True Worshippers: Satisfying God’s Thirst While He Satisfies Ours

Discover Your Spiritual Identity!

The Revelation of the Names and Titles God Has Given His People

“Yet the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father seeks such to worship Him” (John 4:23, MEV).

This world is a place of seeking—a place where the thirsty seek after God and a place where God seeks after the thirsty. Yes, the Father seeks “true worshippers” who are able to fulfill His desire for sweet communion and meaningful relationship. When Jesus arrived in Samaria, He initiated a conversation with a lowly woman near a well.

He began with the simple request, “Give me to drink” (John 4:7, KJV). Surprised that a Jew would even speak to a Samaritan, her eyes mirrored wonder. If she had only known the irony of His statement—for “by Him all things were created,” including every ocean, river, lake, pond and drop of rain that falls from the sky (Col. 1:16, MEV). So He really didn’t need her little bucket of water. He could have effortlessly produced His own. But He wanted to see her willingness so He continued:

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water”. . .”Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water that I shall give him will become in him a well of water springing up into eternal life” (Jn. 4:10, 13-14).

Ponder Jesus’ words carefully. What is this “living water” that first flows into us to quench our spiritual thirst, then flows out of us to quench God’s thirst?

Natural water (a staple of life) is made up of two elements: H2O (two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen). “Living water” (a spiritual staple of life) is also made of two elements. Both the Word and the Spirit are represented by water in Scripture (see Isaiah 55:10, Ephesians 5:26, John 7:37-39). Fusing these together, “living water” could be described as WORD2SPIRIT—two parts Word (Old Testament and New Testament) and one part Spirit. By these two influences, God quenches our thirst for spiritual reality. Then both of them stream back to Him when we worship. We pour out Spirit-unctioned praise and confess His Word as we send up our faith-filled petitions.

Jesus revealed this mystery to the woman at the well when He said:

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).

Let’s go a little deeper and discover what this dual requirement means fully.

Worshipping “in spirit”—Notice the word “spirit” is spelled with a small letter “s.” It doesn’t refer to God’s “Spirit” but rather the regenerated “spirit” of a born-again believer. Until Jesus dwells within us, our spirits are “dead in . . . trespasses and sins,” incapable of true worship (Eph. 2:1). Even though our spirits have a threefold function (communion with God, revelation from God and conscience), the first two are non-functional prior to salvation. The third (conscience) is barely functional. However, when we are saved, God puts a “new spirit” in us with the capacity of offering true worship to God (worship that is mingled with His Spirit and thus, acceptable to Him) (Ezk. 11:19).

Worshipping “in truth”—There are seven primary ways that we “worship in truth”:

(1) Worshipping with honesty (acknowledging sin)—Ps. 51:3

(2) Worshipping with sincerity (with passion)—Ps. 9:1

(3) Worshipping with the revelation of God’s true nature—Exod. 34:14, John 4:22

(4) Worshipping with correct methods—Ps. 47:1; 100:1-5, Lam. 3:41

(5) Worshipping by learning and comprehending the truth—2 Tim. 2:15

(6) Worshipping by applying truth to every area of our lives—Ps. 86:11-12

(7) Worshipping “in Christ” (abiding in the One who said, “I am . . . the truth”—John. 14:6)

Other translations of our highlighted verse refer to God’s people as “real worshippers” and “genuine worshippers” (NEB, Ber). Of all goals in life, this is one of the most important—to be real, to be genuine with the Almighty God. Those who are will be like a devoted bride-to-be who looks for every opportunity to speak affectionately to her beloved Bridegroom. As John Wesley prayerfully requested:

“Let every act of worship be, like our espousals Lord to thee.”

Oh, by the way, God doesn’t really need our “buckets of worship” either—since He is surrounded by a multitude of angels that ceaselessly praise His name—but He is still saying to each one of us, “Give Me to drink.” Are you willing to respond to Him today and to live a life of passionate praise?

To explore this wonderful subject more deeply, listen to a past episode of Mike Shreve’s weekly podcast called, “Discover Your Spiritual Identity.” {eoa}

A product of the Jesus Movement Era, Mike Shreve has traveled evangelistically in the United States and overseas since 1970 with an emphasis on healing and the prophetic. His primary biblical teaching for over 35 years has been the spiritual identity of believers. This powerful insight is featured on his weekly podcast on cpnshows.com and his TV program—both titled Discover Your Spiritual Identity. It is also the theme of his Charisma House book titled WHO AM I? Dynamic Declarations of Who You Are in Christ. The first three categories on his YouTube website expand on this amazing revelation: YouTube.com/mikeshreveministries.

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