1 Samuel 1:3 (NKJV)

“This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.”

You cannot truly worship if you don’t rise up. You cannot stay where you are and how you are and worship the Almighty God. In this age of easy worship, we have come to extend the meaning of “worshipping in spirit and truth” to mean worshipping as you are. True worship demands a rising up. True worship requires a shift in current status. True worship expects the worshipper to make an effort different from the normal flow of things.

Elkanah needed to “go up” from his city every year to worship the Lord of hosts. He may have offered some small forms of worship in his city, but there was a time when it was compulsory to leave his city and the comfort of his surroundings and go to worship God. Whether it means leaving your bed or your chair or your office or your house, let your time of worship require and demand you move from the normal. There’s the simple daily worship of silent prayers of the heart, but there is the worship of the Lord of hosts that requires our full attention and compels us to give Him the focus He deserves. Rise up to worship.

“Lord, I have failed to rise up in worship because I was often unwilling to pay the price of worship. But now Lord, I ask for the strength to rise up and give You the unreserved attention that You deserve, in the place of worship. Amen.”