Learned Praise and True Praise

Last night my church had the Enlighteners come to sing. The Enlighteners is two blind ladies who have travelled for the last 34 years sharing God's message through song. They were good vocally, but I was more impressed with their spirit of praise. You could tell they meant every word from their hearts, and they truly loved the God they were singing about.
When I was around 8 or 9 years old, I remember how a boy at our church named Matthew would copy everything that his dad would do. He walked like him, talked like him, everything. But the funniest thing would be that when his dad would say "Amen" Matthew would come behind him with an equally hearty "Amen." And if his dad raised his hand, Matthew would raise his hand as well. It was cute, but it wasn't true worship. It was Matthew mimicking his dad's worship.
Well, last night I believe I saw true worship. See both of these ladies would raise their hands in praise during their songs, and I started thinking about it. That is not something that either of these ladies have ever SEEN anyone else do. They just do it. It is just in their hearts to lift their hands to God in praise.
I pray that my worship will ever be true as well. I don't want my praise to simply be something I do because I see others worshipping. I want it to be something that comes from a heart that loves the Lord.