Why does the Lord invite us into a place of worship? The Lord, in His mercy, designed it for us to find our fullest expression in life standing before Him accepted, delighted in, and ministering unto Him in thanksgiving and praise. God always chooses the best. If God, in loving us, chooses to design us as worshippers, then what’s the point? You always become like what you worship. There’s nothing He could want more for us than for us to become like Him. With that in mind, He designed us to be a worshippers. “This is why we’re alive, this is our supreme responsibility, our great God-given opportunity to be those who minister to the Lord.”
Music originated from God. The human spirit is musical because we are created in His image. There is something mysterious yet simple about song and the connection it has to our emotions, our memory and our ability to focus mind, body, soul and spirit. It is a beautiful gift God has given each of us.
Worship and prayer are inseparable. Through worship, we agree with who God is, and through prayer, we agree with what He promised to do. I don’t believe worship can be disconnected from prayer at all. The only thing that makes “worship music” worship is that we’re talking to God; otherwise, it’s just music.
Often we use these two words—worship and prayer—to mean singing and speaking our conversation with God. I believe there’s a powerful connection between spoken prayers and those that are sung. In Revelation, we see both spoken word and song offered continuously around the throne. We see a harp, signifying music (Rev. 5:8), and a bowl full of the intercession of the saints (vv. 8-9). And we know that if this is the way it is in heaven, it’s also a model for how it ought to be on earth.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a singer or a musician, you are musical. Paul said that he sang spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). I doubt he was a worship leader, but he was a man of prayer, and he sang in the spirit to God (1 Cor. 14:15).
Song is a powerful tool to unify the body of Christ. Whenever you have the combination of spoken prayer and singing, an entire room or a whole stadium of people can come into agreement with what is being prayed through simple songs that make us one voice. I believe this unified intercession and worship is one thing that changes the spiritual atmosphere of a city or a region.
You don’t have to add music to the conversation—prayer—you’re holding with God, but music combined with prayer opens our hearts, writes truth on our minds, changes the atmosphere and facilitates sustainable, enjoyable corporate prayer that leads to a unified heart with one another and with God.
— Christian Trent