I believe one of the activities a Christian should participate in is worship, but I also believe worship can be a highly variable experience.
It can be either an individual experience or a group event. It can be a highly structured liturgical service or a single person in a stream of consciousness conversation with God. It can be centered on prayer, music, singing, listening, preaching, Bible study, rhythmic movement or any number of other things.
The only thing which is really fundamental to worship is human beings living out their personal relationship with God. God deserves to be worshipped. Humans have an innate need to worship Him. These two factors come together in the moment of worship. In this equation, God never changes. Therefore when the moment doesn’t come together, it isn’t the God side of the equation that is at fault.
Neither is the music, the message, the hardness of the pews, the passage chosen or the temperature of the room. It seems to be a common practice to blame something external when worship is dry or lifeless. But in reality it is always the fault of the individual, not the setting. We have gotten so spoiled by worship leaders taking us into the moment of worship, that we blame them when we fail to worship. Or even worse we have mistaken being entertained with worshipping God.
If this last conjecture is correct, then a lot of people in church, thinking they are worshipping, have never really done so. The reasonable response to this conjecture is to examine yourself in worship, even going back to consider the validity of your initial salvation experience.
Charles W. Short 
I love your statement, “a lot of people in church, thinking they are worshipping, have never really done so.” It’s a sobering thought, but true! We really do need to teach others what worship truly is, and aim for a praise-filled life where every moment becomes an opportunity to worship…
Thanks for commenting John, I am glad you liked the post. I do believe more teaching needs to take place about worship. But after that, and in the long run the hard part is individuals taking personal responsibility for their own walk with Christ.
I strongly believe a big part of the Church’s emerging apathetic view on true worship is the fact it’s not preached on anymore. The worship service has simply become “the music part” of the overall service, and this is because people don’t understand the importance of worship.
When was the last time you heard a sermon on worship?
Worship is not only the Christians act of glorifying a holy God, it is also a means of setting the tone for the rest of the service. It brings the emotional side of the human mind into a proper position to receive what God is delivering through the man of God standing in the pulpit.
Very good article.
Thanks for commenting, and I am glad you liked the article.
We are drawn, oftentimes, to calling worship the music because of how music affects our emotions. This leaves the message, the sacrifice of tithing and the fellowship with other believers to be something less moving and therefore less worshipful.
I think we do better to view every aspect of the service as worship.