5 Ways to Worship God in Everyday Life

Worship is not just for Sundays, but it seems easier to keep that focus on the first day of the week. How do we practically worship in everyday life?

First, let’s summarize the meaning of worship.

• Wayne Grudem provides a helpful summary for worship: “Worship is the ascription of ultimate worth to God. It is the direct acknowledgment of God’s worth to God himself, expressing in words and actions the praise, adoration, and thanksgiving that are due to him.”¹

• Warren Wiersbe adds, “Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are–mind, emotions, will, and body–to what God is and says and does. This response has its mystical side in subjective experience and its practical side in objective obedience to God’s revealed will.”²

Worship includes both words and actions. It is more than a feeling, an experience, an environment, or a ritual. Worship is communicating through what we say and what we do that God is most important in our lives. How do we keep God first every day?

1. Start Every Day with God

Is there a better way to make God number one in your life than to spend time with Him first each day?

• Jesus did this–He awoke “a great while before day” to pray (Mark 1:35).
• David spoke of his personal worship habits: “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up” (Psalm 5:3).
• Later David writes, “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1).
• Daniel had a habit of praying in the morning since early in his life (Daniel 6:10).

Some people are just not morning people. But why not begin the day with at least a short time alone with God even if your main time for Bible reading is later? Our habits in what we put first reveal what is most important to us.

2. Banish Addictions

If you habitually go to something other than God for comfort and peace, has that object or activity become an idol that you are worshiping? I am not just talking about addictions to alcohol, smoking, and weed. We may not realize that seemingly harmless habits could actually be a matter of misplaced worship. For example:

• Consuming hours bowing over your mobile phone, even when the content is clean.
• Allowing food to become an obsession rather than a daily necessity.
• Watching nightly TV shows in your home more regularly than having family devotions.
• Allowing loyalty to a sports team (as a fan or a player) to take precedent over faithfulness to God and His church.
• Obsessing about body image to the point of excesses in exercise or eating habits.
• Or even making the godliness of your attitude dependent upon whether you have had your coffee.

Each of these can become an object of worship to some degree if they distract us from the One who should be number one in our lives. We are to submit to Him above all and not be brought under the power of other things. The apostle Paul wrote, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Corinthians 6:12). God is more important than food, sex, entertainment, sports, and, yes, even coffee. Put Him above all in your daily habits. When you do, this is worship in everyday life.

3. Talk Like God Is Number One

If you rarely talk about God, is He really that important to you? Our words often reveal what we value most. Jesus put it this way: “Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Do we talk like God is number one? If we did, what would we say?

• We would praise God for who He is.
• We would express thanks for God’s blessings.
• We would share with others how to know such a great God.
• We could not help but talk of Him because He is so central to our lives.

But if God were not number one in our hearts, how would our speech reflect this?

• We would complain.
• We would hesitate to witness, valuing the opinion of those around us more than pleasing God.
• We might even sound like any other person in our neighborhood who does not know God.

If God is number one in our lives, what we say should show it. When it does, this is worship in everyday life.

4. Work for God Even When You Work for Your Boss

If you were to exclude the workplace from your worship, how much of your life would no longer put Jesus first? We spend at least 40 hours a week at work. That’s nearly 2,000 hours per year. If you work for forty years, then you have spent over 80,000 hours at the job site. If the job is number one, Jesus is off the throne of your life for a significant portion of your time on earth!

But God must be first, even at work. Our Lord sees no conflict between worshiping Him and working for your living. He commands, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23). Work for God even when you work for your boss. When you give your best for your company, you give your best for God. Let your work ethic, motivated by your love for God, be your testimony in the workplace. When you do all for His glory, this is worship in everyday life (1 Corinthians 10:31).³

5. Serve Christ by Serving Others

If you claim to put God first but you put others down, is this a life of worship? Sometimes we create a false dichotomy. We praise God and trash our neighbor. We speak holy words in prayer and hurtful words in conversation with our coworkers. Or we serve in church ministry, but we refuse to help out at home. We teach a Sunday School class but devote little time to discipling our own children. However, our relationship with God is affected by our relationships with others (1 John 4:20).

More positively, when we serve others, we serve Christ and live as He lived.

• Matthew 25:37–40 tells us that when we help others–feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, visiting the sick or imprisoned–we serve Him. He says, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
• Mark 10:45 states, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” When we serve others, we imitate Christ.

A life of worship not only looks up but also outward to those around us.

Conclusion: Worship As a Way of Life

Worship should radiate from Sundays to every day of the week. That God is first in our lives should be obvious to us and those around us. Our habits should shout this reality. Our attitudes should reflect it. The greatness of God should be naturally woven into our daily conversations at home and the workplace because God truly is first in our thinking and priorities. What we do and how we do it should point to the One who motivates us every day of the week.

True worship is never restricted to a time, place, or activity. When God is number one, worship overflows into every crevice of our lives.

1. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 950. ↩︎
2. Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, 26. ↩︎
3. The testimony of Mary Slessor of faithfulness in the mundane tasks is an excellent example of worship in everyday life. Read her story in my missions devotional, Daring Devotion. ↩︎