As Christians, we have a tough race ahead of us. I personally know the struggle that can come. Something that has helped me is looking toward the example of other believers. Therefore, I have collected worship quotes from various sources.
When it is hard to worship, we can learn and glean inspiration from prominent figures of the faith who have lived well, despite their various trials and struggles. Worship quotes can help us understand worship better, as well as becoming better worshipers ourselves.
In this blog, you will find worship quotes from pastors, authors, and saints.
Quotes From Pastors
Pastors are entrusted with the delicate work of caring and leading a flock of believers. There are various pastors with different denominational backgrounds, focuses, passions, and lives. We can learn from a wide example of pastors. When it comes to worship, we can recognize that it is a holistic approach to life, rather than a time only categorized by music and singing.
A.W. Tozer
“I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.”
“Sometimes I go to God and say, ‘God if Thou dost never answer another prayer while I live on this earth, I will still worship Thee as long as I live and in the ages to come for what Thou hast has done already.’ God’s already put me so far in debt that if I were to live one million millenniums I couldn’t pay Him for what He’s done for me.”
“Without worship, we go about miserable.”
“Perhaps it takes a purer faith to praise God for unrealized blessings than for those we once enjoyed or those we enjoy now.”
“We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts”
Billy Graham
“The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.”
“A checkbook is a theological document, it will tell you who and what you worship.”
“To a large extent, the American church has become merged with the world. It has adopted so many of the world’s ideals and standards that it has lost its ability to stem the tide of crime, deception, and immorality that is sweeping the nation. For millions of church members, there is no deep commitment to the cause of Christ, no regularity of attendance at public worship, no sacrificial giving, no personal religious discipline.”
“Remember: He WANTS your fellowship, and He has done everything possible to make it a reality. He has forgiven your sins, at the cost of His own dear Son. He has given you His Word, and the priceless privilege of prayer and worship.”
Francis Chan
“The point is not to completely understand God but to worship Him. Let the very fact that you cannot know Him fully lead you to praise Him for His infiniteness and grandeur.”
“Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?”
“If one person “wastes” away his day by spending hours connecting with God, and the other person believes he is too busy or has better things to do than worship the Creator and Sustainer, who is the crazy one?”
“What makes worship amazing is the object of our worship.”
“I had come out of a church that was filled with petty arguments and hatred. I just wanted to meet with some friends and worship with them.”
John Piper
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t.”
“The engagement of the heart in worship is the coming alive of the feelings and emotions and affections of the heart. Where feelings for God are dead, worship is dead.”
“Worship is what we were created for. This is the final end of all existence-the worship of God. God created the universe so that it would display the worth of His glory. And He created us so that we would see this glory and reflect it by knowing and loving it-with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. The church needs to build a common vision of what worship is and what she is gathering to do on Sunday morning and scattering to do on Monday morning.”
“The greatest stumbling block for children in worship is that their parents do not cherish the hour. Children can feel the difference between duty and delight. Therefore, the first and most important job of a parent is to fall in love with the worship of God. You can’t impart what you don’t possess.”
Martin Luther King Jr
“The body is God’s temple, but we are to worship God, not the temple.”
“Worship is as natural to the human family as the sing of the sun is to the cosmic order.”
“We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world.”
Dwight L. Moody
“I’d rather be able to pray than to be a great preacher; Jesus Christ never taught his disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.”
“Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The way to trouble God is not to come at all.”
“A rule I have had for years is: to treat the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal friend. His is not a creed, a mere doctrine, but it is He Himself we have.”
“The Christian on his knees sees more than the philosopher on tiptoe. God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.”
“God will not accept a divided heart. He must be an absolute monarch. There is no room in your heart for two thrones. You cannot mix the worship of the true God with the worship of any other god more than you can mix oil and water. It cannot be done. There is no room for any other throne in the heart of Christ is there. If worldliness should come in, godliness would go out.”
“Many a professing Christian is a stumbling-block because his worship is divided. On Sunday he worships God; on weekdays God has little or no place in his thoughts.”
“Satan is willing to have us worship anything, however sacred – the Bible, the crucifix, the church – if only we do not worship God Himself.”
Quotes From Authors
Throughout history, there have been hundreds and thousands of Christian authors. Authors influence all areas of society, including religion, politics, culture, family dynamics, education, and social justice. Christian authors, in particular, have a high calling to influence these areas for the gospel and the glory of God.
The quotes and resources of timeless authors are still being used today, even years later. Additionally, new books are being written and printed to influence the ever-changing society and world we live in. We can learn from both timeless truths and fresh perspectives.
