When you pray you are inviting God but when you worship you’re involving God.
The indwelling presence of God is given to all who believe. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you?” – 1 Corinthians 3:16.
However, His omni-presence, and the indwelling of His Spirit, does not stop us from longing after the Presence of God. How can we long and hunger for something that is already all around us and dwells within us? When we talk about experiencing the presence of the Lord, we are really talking about the realization of abiding in God’s presence – of being able to perceive His presence and becoming conscious of Him. It is as much as case of increasing our awareness of His presence as it is an increase of His presence itself.
Although God is always with us, it is obvious that there are times when His presence is with us in greater measure, and we experience God’s intimate presence in a greater capacity. The manifest presence of God is what brings power. God’s manifest presence is what changes lives and reveals the glory of God.
One of the major ways we can do this is through worship. By placing ourselves before Him in a place of adoration, we make room for Him, and through focusing our attention on Him, increase our awareness of being in the Presence of God in our lives. Learning how to soak in God’s presence through worship is one of the most valuable things we can do with our time. God has promised that as we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us and we will experience Him with us in ever increasing measures.