You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he” (John 4:22–26).

During Jesus’s conversation with the Samaritan woman, he redirects a long-standing debate about the proper place of worship. The woman is concerned with geography, whether worship should happen on “this mountain” or in Jerusalem, but Jesus takes the conversation deeper as he always does. He moves past ritual, family tradition, and physical location, and speaks directly to the heart. He reveals that how and whom we worship matters far more than where we worship.

Jesus says, “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” This phrase “in spirit and truth” is familiar, but one we can move past too quickly. If this is the kind of worshiper God desires, then we need to understand what Jesus is calling us to. How do we engage our minds, our hearts, and our souls so that we don’t shortchange the Lord of the worship he deserves and requires? Jesus emphasizes that true worshipers will worship this way, and those who worship must worship this way. This is His desire for His people, and we need to take note.

Worship that honors God begins with a heart engaged toward him. Scripture paints a full picture of what that looks like: thankfulness, trust, reverence, repentance, dependence, desire, awe, joy, and obedience. 

• Colossians 3:16 calls us to sing “with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” 
• Proverbs 3:5-6 urges us to trust in the Lord “with all your heart.” 
• Hebrews 12:28 calls us to offer “acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.” 
• Psalm 139 invites us to come in repentance: “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” 
• Psalm 63 reminds us of dependence as the psalmist cries out “my soul clings to you.” 
• Jeremiah 29:13 calls us to pursue God with our whole heart. 
• 1 Kings 18 shows us proper awe of those who fall on their faces, declaring, “The Lord, he is God.” 
• Psalm 84:2 expresses the joy of worship: “My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.” 

And Jesus himself inextricably links love and obedience together, saying in John 14:21, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them… he it is who loves me.”

Jesus also warns of the opposite, worship that is only outward. In Matthew 15:8 He says, “This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” True worship involves the whole person—not simply words spoken, but affections stirred, sins confessed, trust deepened, joy awakened, and obedience lived out.

But worship must not only be heartfelt; it must be grounded in truth. If we say we love and worship the Lord, we must worship him in a way that reflects who he truly is and what he desires. Our worship is not about our preferences but what pleases the Lord. God has revealed himself through his Word so that we would know him rightly, see his worth, and honor him accordingly. 

Scripture tells us:

• He is the Creator and Ruler of all things: “The earth is the Lord’s… for he founded it on the seas” (Psalm 24). 
• He is eternal and self-existent: “The eternal God is your dwelling place” (Deuteronomy 33:27). 
• He is holy: “Who is like you… glorious in holiness?” (Exodus 15:11) and “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:3). 
• He is just: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne” (Psalm 89:14). 
• He is infinitely wise: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Romans 11:33). 
• He is sovereign: “Worthy are you… for you created all things” (Revelation 4:11). 
• He is loving, gracious, and merciful, “ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger” (Nehemiah 9:17).

We can easily drift into shaping God according to our preferences or making him in our own image. But worshiping in truth means allowing scripture, not our assumptions, to define His character, His worthiness, and the ways in which He desires to be worshiped. This is why worship must engage both heart and mind, affections stirred by the Spirit and thoughts anchored in the truth of God’s Word. 

My prayer for us is that a growing closeness to God would be evident and be informed by the truth of God, and that by the Spirit, that truth would stoke a passion in our heart FOR God and would show up in a life of worship TOWARD God.

Paul captures this balance so clearly when he writes, “I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also” (1 Corinthians 14:15). Worship is not mindless passion or passionless doctrine, it is both heart and mind, united in love for God.

John Piper describes this dynamic by saying, “The fuel of worship is the grand truth of a gracious and sovereign God; the fire that makes the fuel burn white hot is the quickening of the Holy Spirit; the furnace made alive and warm by the flame of truth is our renewed spirit; and the resulting heat of our affections is worship.”

Jesus is seeking worshipers who come to him with hearts that are filled with the Spirit and minds fixed on the truth of the living God, people who know him truthfully and love him deeply. Worship that is rooted in scripture and ignited by the Spirit becomes a life lived toward God, not just words sung on a Sunday. May we be those worshipers, men and women of spirit and truth whose whole lives reflect the greatness and glory of the God we serve.