In 1996, I was so sick and weak. Chronic Tuberculosis left me bedridden and I knew I was going to die. I felt my spirit leave my body so many times. I had the near-death experience times I could not count.
I used to be a worship leader from a tender age of 14 years. I lost my voice to the disease and I thought I would never sing again maybe, even the hope of seeing another shooting star glide across the sky was to be a fantasy. There was this day that I felt that that was it, that that was the day I will cease to live. I got so scared and I would feel the spirit leave my body. I prayed to God asking Him that if He gave me life then I will sing for Him for the rest of my life. God saved me.
The first mention of the word worship is in Genesis 22:4-5
4. And on the third day, Abraham, lifting up his eyes, saw the place a long way off. 5. Then he said to his young men, Keep here with the ass; and I and the boy will go on and give worship and come back again to you.
What is worship? Worship is not singing. It is more than song. Worship is a journey. It is primarily about relationships. It is a lifestyle. A story is told about a church that was full of a happy congregation. People flocked into the church because of its praise and worship sessions. It was then that the pastor noticed the joyriding in praise and worship sessions. He then announced that there will be no praise and worship in the church for 2 months. There will be no fancy piano riffs, no pounding rhythmic drum rudiments nor soothing sweet sound from the singer’s voices. The number of people attending the church reduced, some of the praise and worship members quit and the place was reduced to a ‘boring’ sanctuary according to a common worshipers’ thoughts.
It was then that a singer wrote a song. A song that would revolutionize the world. His words were:
When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless your heart
Bridge
I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
The musician is known to be Matt Redmann’s. I have been the pulpit more times than I can count and I can tell you for sure that being in the pulpit is not a guarantee for you to go to heaven. You might do everything in church and never know God. I once dreamt that I was going to hell. It was scary, the dream was as real as it could be. I wondered why despite how much I served in church as a worship leader. I then realized that I had concentrated so much on that I had forgotten to read about the word. I realized that I was always on the pulpit but I had read the Bible 2 months back. Matthew 7:21-23
21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will go into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the pleasure of my Father in heaven. 22. A great number will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, were we not prophets in your name, and did we not by your name send out evil spirits, and by your name do works of power? 23. And then will I say to them, I never had knowledge of you: go from me, you workers of evil.
Anything you do God never asked you to is iniquity. This is because it becomes an idol to you. An example is; perhaps you are a worship leader who sings so well then you get lost and enjoy the singing, you become so full of it that it now becomes a presentation. That by itself is iniquity. Let your worship be a revelation from your close contact with God. True worship stems from a relationship with God and the word of God is the core of worship. There are 58 words in the Bible that define the word Worship, 55 of which have nothing to do with the pulpit but daily living, how you treat others, obedience etc.
I remember this one time I was singing and was deep in worship and a voice was speaking to me. God speaks to us as we worship Him. This voice kept insisting, ‘Go forgive your cousin.’ I remember telling my pastor that I was going to Migori in South Nyanza. I arrived at my uncle’s house and I found him in his house. The three of us were seated when suddenly our uncle said he had some farm work to do. I was seated right opposite him and what was running in my mind was evil. This cousin had been in and out of jail and was always accused of vices; robbery, robbery with violence etc. I was next to someone I loathed so much, someone I felt like harming.
“Do you know why I am here?” I asked.
“Yes, 1981 and 1982.” He replied as he burst in tears.
This particular cousin had sexually assaulted my elder sister and I at the tender age of 7 years. The cousin fell to his knees crying, weeping with guilt, haunted of the bad things he had done. It was then that shortly afterwords that everyone returned from their own chores. I felt as if God was waiting for the perfect time for everything to plug in. We all prayed and I took a bus back to Nairobi that very same day. Two years later, my cousin died. He was murdered, there was a robbers’ hunt in the village and since he had a bad previous history, he was tracked down and killed. I got from my uncle that since that day, he got born again and had started going to church. I was glad that he didn’t die a sinner.
Worship means ‘Shachah’ in Hebrew which means to respond to God. It is a response to revelation to God. It is to respond faith into practice. You should know that God never wastes experiences. God initiates worship