True Worship

Worship is the one way of  intimacy with God our loving father 

This I found and I believe that we need to follow this.....

this is from the book called: Plans - Purposes - Pursuits 

 by Br. KENNETH E HAGIN

CHAPTER 6

A Change in the Order of Worship

 As I stated previously, God is always moving forward. His plan is a progressive plan. As we study the Bible, we see God's plan being gradually unveiled, beginning in the Old Testament and increasing in clarity and fullness until the end of the New Testament. This is a truth that the majority of Bible scholars accept. For example, we see types and shadows of a promised Redeemer throughout the Old Testament. However, it is not until the gospels of the New Testament that Jesus of Nazareth is unveiled as the fulfillment of those Old Testament types and shadows. And the fullest understanding of His death and resurrection is not realized until we get over into the Epistles. I said all that to say this: In the visitation of July 1987, Jesus showed me something about the progression of worship from the Old Testament to the New Testament. He directed me to John chapter 4:

 JOHN 4:23,24 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

John chapter 4 relates that Jesus was passing 87 Plans, Purposes and Pursuits through Samaria when he stopped at Jacob's well in Sychar. When one of the women of the city came to the well to draw water, Jesus asked her for a drink. 

JOHN 4:9 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

 Samaritans were half-breed Jews. Aside from the racial differences between Jews and Samaritans, there were differences regarding the worship of God. Both groups worshipped God, but they worshipped in different places. In the course of Jesus' conversation with the woman at Sychar, she asked Him about a key issue which separated the Samaritans from the Jews in religious worship: "... Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship" (John 4:19,20). When the woman said, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain ...," she was referring to Mount Gerizim, a mountain significant in the worship of God throughout the first five books of the Old Testament. The Samaritans believed that Mount Gerizim was the proper place to worship, and this was where the Samaritans were worshipping during the time of Jesus' earthly ministry. However, the Jews had designated Jerusalem as the place to worship God. This designation was made after the temple was built there and the Shekinah Glory of God appeared in the temple. It was a requirement that every Jewish male, thirty years and older, had to present himself before God at the temple in Jerusalem 88 A Change in the Order of Worship at least once a year. Therefore, during Jesus' earthly ministry the Jews went to Jerusalem to worship God. The woman at the well, perceiving that Jesus could speak with authority, wanted Him to tell her where the proper place of worship should be. Jesus' answer revealed to her that neither the Samaritans nor the Jews were right because the order of worship was changing. 

JOHN 4:21-24 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Jesus said to me in the visitation, "Really, in so many words, she asked me, 'Who is right? The Samaritans or the Jews?' And in so many words, I answered her, 'Neither is right. Because the time is coming and now is, that they that worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.'" 

The time had not been right to worship in Spirit and in truth before the ministry of Jesus. In fact, the Old Testament saints couldn't worship God in Spirit because they didn't know the Spirit of God as we do. Only the king, the priest, the prophet, or someone especially called by God to perform a certain task, had the Presence of God upon them or with them. The 89 Plans, Purposes and Pursuits prophet, priest, and king had an anointing from God that came upon them to stand in those offices. Anytime God called someone else to do a certain work, an anointing of the Spirit came upon them to perform that task. None of those we might term "the laity" had the Spirit of God upon them or in them. And not one of the anointings in the Old Testament was the same thing that occurs under the New Testament when people are born again and have the Spirit of God dwelling on the inside of them. In the Old Testament, those who believed in God did not have God's Presence abiding within them. That is why they had to present themselves in Jerusalem where God's Presence was. The temple in Jerusalem was God's house where His Presence dwelled. But in the New Testament, we are God's house: believers are the temple of God. God's Spirit lives in us individually, and He lives in the Body of Christ collectively! Jesus pointed the Samaritan woman to a new time —to a new age in the order of worship. It would be an age where saints would be able to worship God in Spirit and in truth because the Spirit of God would be living on the inside of them! Jesus Himself was ushering in that new order of worship. By His reply, Jesus indicated to the woman that because of what God was wanting to do in that hour, He was not putting His approval on the way either Jews or Samaritans worshipped God. Spiritually speaking, the time had come for a change in the way God's people worshipped Him. It was time for the way man worshipped God to change from Old Covenant to New Covenant. Jesus was ushering in a New Covenant and a new way of worship. The time had come for man to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit so he could worship God in 90 A Change in the Order of Worship the Spirit. Even in natural life, there comes a time when things change. In your own life, weren't there times when things changed for you? For example, when you got married, didn't things change in your life? When your first child was born, things changed, didn't they? There comes a time for change, both in the natural realm and in the spiritual realm. Certainly a change as dramatic as the change between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant would affect the way man related to and worshipped God. Jesus said to the woman, "... the TRUE WORSHIPPERS shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him" (John 4:23). What God is seeking in the dispensation of the New Testament is true worshippers. We can't go back to the Old Testament and worship God like they did and be true worshippers. We can't go back to the Old Testament and carry on our services like they did and be true worshippers. No, Jesus said, "... the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth ..." (v. 23). Yes, people in the Old Testament worshipped God in all the fullness they could under the Old Covenant, but we have a New Covenant—we can worship God in Spirit and in truth! You find expressions in the Old Testament where people worshipped before the Lord and worshipped with all their might. That's because their worship was in the flesh only—they didn't have the Spirit. They couldn't worship in the Spirit or in the Lord; they could only worship before the Lord. They couldn't worship in the power and might of the Holy Spirit; they could only 91 Plans, Purposes and Pursuits Worship with all their might. In order to be a true worshipper of God who is a Spirit, we must worship in the Spirit! Under the New Covenant, everything we do in worship must be in the Spirit. We should not try to go back under the Old Covenant and worship like they did. People under the Old Covenant were spiritually dead— they had not been born again. The salvation of the Old Testament saints was not complete until Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. We who are born again should worship as those who are alive unto God! We should worship in the power of His Spirit! "You won't worship God like your forefathers did in this mountain," is what Jesus was saying to the woman at the well. "And neither will you worship Him like the Jews have worshipped Him heretofore in Jerusalem. Now, the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth." The order of worship has changed from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. In order to be true worshippers living under the New Covenant, we must follow the New Covenant order of worshipping in the Spirit.