Charles Spurgeon
“I believe that in public worship we should do well to be bound by no human rules, and constrained by no stereotyped order.”
“Depend on it, my hearer, you never will go to heaven unless you are prepared to worship Jesus Christ as God.”
“God is to be praised with the voice, and the heart should go therewith in holy exultation.”
“Some go to church to take a walk; some go there to laugh and talk. Some go there to meet a friend; some go there their time to spend. Some go there to meet a lover; some go there a fault to cover. Some go there for speculation; some go there for observation. Some go there to doze and nod; the wise go there to worship God.”
“Saints are described as fearing the name of God; they are reverent worshippers; they stand in awe of the Lord’s authority; they are afraid of offending Him; they feel their own nothingness in the sight of the Infinite One.”
C. S. Lewis
“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.”
“It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men.”
“To love you as I should, I must worship God as Creator.”To love you as I should, I must worship God as Creator. When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. In so far as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When the first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”
“We only learn to behave ourselves in the presence of God.”
“The perfect church service would be the one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God. But every novelty prevents this. It fixes our attention on the service itself, and thinking about worship is a different thing than worshipping … ‘Tis mad idolatry that makes the service greater than the god.”
“The descent to hell is easy and those who begin by worshipping power, soon worship evil.”
“The New Testament does not envisage solitary religion; a regular assembly for worship is everywhere in the epistles.”
“The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in
God which made David dance.”
Louie Giglio
“It’s easy: You simply follow the trail of your time, your affection, your energy, your money, and your allegiance. At the end of that trail you’ll find a throne; and whatever, or whoever, is on that throne is what’s of highest value to you. On that throne is what you worship.”
“Worship is when we give God His breath back.”
“If our worship isn’t visible, comprehensive and extravagant, the gospel we heard must have been tiny, empty and cheap.”
“Worship is simply about value. The simplest definition I can give is this: Worship is our response to what we value most. That’s why worship is that thing we all do. It’s what we’re all about on any given day……….the trail never lies. We may say we value this thing or that thing more than any other, but the volume of our actions speaks louder than our words”
“Not going to give casual worship to a God of extravagant beauty and grace!”
“Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is, and what He has done; expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.”
“You only have one life. And you only have one life of worship. You have one brief opportunity in time to declare your allegiance, to unleash your affection, to exhault something or someone above all else. So don’t waste your worship on some little god, squandering your birthright on idols made only with human imagination. Guard your worship. And carefully evaluate all potential takers.”
Matt Chandler
“As you consider selecting songs for your worship services, consider them in light of the truth of the gospel. Imagine the songs as teachers–because they are! If your people could understand your doctrine only through the music you sing, what would they know about God and His pursuit of us? If your people could understand your church’s beliefs only through the music, what would they know?”
“If someone doesn’t have much use for praising Him now, it’s foolish to think they’re ready for heaven.”
“Worship is the way of life for those entranced by and passionate for the glory of God.”
“Worship gatherings are not always spectacular, but they are always supernatural. And if a church looks for or works for the spectacular, she may miss the supernatural. If a person enters a gathering to be wowed with something impressive, with a style that fits him just right, with an order of service and song selection designed just the right way, that person may miss the supernatural presence of God.
Worship is supernatural whenever people come hungry to respond, react, and receive from God for who He is and what He has done. A church worshipping as a Creature of the Word doesn’t show up to perform or be entertained; she comes desperate and needy, thirsty for grace, receiving from the Lord and the body of Christ, and then gratefully receiving what she needs as she offers her praise-the only proper response to the God who saves us.”
Matt Redman
“In the end, worship can never be a performance, something you’re pretending or putting on. It’s got to be an overflow of your heart…Worship is about getting personal with God, drawing close to God.”
“The heart of God loves a persevering worshipper who, though overwhelmed by many troubles, is overwhelmed even more by the beauty of God.”
“We can always find a reason to praise. Situations change for better and for worse, but God’s worth never changes.”
“Praise is a contradiction of pride. Pride says ‘looks at me,’ but praise longs for people to see Jesus.”
“I love to say that not only is the throne room of God a place of reverence, it’s always a place of refuge. So when everything else in life seems to be shifting, or breaking and shaking apart, there’s a place that is always stable, safe, and constant. When we draw near to God in worship and approach His throne, we tap into that. It’s a very reassuring place, where we’re reminded that there’s a God on His throne, and even when we don’t understand everything, we can trust it to Him.”
“God first seeks devotion to Him in the hidden place–worship when no one else is watching.”
Oswald Chambers
“Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have, Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship.”
“When we lose sight of God we become hard and dogmatic.
