Giving, praying, fasting, worship...
These are all things that God loves. These are all ways that we show our love for God.
Can you imagine there are actually prayers that God hates. Fasting, giving and even worship that God hates. We see it first at the first Thanksgiving.
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Even though Cain offered a thanksgiving offering, something was not right in his heart. Jesus spoke of a time when praying and fasting were detestable to Him.
Matthew 6:5-6,16-18 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Finally, Jesus even sighted the pharisees for their worship...
Matthew 15:7-9 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
There is an excellent example of this type of woship in the Old Testament. When king Saul was instructed by Samuel to completely destroy the Amalakites he disobeyed. He told Samuel that he had saved the best the Amalakites had for sacrifice. Samuel told Saul that because of this second act of disobedience to the Lord that God would remove him from being king. Saul told Samuel that he was sorry and begged him to come and worship with him. Samuel refused. My first thought would be, “Why would Samuel refuse to worship with Saul?” If we keep reading the Scripture we find something out about the situation.
1 Samuel 15:30-31 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God. So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord.
Saul was not as interested in worshipping the Lord as he was concerned about his own honour. Have you ever hid sin in your heart when it was time to worship? The Bible shows that this is what keeps worhip from being true.
John 4: 22-24 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
If there is such a thing as true worship it stands to reason that there is also false worship. When Jesus said these words to the woman at the well, “you don't know what you worship,” He was talking about the Samaritans. The Samaritans really believed they were worshipping the same God as the Jews. The problem with there worship was not that they didn't believe in the one true God; it was that they worshipped God and idols too.
When you give God true worship it should also bring you joy and strength. There a few things that help make your worship true.
Love for God
Obedience to Him
Consistent reading and study of the Word
Sorrow for sin that leads to repentance.
Forsaking of idols
A strong stand against sin in your own life and in your home and in the church and in the world.
I've seen these principle both in my own experience as well as in the word bring the most true, joyful, power, life changing worship to a church service. And that is truly what we want every time we come together to worship.