Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something.

Evelyn Underhill (2001) defines worship thus: "The absolute acknowledgment of all that lies beyond us—the glory that fills heaven and earth. It is the response that conscious beings make to their Creator, to the Eternal Reality from which they came forth; to God, however they may think of Him or recognize Him, and whether He be realized through religion, through nature, through history, through science, art, or human life and character." Worship asserts the reality of its object and defines its meaning by reference to it.

An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, or by a designated leader.

In the New Testament various words are used for worship. The word proskuneo "to worship" means to bow down to Gods or kings.

Catholicism, Anglicanism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Eastern Orthodoxy make a technical distinction between adoration or latria (Latin adoratio, Greek latreia, [λατρεια]), which is due to God alone, and veneration or dulia (Latin veneratio, Greek douleia [δουλεια]), which may be lawfully offered to the saints. The external acts of veneration resemble those of worship, but differ in their object and intent. Protestant Christians, who reject the veneration of saints, question whether such a distinction is always maintained in actual devotional practice, especially at the level of folk religion.

Christopher Dwayne "Chris" Tomlin (born May 4, 1972) is an American Christian Contemporary Music artist, worship leader, and songwriter from Grand Saline, Texas, United States. He was a staff member at Austin Stone Community Church and is signed to EMI's sixstepsrecords. Tomlin leads worship at many Passion events. Some of his most well-known songs are "How Great Is Our God", "Jesus Messiah", "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)", and the recent song "Our God" which he co-wrote with Matt Redman, Jesse Reeves and Jonas Myrin. He is currently a worship leader at Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia with Louie Giglio and Christy Nockels.

He was awarded Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2006, 2007, 2008 GMA Dove Awards, and Grammy Award Winner for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album in 2012. He was named Artist of the Year in 2007. Tomlin released his seventh studio album, And If Our God Is for Us..., on November 16, 2010. He is one of the members of CompassionArt, a charity founded by Martin Smith (and Smith's wife, Anna) of the band Delirious?.

Matt Redman (born 14 February 1974) is an English Christian worship leader, songwriter and author based in Brighton.

He has worked with Newfrontiers, Passion Conferences, Hillsong London, Soul Survivor, is an artist for Sixstepsrecords and is a member of Compassionart a charity founded by Martin Smith.

He appeared with Hillsong London for a song on their 2005 album Jesus Is; he co-wrote and sang the song "Greatest Gift".

Many Contemporary Christian music (CCM) artists such as Matt Maher, Michael W. Smith, Rebecca St. James, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, Tree63, and Hillsong United have covered a number of Redman's songs. Some of his most popular early songs include "Heart Of Worship", "Let Everything That Has Breath", "Once Again", "Undignified", and "Better Is One Day". More recently he has co-written songs like You Never Let Go, the 2005 Dove Award-winning "Blessed Be Your Name" (Worship Song of the Year) and the Grammy Award nominated "Our God". He regularly works alongside other Christian artists such as Chris Tomlin and Tim Hughes.

Jeremy M. Riddle (born October 18, 1977 in Mount Holly Township, New Jersey) is a Christian musician, songwriter, and worship leader. On March 6, 2007, his debut album, Full Attention, was released. The album includes the song "Sweetly Broken."

Riddle is a former middle school youth pastor at the Anaheim Vineyard in Anaheim, California, a position he held for 6 years, as well as leading worship at the church. He took the position after a few years of playing in a mainstream band. Being in the position allowed for the inspiration with which he penned the songs that appear on Full Attention.

Riddle is married to Katie, and has five children. They reside in Redding, California.

Full Attention peaked the Billboard Top Christian and Gospel Albums Chart at #47, and the only single released from the album, "Sweetly Broken", peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Chart during a 20-week stay. However, the single has already grown to be a worship staple in churches and on Christian radio stations all over the United States.

The International House of Prayer (also known by its acronym IHOP or by IHOP–KC) is an evangelical charismatic Christian missions organization based in Kansas City and Grandview, Missouri that focuses on prayer, worship, and evangelism.

Doctrinally, IHOP–KC is evangelical, post-tribulational, and affirms historic premillennialism. IHOP-KC places great importance on the practices of prayer, worship, fasting, and discipleship.

IHOP–KC has a prayer room in Kansas City, Missouri and runs a Bible and ministry school called the International House of Prayer University (IHOPU) in nearby Grandview, Missouri.

The International House of Prayer was founded by Mike Bickle. The organization began in a small building off of Grandview Road in Kansas City, Missouri as a prayer room dedicated to worshiping Jesus night and day. Since that time, IHOP has grown and spread out over several different locations throughout south Kansas City and Grandview, Missouri. As of November 2010^[update] the church had over 1,000 staff and a student body of another 1,000 individuals. IHOP is most well-known for its daily prayer meetings based on its "harp and bowl" worship model that are held 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year since September 19, 1999. While the prayer meeting is the primary ministry of IHOP, the missions organization has also established many different ministries that service its community. These prayer meetings, which are streamed live on the internet and through GOD TV, alternate regularly between music and prayer through all hours of the day and night.