WHAT IT MEANS TO WORSHIP
IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH

ONE SPIRIT WITH JESUS’ SPIRIT

What does it mean to worship in Spirit and truth? First of all, it is important to know and understand that when we receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord the Holy Spirit comes immediately to live in our belly and become one spirit with our spirit. Paul says in the book of Ephesians,

"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory." (Eph 1:13-14).

And again in 1 Corinthians 6:17, "But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him." Jesus states in the Gospel of John,

"If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive." (John 7:37-39)

OUR NEEDS MET THROUGH
UNION WITH JESUS’ SPIRIT

Second, as has been shared earlier, worshiping God in Spirit and truth means that we receive Jesus’ will and plan for our life and His answer to our needs in relation to ourselves, Jesus, and others through our spirit in union with Jesus’ Holy Spirit. Paul states,

"But just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." (1 Cor 2:9-10).

Paul tells us that God’s answer to our needs does not come through our hearts, our souls, but through our spirits. As Paul said earlier in the book of Philippians, His confidence was not in his education or his flesh, but in Jesus alone to minister the answer he needed through the Holy Spirit. (Phil 3:3).

This is not referring to physical laws, such as trying to defy gravity by jumping off a building; or to what is already clearly revealed in Scripture such as the command against committing adultery and then rationalizing one’s way around this by saying he had some spiritual experience which said it is okay now.⁸² The Apostle Paul states in the book of Galatians, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" (Gal 6:7). But when it comes to our relationship to God, ourselves, and to others; since we cannot know Jesus’ heart, our heart truly, and man’s heart apart from Jesus, the only way we can get the answers to hidden heart issues in these three areas is through Jesus ministering it to our spirit through the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul states,

"For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God." (1 Cor 2:11).

As was mentioned earlier, the prophet Jeremiah said that the heart of man is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. It is not possible for us to know our own hearts truly, let alone someone else’s, apart from the Spirit of God. The Lord goes on to say through Jeremiah in this same passage of Scripture, "I, Yehovah, search the heart, I test the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds" (Jer 17:10).

The key to success in ministry, whether it is related to Evangelism, follow-up, counseling, or praying for a mental, physical, spiritual, or demonic problem, is getting to the root of the matter; the true heart of the matter. This is why we are not qualified to judge situations, which involve people, as they appear outwardly. Jesus said, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24). The Apostle Paul put it this way,

"Therefore do not go on judging anything before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God." (1 Cor 4:5).

This is exactly the way that Jesus operated in ministry as a man on earth and still does in heaven. When He came face to face with a situation, no matter how obviously good or bad it appeared on the surface, He waited for the evaluation of His Father in heaven, ministered to Him through the person of the Holy Spirit inside His Human spirit.

This is also why the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day always misjudged his actions and associations with certain questionable people. The Scribes and Pharisees were looking at things as they appeared outwardly. They were not discerning Jesus’ actions and associations with people by the Holy Spirit. Had they discerned Jesus’ actions by the Holy Spirit, they would not have condemned him, but instead supported Him whether they fully understood or not. Jesus said if a man’s heart is truly open to the Spirit of God through his spirit, he would know whether a teaching is from God or not. Jesus said, "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself" (John 7:17).

Remember our earlier example about Samuel picking a king? Samuel judged by outward appearance, but God judged by what he saw in the heart. Jesus does not judge us by what He sees outwardly, but by what He sees in our heart. This is why a lot of times when we view someone in ministry from his outward appearance he does not seem fit for the job, but God looks at the heart and sees that his heart is right for the job.

In order to worship God in Spirit and truth we must know the true root and heart of the situation encountered and what Jesus’ will and heart are to be able to pray in truth concerning the situation.

We understand now that the importance of worship and praise is that it gets our eyes off of ourselves, the problem, and on to Jesus, the solution to our problems. We also now understand that this is important in relation to man’s psychology because only Jesus knows man’s thoughts and heart and the root cause of his problems. We also now understand that Jesus ministers to us what the root of the problem is through our human spirit in union with the Holy Spirit, for Jesus said, "It is the Spirit who creates-life; the flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63).

It is still not clear to us yet, though, what it means to worship in the Spirit so that we can worship in truth. To understand what it means to worship in truth, we must first understand what it means to worship in the Spirit. This can be understood by taking other passages of Scripture into consideration which deal with the same subject.

The first passage I want to consider is from the book of Ephesians. Here Paul admonishes, "With all prayer and petition praying at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." (Eph 6:18). A second passage is found in the book of Jude. Jude states, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit." (Jude 20).

When Paul and Jude admonish us to pray in the Spirit, to whom is the admonition directed? The answer to this question can be found in the first verse in both the books of Ephesians and Jude. In Ephesians 1:1 Paul states, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus." In Jude 1, Jude states, "Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ." The command to pray in the Spirit then is to:

Who are the saints? The saints are those who have received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Who are the Faithful in Christ Jesus? Those who do not shrink back to destruction, "But of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul." (Heb 10:36-39). Who are the called? Jesus said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain." (John 15:16). The Apostle Paul wrote, "And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I was found by those who sought Me not, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.’" (Rom 10:20). Who are the beloved in God the Father? They are the saints, the faithful in Christ Jesus, the called, the beloved in God the Father, and the kept for Christ Jesus. Who are the kept for Christ Jesus? His church the bride whom the Father will some day present to Jesus without spot or wrinkle.⁸³

Getting back to the question, when Paul and Jude admonish to pray in the Spirit continually, who is the admonishment toward? To put it simply, to anyone who has accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord of their lives. So whatever praying in the Spirit is, it is clearly meant for all believers without exception.

The next place that Paul talks about praying in the Spirit is in 1 Corinthians. Paul states, "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful." (1 Cor 14:14). Paul states here plainly that praying in the Spirit is praying in tongues. He also makes it plain that the mind is unfruitful in this exercise. This makes sense since it originates from the spirit and not the mind which is part of the soul. Does this mean that the mind cannot eventually be involved? No!

HOW TO WORSHIP IN TRUTH
PAUL’S COMMAND

What else does Paul say about praying in the Spirit in 1 Corinthians? Paul states, "Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret" (1 Cor 14:13). We have already established that praying in the Spirit is meant for all believers without exception and that praying in the Spirit is praying in tongues (please note the reference ü),⁸⁴ but why does Paul admonish us to pray for an interpretation of the tongue we are praying in? This answer can be found in considering another passage of Scripture. Paul states in Romans,

"And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Rom 8:26-27).

We go to Jesus through worship and praise because only Jesus knows the root of the problem and the answer to our need. Jesus gives the answer to the Holy Spirit, which the Holy Spirit then asks the Father to give to us or the person we are praying for as we pray in our spiritual language, because praying in tongues about a need is the Holy Spirit praying through our spirit. The Holy Spirit is God and knows exactly what we need. His prayer through our spirit is a perfect prayer and exactly according to God’s will because the Holy Spirit only acts out of the initiative of Jesus who only acts out of the initiative of the Father.

The problem is, though, what we are praying in the Spirit may be what we need in order to know what to say or do in a given situation, but if I do not know what I am praying in my tongue, of what benefit is it to me? This is why Paul says if you pray in the Spirit, pray for an interpretation. What will be the outcome then? Paul gives us the answer to this question in the first book of Corinthians. He states, "What is the outcome then? I shall pray with the Spirit and I shall pray with the mind also; I shall sing with the Spirit and I shall sing with the mind also" (1 Cor 14:15).