God Wants Your Worship

And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? —Matthew 21:16, KJV

I wonder whether we realize that God not only cares about the kind of worship we give, but He also really wants our worship. I find it so moving that God should care about my worship of Him.

Our natural reaction to this idea is to think, Well, worship of God by little old me isn’t going to matter to Him! We tend to think that God will take more notice of the worship of more important people, like the president of the United States or an eminent man of God such as Billy Graham. It’s as if we feel He must say, “Ah, this is more like it!” when He sees these kind of people worship. Maybe we don’t say this, but in so many words, isn’t it what we so often secretly feel?

Yet throughout the Bible is the theme that God cares about each individual as though there were no one else to care for. Whether you are five years old, fifty, or ninety years old, God cares about your worship. He is not interested in your status in life; He looks at you.

On Palm Sunday when the children were crying, “Hosanna to the son of David,” the chief priests and scribes didn’t like it. But Jesus said to them, “Have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Matt. 21:16, KJV).

You see, not only do so-called unimportant people matter, but God does not care whether or not you are in a strategic position from which to spread His name. You may sometimes think, I’m not going to be able to do anything for God where I am. Why should He show me anything or give me any insights?

What matters to God is not how important you are or how useful you are. All that matters to Him is the quality of your worship.

Excerpted from Worshipping God (Hodder & Stoughton, 2004).