We hurl our own petitions at God’s throne and dictate to Him as to what we wish Him to do. We do not worship God, nor do we seek to form the mind of Christ. If we are hard towards God, we will become hard towards other people.”
“There are not three stages in spiritual life-worship, waiting, and work. Some of us go in jumps like spiritual frogs. We jump from worship to waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together. They were always together in the life of our Lord.”
“The real attitude of sin in the heart towards God is that of being without God; it is pride, the worship of myself, that is the great atheistic fact in human life.”
“Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other. Intercession means that we rouse ourselves up to get the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray.”
Richard J. Foster
“The Bible describes worship in physical terms. The root meaning for the Hebrew word we translate worship is ‘to prostrate.’ The word bless literally means ‘to kneel.’ Thanksgiving refers to ‘an extension of the hand.’ Throughout Scripture we find a variety of physical postures in connection with worship: lying prostrate, standing, kneeling, lifting the hands, clapping the hands, lifting the head, bowing the head, dancing, and wearing sackcloth and ashes. The point is that we are to offer God our bodies as well as all the rest of our being. Worship is appropriately physical.”
“Today God is calling his Church back to worship. This can be seen in high church circles where there is a renewed interest in intimacy with God. It can be seen in low church circles where there is a renewed interest in liturgy. It can be seen everywhere in between these two. It is as if God is saying, ‘I want the hearts of my people back!’ And if we long to go where God is going and do what God is doing, we will move into deeper, more authentic worship.”
Quotes From Saints
Saints are recognized as individuals of exceptional faith, holiness, and good works. Often, they have begun or worked with social justice projects. These include projects such as caring for widows, orphans, the sick, and the poor.
They are considered close to God because of the holiness and dedication during their earthly life. Numerous denominations recognize saints, including the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Lutheran Churches.
Saint Augustine
“Don’t let your life give evidence against your tongue. Sing with your voices… sing also with your conduct.”
“It is indeed better (as no one ever could deny) that men should be led to worship God by teaching, than that they should be driven to it by fear of punishment or pain; but it does not follow that because the former course produces the better men, therefore those who do not yield to it should be neglected. For many have found advantage (as we have proved, and are daily proving by actual experiment), in being first compelled by fear or pain, so that they might afterward be influenced by teaching, or might follow out in act what they had already learned in word.”
“Venerate the martyrs, praise, love, proclaim, honor them. But worship the God of the martyrs.”
“You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace till they rest in you.”
Saint Francis
“While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.”
“Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.”
“We should seek not so much to pray but to become prayer.”
“O Divine Master, grant that I may not seek to be consoled, as to console. To be understood, as to understand. To be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
“Keep a clear eye toward life’s end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God’s creature. What you are in his sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received…but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage.”
“Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs. Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for they will be crowned.”
Mother Teresa
“Give yourselves unswervingly to God. Conform yourselves in all things to his glory, to his holy will.”
“Our work is not a profession but a vocation, chosen to satiate the thirst of Jesus by total surrender, complete, without counting the cost.”
“The reason for our existence is to quench the thirst of Jesus Christ. When he asked for water, the soldier gave him vinegar to drink—but his thirst was for love, for souls, for you and me.”
“If we have a pure heart, then we can see God.”
“We must make ourselves attractive to God, like Our Lady. Holiness is a normal thing, nothing extraordinary.”
“Give your heart to God, deliberately, knowingly, willingly. It belongs to him.”
“Obedience makes us most like Jesus and one with him. If we really obey, it is a constant crucifixion.”
“Even God cannot fill what is full already. We must empty ourselves so that God can fill us.”
Why Are Quotes Significant
Quotes are significant because they mark the actions and lives of people who have made an impact on the Christian faith and the world. These statements are remembered because they are worth remembering. We can look to the example of individuals such as these to see lives marked with passion and fire for the Lord.
These quotes can help us understand worship in a greater way. Then, we can live a more holistic personal life of worship. Additionally, their faith led actions can be an inspiration for our own lives of ministry and loving others.
Furthermore, these pastors, authors, and saints have lived a full or completed life of faith. We can learn from their mistakes and from their successes. These individuals understand what it means for failure and getting back up again to continue the race.
Additional Worship Resources
If you are interested in interacting with more content concerning worship, refer to “How and Why Christians Worship with Music (Biblical Examples)” . This blog covers the basics of how musical worship was integrated into Christian worship, why it is important to our faith and how we are supposed to worship with music.
Further details on the history of worship can be found in “History of Christian Worship from the Early Church to Today”.
Additionally, “Christian Worship: Definition, Biblical Examples, and How-To” gives an overarching view into all things involving Christian worship.