Lesson 6: In Spirit and in Truth, part 1
John 4:23-24 - 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.
These words of Jesus to the woman of Samaria are His first recorded teaching on the subject of prayer. They give us some wonderful first glimpses into the world of prayer. The Father seeks worshippers: our worship satisfies His loving heart and is a joy to Him. He seeks “true worshippers,” but does not find many as He would have them. True worship is that which is in spirit and truth. The Son has come to open the way for this worship in spirit and in truth, and to teach it to us. And so one of our first lessons in the school of prayer must be to understand what it is to pray in spirit and in truth, and to know how we can attain to it.
To the woman of Samaria our Lord spoke of a threefold worship. There is, first, the ignorant worship of the Samaritans: “You worship what you do not know.” The second, the intelligent worship of the Jew, having the true knowledge of God: “We worship what we know; for salvation is of the Jews.” And then the new, the spiritual worship which He Himself has come to introduce: “The hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”
From the connection it is evident that the words “in spirit and truth” do not mean, as is often thought, earnestly, from the heart, in sincerity. The Samaritans had the five books of Moses and some knowledge of God; there was doubtless more than one among them who honestly and earnestly sought God in prayer. The Jews had the true full revelation of God in His word, as thus far given; there were among them godly men, who called upon God with their whole heart. And yet not “in spirit and truth,” in the full meaning of the words. Jesus says, “The hour is coming, and is now here.” It is only in and through Him that the worship of God will be in spirit and truth.
Among Christians one still finds the three classes of worshippers. Some who in their ignorance hardly know what they ask: they pray earnestly, and yet receive so little. There are others, who have more correct knowledge, who try to pray with all their mind and heart, and often pray most earnestly, and yet do not attain to the full blessedness of worship in spirit and truth. It is into this third class we must ask our Lord Jesus to take us; we must be taught by Him how to worship in spirit and truth. This alone is spiritual worship; this makes us worshipers such as the Father seeks. In prayer everything will depend on our understanding well and practicing the worship in spirit and truth.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I want to become a true worshiper of You. Help me to learn what it means to worship in spirit and in truth.