Rick Muchow and I have served God together at Saddleback for many years, and in our ministry we’ve always operated from a very simple definition of worship: It is an expression of our love to God - for who he is, what he’s said, and what he’s doing.

When you understand worship in this way – in its full biblical context – then you can quickly see that there are many appropriate ways to express our love to God: by praying, singing, obeying, trusting, giving, testifying, listening, thanking, and responding to his Word.

Although Rick is a gifted singer, songwriter, and musician, he is a joyful, living reminder that worship is more than music; in fact, worship is more than one part of your life: worship is your life. Rick is a worshipper of God, and he leads us to worship God.

So worship is not just for church services, or limited to certain songs we sing. The Bible teaches us to worship God continually and to “praise him from sunrise to sunset.” We’re to worship God at work, at home, in battle, in jail, and even in bed! Worship should be your first activity when you open your eyes in the morning and your last activity when you close your eyes at night. The Bible says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

How is it possible to do everything to the glory of God? The quick answer to that question is to do everything as if you were doing it for God, but let’s both pray that God will use this book to move you beyond any superficial answer to that question into the depths of living a life in constant worship of your Creator.

God is to be the focus and center of our worship, and anything we do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship. Worship of our Creator should become to us as natural as eating or breathing. In fact, God created us with a natural desire to worship something, and if we fail to worship God, we will inevitably find a sinful substitute.

A lifestyle of worship also moves us beyond the half-hearted and hypocritical worship that is described in Isaiah 29. The Prophet says people were offering God stale prayers, insincere praise, empty words, and man-made rituals without even thinking about what any of it meant. God says of such worship, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.”

Instead, God’s wants worship that bubbles from a heart of love, full of passion and commitment for him, and for that reason, I’ve always believed there is an intimate connection between worship and evangelism. In the first place, the goal of evangelism is to produce worshipers of God. In addition, worship provides the motivation for evangelism. It produces a desire in us to tell others about Christ. The result of Isaiah’s powerful worship experience (Isaiah 6:1-8) was his request: “Here am I, send me!”

In genuine worship God’s presence is felt, God’s pardon is offered, God’s purposes are revealed, and God’s power is displayed. I’ve noticed that when unbelievers watch believers relate to God in an intelligent, sincere manner it creates a desire to know God, too.

And that is why I have been so blessed to have Rick Muchow as my friend and as a partner in ministry. He worships God with genuine joy and each day he is a living example of what it means to be filled with passion and commitment for Jesus. Rick’s enthusiasm and authenticity continually push me toward deeper intimacy with God.

My prayer is that God will use this book as an instrument that pushes you to fully embrace the truth that God wants an intimate and loving relationship with you (Exodus 34:14, NLT). May you love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength as you live according to his purposes.