“God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)

Worshipping in truth speaks of worshipping the authentic Jesus, the one true living God as revealed in the scriptures. But worshipping in the Spirit means to be in His presence and respond with worship back to God from the overflow of the encounter. Think literally, “in the Spirit” means worshipping “in” that realm of His presence, just as John the Revelator was, “In the Spirit on the Lords day.” (Revelation 1:10) and,

“After this I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven: and the voice which I heard was like a trumpet talking with me; which said, come up here, and I will show you things which must come after this. Instantly I was in the Spirit.” (Revelation 4:1-2)

John was in the heavenly dimension, that realm of God’s Spirit. We are to worship God from a place of experiential encounter. When we are “in the Spirit,” (which is to say in the realm of His glory) we are then enabled to worship God with abandon. Worship then in this sense becomes the heart-felt response to the presence of God. To worship in the Spirit is to respond to the conscious experience of the presence of God with adoration and praise.

You see, our worship of God will only be as deep as our revelation of Him. The more understanding and revelation we have, the deeper and more passionate our worship will be. Therefore as His presence increases within us, (and we know that His presence is living revelation of who He is), our depth of worship will increase. Greater glory, greater worship. We are wired to respond to His presence with praise, we can’t help it! The degree to which His glory fills us, is the degree that we are enabled to worship, “in the Spirit.”

Also part of worshipping “in the Spirit,” is to be possessed with the Holy Spirit’s passion for Jesus. The Spirit of God enables us to worship God with a divine intensity and devotion that we can never work up in our flesh. When the Spirit grips us with His utter adoration and passion for the Son, we are then compelled to worship in concert with the Holy Spirit, and we ascend to such a place in worship that is beyond description, we enter into the very spirit of worship, a place of divine ecstasy and love.

Develop a life-style of worship, make it your habit to give Him praise for everything He has blessed you with, as you do this His presence will be released. “You inhabit the praises of Isreal.” (Psalms 22:3)

Worship can also be paired with soaking prayer. When we worship and praise Him, it will break through the blockages and clutter that hinder us from encountering Him, then once His glory comes, we can move into soaking and simply wait silently in His presence and allow Him to fully overtake us with His Spirit.