Fall 1982
Worship and Praise
John Wright Follette

In true worship, we become detached from self and are lifted by the Spirit up into the realm where we belong, to worship God and adore Him. This is the chief end of man, to glorify God. In real adoration, there are only about two words which we can use in English—“glory” and “holy, holy, holy.” Worship is the adoration of God for who He is.

Praise, however, expresses our gratitude for the things God gives us. God does something for us, so we offer praise and thanksgiving for what He has done. In praise, I am occupied with the thought of all the things God has done for me.

But when we are caught up in the Spirit, we are no longer thinking of praising the Lord for things, but rather are occupied with the Lord Himself. This worship is born of the Spirit; we cannot produce it. And when we give the Holy Spirit opportunity to really pour forth worship and adoration, it is unto God for who He is in Himself. When we come into adoration, we can no longer say a lot of words, as we do in the realm of praise.

The Spirit often catches us up from the realm of praise into another realm where the Spirit is released and all we can do is move along with the Spirit and express adoration. It is “holy, glory, holy, glory, holy, glory.” We are not merely saying words, but worshipping the Lord for who He is in Himself. He is worthy, for worthy is the Lamb of all glory and adoration.

Our Lord great desires a people to come beyond the realm of praise unto a pure worship that will bring Him into view in all His beauty and power.