Worship with your mind

The true work of the spirit produces love for God that expresses itself in “sober minded adoration and praise” ~ that is the definition of Biblical worship.

Some people believe they cannot truly worship until their human intellect or mind is disengaged.

In some charismatic preaching, worshippers are taught to;

• Find a quiet place and empty the mind
• Listen to your breathing and meditate
• Focus on one word and allow it to penetrate your soul
• Listen to soft spiritual music and let the spirit speak to you.

Several charismatic preachers go so far as to urge their followers to suspend all rational thought in order to allow the spirit to fully work.

However, this idea of emptying the mind isn’t consistent with the Scriptures and is foreign to Christianity. As a matter of fact, this idea is more in line with pagan ‘New Age’ practices such as transcendental meditation, mystical rituals, hypnosis, and other mind-emptying techniques that can open up doors to demonic influences.

The scriptures do not prescribe a type of spirituality that bypasses the intellect and operates only on feelings.

In authentic worship, thoughts and feelings together with all our human faculties, are to be focused on God in pure adoration. This is the kind of praise that the Father seeks, and it is not noisy or chaotic and not based on mere frenzy or feelings.

Jonathan Edwards, a prominent theologian, taught that genuine worship exalts God by delighting in His divine attributes and perfections.

Edwards wrote, “The first foundation of the delight a true saint has in God, is His own perfection; and the first foundation of the delight he has in Christ, is His own beauty.”

In other words, true worship arises not from what God gives but from a deep appreciation of God’s inherent excellence and Christ’s unmatched beauty. For Edwards, worship is about being captivated by God’s glory and Christ’s excellence, which stirs a profound sense of awe and love in the believer.