Worshipping God is more than just going to church every Sunday. As you begin to build your new LDS life, you’ll want to begin to put more time into your life for true worship.
Attending church is certainly part of the worship process. However, it requires more than mere attendance. While attending, we need to keep our hearts and minds focused on the speakers and lessons, and maintain a feeling of reverence inside of us, regardless of what is happening around us.
In addition to worshipping in our meetings, we can also worship in our homes and personal lives. If we prepare carefully before praying, and take the time to think about what we want to discuss with our Father in Heaven, if our prayers are unrushed and thoughtful, our prayers become worship, not merely a ritual.
Our personal scripture study is also worship. If we hurry through them with an eye on the schedule, then scripture reading is merely a routine. If, however, we read carefully, taking time to ponder, our scripture reading becomes worship. We can take the time to apply what we read to our own lives, and also to reflect on the blessings our Heavenly Father has given us. Nearly every chapter of scripture contains reminders of His presence in our lives.
Each time we teach another person the gospel, we are worshipping our Father in Heaven. When we share what we know of Him, we’re showing Him how special He is to us, and how much we understand what He’s given us. After all, when we have something in our lives we treasure, we always want to share it with others we care about.
True worship is putting God first in our lives, remembering who He is, and why we love Him. It’s treating the life He gave us with respect, and making the best possible use of the time He’s given us. This means that service is a form of worship. We’re serving His children, with an attitude of joy, not burden, and this is a powerful way to worship Him.
All day long, we can keep thoughts of Him in our minds and a feeling of reverence in our hearts. We can be cheerful about our responsibilities, our service, and even our trials, understanding that they are all part of the plan to help us return home to our Heavenly Father again.
Worship isn’t just about Sundays. It’s all day, every day.
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
