"I appeal to you therefore brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." (Rom 12:1) "I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also." (I Cor. 14:15b) "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart." (Ephesians 5:18-19)
The terrible tragic fact is that the efforts of many people to worship are unacceptable to God. Without the infusion of the Holy Spirit, coupled with all my spirit (all that I am - passion) there can be no true worship. There are millions of cultured, religious people who carry on church traditions and religious customs that are never really worshipping God. Can true worship be engineered and manipulated? As a worship leader I have known for many years that true worship as we gather depends on the hearts of the people, and how much personal worship we have done during the previous week . . . how much worship leaders, choirs, worship teams and congregations have prayed for the gathering for worship. If worship doesn't start outside the walls of the church during the week, it will never make it inside the walls on Sunday.
As I mentioned earlier, both "spirits" have to be a part of our worship, according to Scripture. My "spirit" (small "s") represents all that I am - mind, soul, body, personality, personal history, etc. All of that coming together in worship is the passion of my heart. Then there is "Holy Spirit", big "s" which empowers our worship, originating with God coming back to us and is reflected from us, as a mirror. God accepts that kind of worship. No worship is wholly pleasing to God until there is nothing in me displeasing to God. mjm
