September 17, 2025

Dutch Sheets
Sep 17
5 min read

God is Looking for Companionship - YOURS!

God is misunderstood by many. Perceived as distant, He is often ignored. Considered judgmental and legalistic, He is thought by some to be intimidating and one to steer clear of. And mistakenly thought of by His children as one who likes hearing how great He is, God is praised. Now that I have your attention…

Please don’t misunderstand me. Giving praise to God is obviously good and appropriate. It is our reason for doing so that needs some tweaking. God does not need to be reminded of His greatness or strength. He is not narcissistic, needing to be told how wonderful He is in order to satisfy an inflated ego, nor is He insecure, needing to be reassured that He really is awesome. Some people actually believe that praise motivates God to action in order to demonstrate His power - tell Him He’s great and He will fight for you. Others think He can be bought or manipulated, rewarding us with His presence because our praises have made Him feel good. There are many misguided ideas about praise and worship. The truth is, God neither needs nor is He seeking worship.

He IS, however, seeking worshipers (John 4:23).

The difference is immeasurable. WE ARE the worship. God longs for the singer, not the song. Our heart as a worshiper is what makes our singing worship, not the words and music. He’d rather have a love-filled glance from your eyes than a song parroted from your lips.

When my kids were young and anxiously waited for Daddy to return home from work, they didn’t meet me at the door with a song. They leaped into my arms and gave me a big hug.

When God created us, He made kids not a choir; family members not church members. He wants love, not liturgy. Far too often, our worship is simply a segment of a service, rather than a time to become intimate with Father God. Most church attendees do not understand that God is a lover as well as a Lord. And it was not His “Lord” nature that prompted Him to create us. Had that been God’s desire, He could have made a few billion more angels. It was His “love” nature, His “Abba” heart, that motivated God to create us.

Jesus, who came to earth not only to redeem us but to show us what God is truly like (John 14:9), provided a great glimpse of the Father‘s heart in John, chapter 4. A loose-living, five-time divorced, currently shacked-up, societal outcast met a man interested in her heart, not her body.

Left alone with her at a well while His disciples went looking for food, Jesus first shocked this woman by breaking Jewish protocol and engaging her in conversation. Based on the ensuing dialogue, it seems obvious that He knew her lifestyle from the moment He saw her. It also seems obvious that He intended to change it. "Go, call your husband and come here," He said to her.

“I have no husband,” the woman answered Him.

Then, in His inimitable, supernatural way, Jesus cut to the chase. “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly” (John 4:16-18). The Lord wasn’t saying this to condemn the woman but to get her attention and begin revealing who He actually was. He had seen something more than lust for sensual pleasure when looking into this woman’s soul; He saw a thirsty heart and potential worshiper.

Knowing He would first have to lead her out of the blinding fog of non-relational religion and past the stumbling block of racial division, Jesus ignored her question about where she should worship and went straight to how:

“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain or in Jerusalem will you worship the Father…An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’“ (John 4:21-24)

Jesus went to the heart of the matter, shifting the concept of worship from the place to the person, which was a radical paradigm shift in her day. I’m sure she had never thought about this, and certainly not that God was actually seeking worshipers. “He’d like you to be one” was the obvious invitation.

She was hooked. That God might actually be seeking her companionship was beyond this woman's wildest dreams. How could He possibly want her? But He did. In one moment, her shame was broken, and joy filled her heart. It feels good to be wanted for the right reasons. This new worshiper was so excited, she ran and told her village about Jesus, and they, too, ended up believing in Him.

Jesus was too excited to eat!

When the disciples returned, they were amazed that He was speaking with this immoral woman. Jesus was impervious to their shock, however, and completely unconcerned about His reputation. His excitement about transforming lives and finding true worshipers was far greater than any concern over His reputation. On one occasion, He actually allowed a prostitute to enter a person’s home and, while they ate, bathe His feet with her tears (Luke 7:36-50). In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees wouldn’t eat with “sinners” or allow them into their homes (Mark 2:16).

Awkward!

But not to Jesus. He was on a search for true worshipers, and their pasts weren’t an issue with Him, only their hearts.

Christ is still seeking true worshipers today. If the God you’ve been shown is distant, uncaring, stoic, or enamored with Himself, you've been duped. The true God is passionate, caring, a lover of people, and a seeker of companionship – yours.(1)

Pray with me:

Father, there are many “outcasts” You will draw to Yourself in the coming revival. You are not shocked by people’s sin, their past. And You do not find it difficult to welcome them into Your family. Keep us reminded of this as we represent You. Help us to see hearts, not the outer shell.

And help us make the coming movement a “worshiper” movement. We love to sing, to speak of Your greatness, Your power, Your love, and this is good. Remind us, however, that only when this emanates from the heart does it become true worship and bring You pleasure. Remind us that You are seeking the worshiper, not acclaim. It’s love from Your kids that brings You joy, not flattery; relationship, not religion.

Tens of thousands are now going to churches trying to find You. Please lead them in this process. Keep them from stale religion, legalism, and traditionalism; lead them to passion, fire, and intimacy with You. Help them find places where they won’t be judged for their past, but loved and accepted. Satisfy their hungry hearts. All of this we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our decree:

We decree that, like the woman at the well, the thirsty are finding their way to the river of living water.

Today’s post was taken from my book, The Pleasure of His Company.

Click on the link below to watch the full video.