worship in the spirit.

i had a question today from someone who didn't know what i meant by saying i worshiped in the spirit the other morning. so i wanted to explain what i meant by that.

in John 4, Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman at the well. after a long back and forth of Jesus pretty much telling her that, "you're right, you don't have a husband. and the man you have now is not your husband." haha. so hinting to her that He was a prophet. (i love this story. SO MUCH compacted into these few paragraphs.)

around 4:23-24 Jesus says, "Yet, a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."

okay. hahah. let's unpack all of this. (please, if i am wrong about these things, someone point them out. i love discussions and i would love to hear your take on this scripture)

first: "...a time is coming and has now come..." here He was talking about Him coming to earth ("and has now come"). but the part before ("a time is coming...") He is mentioning at the Holy Spirit. when Jesus left, Holy Spirit came down, so that we could still connect with the father through the spirit. because Jesus explains that God IS spirit, so we must be able to connect with Him in that way.

Jesus also mentions when He ascends into Heaven that, we will do far greater things when He was away. because He knew Holy Spirit was going to be here to help.  that is when the believers were able to perform the miracles that Jesus performed after He left.

Holy Spirit is a part of the trinity, and it's sad to me that a lot of church congregations leave Him out. He is the spirit that connects our spirit with the father, who IS spirit.

so, that is what I meant by worshiping in the spirit. i asked Holy Spirit to connect my spirit. in Romans 8:16 it says, "The Spirit itself bares witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." here, Paul mentions that we have a spirit. when sin entered into mankind, we became sinners. but, when Jesus came, he mended the bridge that connected us to the father.

remember when Jesus was baptized by John? and it said, "the spirit came down on Him."

we all desperately need our spirit to connect with the father. and by worshiping Him in the spirit, we are able to catch a glimpse of the father's heart.