For the people dearest to your heart, you can probably make a list of ways in which they show love for you.

          You can also make a list of how you show your love for them. While love is not measurable in a literal sense, you discern the affections of others to a large degree by their words and actions toward you, and by yours toward them. Have you ever experienced the sudden withholding of usual familiarities, such as the absence of a smile or a warm word? You may have thought, "Oh, no, I wonder what is wrong?" We read each other's emotional signals everyday and often interpret relationships on that basis.

          In our relationship with God, though, sometimes our understanding borders on the abstract. We express it in primarily spiritual terms, and that is fine, since it is a spiritual relationship. But did you know that you can describe God's feelings for you and your feelings for God in very concrete terms? His unconditional love is very personal, and you experience it in a real way in a real world everyday. Even more importantly, He has given you the capacity to express love to Him. (1 John 4:19)

          Telling God that you love Him may not be your first thought. In hurt and pain and the stresses of life, you naturally tend to focus on His sustaining love for you—and that is wonderful. He promises you strength, understanding, support, and an infinite supply of His grace when you trust Him with all your anxieties and concerns. Yet there is a depth and richness to your relationship with Him that is added when you learn how to love Him and demonstrate it through your heart and life.

          God created you to love Him. Have you ever noticed that of all the creatures on earth, human beings are special? Dogs and cats or birds or fish or plants cannot tell God they love Him. They bring glory to Him in that they exist and function as He made them to, but theirs is not a conscious praise. He fashioned you with the unique capacity to express depth of emotion, from adoration and elation to grief and sorrow. You have the ability to focus your spiritual and emotional energies into devotion to God.

Worship is a fundamental form of expressing your love for God.

          It's a natural response to the wonder of His magnanimous and indescribable love. When you are struck by His grandeur, the overflow of your heart says, "You are amazing, Lord. Thank You for who You are and what You have done."
          So what exactly is involved in worship? If you were not in a church service, what would you do to worship God? The very thought might give you a feeling of insecurity, but remember that God designed you to worship Him. Coming together in an organized service is a part of His plan for the body of Christ (Hebrews 10:24-25), but you are equipped to worship Him individually as well.

          The Bible is full of examples of worship, and one of the most prominent characters of the Old Testament, King David, was known for his devotion to God. A basic component of his worship, whether in the form of song or prayer or a combination of both, was praise. It's a word you have heard many times, and probably in a very loose context. Sometimes people use it to mean "thanksgiving," but praise is really a little different. Thanksgiving is the act of expressing gratitude to God for what He has done for you. Praise is glorifying Him for who He is—His character, His being, His attributes.

          See if you can identify David's purpose in these two passages. InPsalm 145:8-9, he writes: "The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works." Psalm 18:37-39says: "I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and I did not turn back until they were consumed . . . For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me."

          Did you say "praise" for passage one and "thanksgiving" for passage two? You are correct, though sometimes in many psalms the forms are blended or indistinguishable. The important thing to realize is that God wants them both. In fact, thanksgiving is in a sense a natural outflow of praise. God manifests who He is by what He does, how He works in your life. From your own particular culture or denomination, you probably learned a style of worship, with a certain type of singing and so forth. Out of the richness of God's creation comes an endless variety of praise, a symphony of music to His ears.

          However, a question that many ask is, "How do I know if the way I worship is pleasing to God?" It's a common concern, and sometimes it can be the subject of heated debate. There are few specific guidelines in Scripture, outside of the Old Testament regulations for the former Jewish sacrificial system.

Remember, at all times God is looking at the heart of the worshiper.

          Psalm 51 says, "For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (vs. 16-17). Another indication of what God desires is found in John 4:23-24. Jesus says: "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

          When the Ark of the Covenant was returned to Jerusalem during David's reign, David led the procession into the city. "And David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod [a simple priest's garment]. So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

          "Then it happened as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart" (2 Samuel 6:14-16). In other words, Michal made the grave mistake of judging David's actions, when he was the sincere one delighting with all his might in the goodness of the Lord. God was pleased with David's genuine adoration and devotion.

          In the New Testament, Jesus was always careful to emphasize the worshiper's heart. With righteous anger, He was disgusted by those who displayed their devotion in a pompous, attention-getting manner. He was more than familiar with the religious leaders of the day and their shameless arrogance.
          Jesus said this about prayer: "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:5-6).

          Nothing escapes the loving and sovereign eye of the Lord. One day, sitting in the temple opposite the treasury, Jesus watched how people passed by the money box and put coins in the spout. The rich people dumped in large amounts, of course, and it made quite a scene. Then a poor widow moved forward and put in what amounted to one cent. "Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, 'Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on" (Mark 12:43-44).

          Are you noticing what is important to the Lord? That's right—it is always and ever the heart of the worshiper. Whether it is praising, giving thanks, singing, praying, or giving financially, the issue is one of motivation. As you prepare yourself to worship God and approach Him in spirit and in truth, you begin to feel an excitement. Bringing glory to God is one of the primary sources of refreshment of your own spirit; that's the way God designed it. Fulfilling your purpose of worshiping Him is satisfying to your very being, and it helps you build intimacy in your relationship with Him.

"Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His excellent greatness. . . . Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 150:1-6)