Day 13- Worship that pleases GOD

From Rick Warren Purpose Driven Life page 16
This will be my 5th round of reading thru this book.
It’s part of my public LENTEN journey
Feel free to comment, question, add- this is, as the say at Planet Fitness, a NO JUDGEMENT ZONE.

Chapter Title: Worship that pleases God

Day 13
Point to Ponder; God wants all of me
Question to Consider; which is more pleasing to God right now- my public worship
or my private worship? What will I do about this?

Rick, on page 101 writes that “God is please when our worship is accurate.
He then goes on; to worship in truth means to worship God as he is revealed in the Bible.

I’ve been attending a Catholic church for worship for the past 35 years, and I believe (and some one correct me if
I’m wrong) that Catholic teachings don’t follow the Bible word for word, as the literal works of God. I think we believe
that they are inspired words, spoken/written by humans.
Rick also writes; “God is pleased when our worship is authentic.” Rick quotes a verse “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
“God hates hypocrisy” Rick adds.
I think Rick is expressing the concept of thoughtful worship, by any means that the individual feels a connection to God. He lists worship thru nature, rituals, solitude, battling injustice, celebration m adoration and study as many ways to worship.

As a young girl, my parents made the decision to not attend worship services at a local church. Their reason, they saw people in church on Sunday that my parents believed were
being unfaithful to their spouses at other times. They didn’t want to worship with hypocrites. As kids, we didn’t mind, this saved us from having to go to church on Sunday.
I had the same experience as an adult. However, I had the benefit of having been around the Benedictine Sisters, who have a habit of saying, “ you don’t know what’s in a persons heart at the moment. “ And, Rick Warren writes, on page 105- and I paraphrase, God wants us to live for him. Offer our bodies and souls as living sacrifice.
“ the problem with a living sacrifice is that it can scrawl off the altar, and we often do that.” aka- the cheating spouses”

I think that how we worship in our hearts is most important to God- my private worship.
( which includes study) My public worship- I interpret as how I conduct myself in public, and that, hopefully
mirrors how I worship in my heart. But, as I am human, I do slip- in my public worship.

My thought for the day, What we carry in our hearts- is the heart of the matter regarding Worship.