significant, grammatical choice, I read Lisa Harper’s book, A Jesus-Shaped Life,^ and in it she explained that she was choosing to do the same thing for the same reasons. That sealed the deal for me! SO – this is one way I’m trying to get to know Holy Spirit as a person and to present Him as such. (However, I’m not going to be legalistic about it – this is a flowing bit of formation in me). XOXO 
• 5 – This is from Annie F. Down’s podcast, That Sounds Fun, episode with Darlene Zschech.
• 6 – JD Walt in his Wake Up Call post on 9/22/23.
• If you’d like to soak a little longer in the story of the woman at the well, I offer a post I wrote about her two summers ago in a series called Women of Hope.
• Bristol House’s song, “Altars,” captures more than imagery for meeting with God; it embraces the idea of faith in us desiring more of God. It verbalizes the truths that we have to choose God, that nothing matters more than God, and that Holy Spirit is the One who ignites our faith into power-provoking fire. This song is on our Embrace Worship Spotify playlist, as is Red Rocks Worship’s song, “More.”
  
  You’re the One my heart burns for
  Full of faith, I ask for more, for more
  We want more, more… (“Altars”)
  
  Lord, I’m ready to open up my heart,
  to receive, not in part,
  but the fullness of who you are .
  Lord, I’m ready .
  I just want more; I just want more;
  More of you, God, more of you, God! (“More”)
  
• Each Wednesday I upload a “Teacup” teaching video that carries on the topic here. You can find all the videos on my Facebook Author Page, Instagram, and YouTube.
• Many of you have already found me on Substack! Thank you so much! While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective. AND…don’t forget if you’d rather listen to these weekly posts, you can now do so on Substack — it’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post.
• My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes of those who have subscribed on my website, and I post them on Substack — usually within the first week of the month. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike. These next three months we’re focusing on the rhythm of worship (surprise!).

• This week we are highlighting and ‘tabbing’ a section in our Prayer Bibles: 1 Corinthians 2:3-5,7-12. Each week this summer we’re marking significant passages about worship so that we can find them easily, put them to memory, and apply them in our abiding lives. These are words we can pray with a little personalization. They can also become words of reverence-filled worship. This particular passage moves us toward an understanding of Holy Spirit, godly wisdom, and the wonderful things God has for us — great truths for every part of our faith lives, including our worship! Absorb Paul’s words:
  • “I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. …the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
    
    ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
        and no mind has imagined
    what God has prepared
        for those who love him.’
    
    But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.” –1 Corinthians 2:3-5,7-12 NLT
• We’re all called to share the truths about the work of Jesus. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. Believe it or not, we worship God each time we share our stories of faith! We use our whole selves to tell about our holy God!!

Featured Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash. “All the Bits and Pieces” photo by Aleksandra Sapozhnikova on Unsplash.
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