Praise and worship. Two different things right? I mean, you can praise in many different ways, but a lot of them would be considered worship right? WRONG! You see, while worship is a form of praise (obviously), they are two separate things. So how can we tell the difference between the two? Let’s take a look at these 20 differences between praise and worship to find out for certain.
20 Differences Between Praise and Worship
Praise and worship are two of the most important parts of a church service, but they’re not quite the same. Here are 20 differences between praise and worship—and how you can use them to make your church experience more meaningful.
Praise is subjective; worship is objective. Praise can involve singing about how you feel about God or Jesus, but worship involves singing about what He has done for us.
Praise is a declaration; worship is a devotion. Praise is often directed toward God or Jesus, while worship is directed toward God alone.
Praise is about me; worship is about him. Praise focuses on your feelings and experiences with God, while worship focuses on Him as a non-personal entity (i.e., “The Father,” “The Son,” etc.).
Praise involves joy; worship involves adoration. Praise can be happy or sad—it depends on what you’re praising—but there’s always an element of joy in it because it’s an expression of gratitude for something good that has happened in your life (or someone else’s).
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20 differences between praise and worship
Praise is the sacrifice of thanksgiving we give to God, with our lips and heart.
Praise is a sacrifice of thanksgiving, which we give to God. We praise God with our lips and heart. When we praise God, we are thanking Him for all He is and for what He has done in our lives. Praise is something we do for God and not something that we get from Him. We also worship our spouses, children, friends, etc., but only God is worthy of praise.
Praise recognizes the goodness of God and His acts in our lives.
Praise is an expression of gratitude to God. Praise is a sacrifice of thanksgiving that acknowledges God’s goodness and recognizes His acts in our lives.
Praise is done while standing, while worship is done while kneeling down before God.
Praising God is done in a standing position, while worship is done in a kneeling position. Praising God involves you standing on your feet and expressing adoration for Him for what He has done. Worship, on the other hand, can be expressed by kneeling down before Him. Worship is more intimate than praise because it involves you being at the foot of His throne to express your love and devotion to Him.
Praise is more appropriate during daytime activities and worship is more appropriate during night time prayers.
While praise can be done anywhere and anytime, worship is more appropriate during night time prayers. But why do we worship God? We do it because He deserves our total devotion, as well as our love. When we worship Him, we acknowledge His worthiness of receiving all the glory and honor. As believers in Christ, we are called to be humble before God and declare Him as our Lord and Savior. Worshiping Him shows that we believe that He is the one who will ultimately rule over us for all eternity.
In my opinion, this is what separates praise from worship: Praise is an expression of our happiness or joy at the fulfillment of something good, while worship is a declaration of our complete dependence on God for fulfilling everything that is good to us.
Praise glorifies the name of God, while worship glorifies the nature of God.
As the previous section explained, worship is an act of humility. Praise, on the other hand, is an act of celebration. We praise God because we are thankful for all he has done for us. We worship God because he is worthy to be worshipped in and of himself. As King David writes in 1 Chronicles 16:28-29: “Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.” In this Psalm, David praises God’s name by describing his greatness and power in detail. Then he commands his people to praise God’s nature by worshipping him with offerings.
Humility brings a person down from their high horse—worship does that for us when it comes to our relationship with God Almighty. The next time you go into your place or house of worship or even into a quiet room at home where you can spend time alone with God, reflect on who he is as well as what he has done for you so that you may truly glorify him by praising him and worshipping him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
Praise is what we do on Sunday, but worship is what we do every day of our lives.
Praise is what we do on Sunday, but worship is what we do every day of our lives. Worship demonstrates that God is the center of our existence. Worship is a lifestyle, not just a song or music. Worship is to be done in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). Praise can be done even when your heart isn’t fully into it. True worship comes from the heart. We should praise God always and not just when others are watching us (1 Corinthians 11:17-18).
Worship music has played an integral role in my spiritual life as I’ve grown up with it in church, but as a college student studying abroad I remember realizing how much more than music worship was to me and how much I had previously taken for granted about the kind of worship culture my home community had nurtured for me over the years. True worship means being close to God and being in His presence, which means more than singing songs on Sunday but instead living in such a way that communicates my love for Him!
Worship can be our personal prayer time to just focus on God.
Worship is our personal prayer time to just focus on God. It is a way to express your love and adoration for Him. Godly worship allows us to enter into His presence. We will have no problem focusing completely on God when we understand the vastness of His love, mercy, and forgiveness toward us.
Meditating on the truths of God’s Word will help us become more aware of His presence throughout our day. The more you focus on God, the more sensitive you will become to His leading in your life and the more light you will be able to shine for Him – even in difficult circumstances.
It is beneficial for us to practice singing or playing instruments as we worship alone with God because it helps strengthen our faith when we are in public worship settings with other believers. When praising or worshiping together with other believers there is a supernatural power that can be released from heaven like a floodgate being opened up!
God wants our hearts in both praise and worship
God wants our hearts in both praise and worship.
He doesn’t want us to just go through the motions of singing and clapping at church, or going through a checklist of songs in our heads as we sing during a corporate worship time. He wants us to always come before Him with our whole hearts, whether that’s on Sunday morning or during a time of personal worship.
He is not pleased when we praise Him from an empty heart–or worse, when we try to use His name for personal gain (Isaiah 29:13). God desires for us to come before Him with pure motives and genuine love.
difference between praise and adoration
Worship is our offering to God of our recognition that He is God. Only God deserves our greatest respect. This respect is shown in Worship. It is difficult to distinguish worship from adoration. Adoration is the expression of our love for God, in both deeds and words. In the context of worship, adoration is the expression of our love for God in a fitting manner of worship, in our attitudes during the worship service, in the method by which we sing and pray, in our attentiveness to the exhortation of the sermon.
Adoration may be offered in settings other than the worship service, but it should be most prominent during the worship service. Adoration is the fulfilling of the greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. NKJV
Praise is the outgrowth of faith, worship, and adoration – as well as of confession. Praise is expressing our love and respect and esteem for God in the form of songs and words.
Psalm 150:2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! NKJV
Psalm 119:164 Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments. NKJV
In the Old Testament, Moses redelivers the law to the Israelites just before the great leader dies and the people cross into the promised land. In delivering this message, Moses provides the source of the greatest commandment, as well as providing a picture of what this commandment should mean in practice.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. NKJV
Why the emphasis? God wants the people to remember and understand that He is their source of daily needs and life itself. He wants them to understand the importance of giving Him the glory and honor. The Psalms reflect this emphasis.
Psalm 100:1-5
1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. NKJV
The last point to remember about our worship of God is that the verses instruct us that worship is about HOW, not where or why. The HOW is to worship God for Who He is, in the manner He has prescribed.
John 4:23-24 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. NKJV