John 4:23

The Passion Translation

From now on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with a right heart. For God is a Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshipers who adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.”

Cross References

Psalm 147:11

Yahweh shows favor to those who fear him, those who wait for his tender embrace.

Psalm 17:1

Listen to me, Lord. Hear the passionate prayer of this honest man. My cause is just and my need is real. I’ve done what’s right and my lips speak truth.

Psalm 32:2

What bliss belongs to those who have confessed their corruption to God! For he wipes their slates clean and removes hypocrisy from their hearts.

Psalm 51:6

I know that you delight to set your truth deep in my spirit. So come into the hidden places of my heart and teach me wisdom.

Proverbs 15:8

It is despicable to the Lord when people use the worship of the Almighty as a cloak for their sin, but every prayer of the righteous is pleasing to his heart.

Song of Solomon 2:14

For you are my dove, hidden in the split-open rock. It was I who took you and hid you up high in the secret stairway of the sky. Let me see your radiant face and hear your sweet voice. How beautiful your eyes of worship and lovely your voice in prayer.

Isaiah 10:20

In that day, neither the remnant of Israel nor the survivors of the house of Jacob will lean anymore upon the one who abused them, but they will lean fully on the faithfulness of the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 29:13

This is what the Lord says about these people: “They come near to me with hollow words and honor me superficially with their lips; all the while their hearts run far away from me! Their worship is nothing more than man-made rules.

Isaiah 43:21

so that you, whom I have shaped and formed for myself, will proclaim my praise.

Isaiah 58:2

Yes, daily they seem to seek me, pretending that they delight to know my ways, as though they were a nation that does what is right and had not rejected the law of their God. They ask me to show them the right way, acting as though they are eager to be close to me.

Jeremiah 3:10

Even after all this, Israel’s treacherous sister, Judah, refused to return to me with her whole heart; instead, she came with only deceitful lies,” declared Yahweh.

Jeremiah 4:2

If you make a promise in my name, saying, ‘As surely as Yahweh lives’ with truth, honesty, and integrity, then all other nations will desire his blessing and prosperity. They will shine and make their boast in me.”

Ezekiel 22:30

“I searched for someone who would repair the wall, one who fills the gap, an intercessor to cry out for mercy, but I found no one. There was no one found who would keep my justice from destroying the nation.

John 1:17

Moses gave us the Law, but Jesus, the Anointed One, unveils truth wrapped in tender mercy.

John 12:23

He replied to them, “Now is the time for the Son of Man to be glorified.

John 16:2

For you will be excommunicated from the synagogues, and a time is coming when you will be put to death by misguided ones who will presume to be doing God a great service by putting you to death.

John 16:32

And the time has come when you will all be scattered, and each one of you will go your own way, leaving me alone! Yet I am never alone, for the Father is always with me.

John 4:21

“Believe me, dear woman, the time has come when you will worship the Father neither on a mountain nor in Jerusalem, but in your heart.

John 5:25

“I speak to you an eternal truth: Soon the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will arise with life!

John 5:28

“Don’t be amazed when I tell you these things, for there is a day coming when everyone who has ever died will hear my voice calling them back to life,

Romans 1:9

And God knows that I pray for you continually and at all times. For I serve and worship him with my spirit in the gospel of his Son.

Romans 8:15

And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,” enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father!”

Romans 8:26

And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words.

Galatians 4:6

And so that we would know that we are his true children, God released the Spirit of Sonship into our hearts—moving us to cry out intimately, “My Father! My true Father!”

Philippians 3:3

For we have already experienced “heart-circumcision,” and we worship God in the power and freedom of the Holy Spirit, not in laws and religious duties. We are those who boast in what Jesus Christ has done, and not in what we can accomplish in our own strength.

Joshua 24:14

“Now therefore, worship Yahweh with holy awe and serve him in authentic love and loyalty. Remove from your hearts every false god to whom your fathers bowed down beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt and serve Yahweh.

1 Peter 2:9

But you are God’s chosen treasure —priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.