I think the 70’s Rock Band “Boston” had it right with their hit, “More Than a Feeling.” Feelings are good, and emotions are good, but if we don’t have something solid to base our emotions on, it will be just that, an emotional feeling.

In my nearly 30 years of ministry, I have had a lot of conversations based on emotional feelings. The one thing that I find in common with these type discussions is that when that feeling wears off people start to look for the next emotional experience that is better than the last and in the end, they still end up empty and searching.

Just because you are singing a “worship” song does not mean you are worshipping.

Just because you have an emotional moment does not mean God is moving.

Can you worship during a “worship” song? Of course, you can, and many people do all the time.

When you sense God is moving, can it be emotional? Sure it can.

My point for these two statements is this: I have encountered too many people who tell me, I loved that song you did, it was so worshipful, but when pressed into and asked why, I will get some mystic, esoteric answer.

Music is a powerful tool and can be used to create high emotion within us. Just listen to music in a movie or the music for a commercial and the effect it has on how you react to a particular scene.

I believe some people base their Christian walk on emotional experiences that last an hour or a day or a week, but because there is no substance to their experience or their daily spiritual walk, they become misinformed about who God is and how He works in our everyday life.
God is not a genie in a bottle that we get to call out when we need something nor is He a salad bar God that we get to pick and choose what we like and don’t like about him.

God has called us to worship him and to make him our highest priority (Exodus 33; 10 commandments), and he has made the way for us to worship him, through Jesus (Hebrews 10:19-22 we have a great high priest) and His sacrifice (1 Peter 2:4-5).

Let’s put aside how we think worship should look and feel and let’s allow the Scriptures guide us to the throne of grace and worship the Father in all of His glory for all of His glory.

Let the Scriptures to govern your worship. So at those times when you don’t have emotional feelings, you can know that your worship is still true worship because it is based on the scriptural truth of who God is. Remember what John 4:23-25 says, “The Father is seeking those who will worship him in Spirit and Truth.”