External = Temporary; Internal = Eternal

Let's take a look at the story of the woman at the well in John 4.

"Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?" for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Jesus answered and said unto her, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."
The woman saith unto him, "Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?"
Jesus answered and said unto her, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

She was completely focused on everything external. Jesus was turning her to the spiritual, the internal.

The woman saith unto him, "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw."

She's not taking Jesus seriously. I think she thinks Jesus is joking with her!

Jesus saith unto her, "Go, call thy husband, and come hither."
The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."
Jesus said unto her, "Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly."
The woman saith unto him, "Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet."

He says for her to go get her man, and she says she doesn't have a man. Basically, Jesus tells her he knows she's sleeping with all kinds of men, and not only that but she's sleeping with men she knows are married! I think she thought she was very successful in keeping this a secret, which is why she was so shocked. "How did you know?"

So she asks him what she thinks is a challenging question:

"Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."

Jesus saith unto her, "Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth."

Jesus is telling her that all this external stuff is not what God is interested in. The seeking out of God must be done internally, spiritually!

The woman saith unto him, "I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things."
Jesus saith unto her, "I that speak unto thee am [he]."

And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, "What seekest thou?" or, "Why talkest thou with her?"

[But you can bet they were scandalized!]

The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?"
Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, "Master, eat."
But he said unto them, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of."
Therefore said the disciples one to another, "Hath any man brought him [ought] to eat?"

It seems everyone was so wrapped up in external things and not the spiritual. But you can see that the woman is letting go of external things, in that she left her waterpot. It wasn't so important anymore!

Jesus saith unto them, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and [then] cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours."

Let me point out here that Jesus was intensely focused on the job at hand. He was not calling for worshipers, but rather he was trying to get the message out of sustenance to be had. Jesus is all action.
You would think that turning attention to the spiritual, internal life would lead to inaction wouldn't you? Contemplation leading to 'analysis paralysis'? This is what is meant (in James 2) by, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Faith that springs from the inside out shows itself as energy. Faith is not something external, but it shows itself externally, like the light of a city on a hill.

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, "He told me all that ever I did."

I think that this woman was a grand woman, known in her community for her kindness. Otherwise, how else do you explain the effect of her testimony on her community? She was a respectable woman externally.

So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard [him] ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world."

I want to point out here the phrase "Christ, the Saviour of the world." The title 'Christ' is not Jesus' name. It's his title. Why is this important? Because it speaks of his mission, his job, his function. It's a transliteration of a Greek word that is the equivalent of the Jewish word for 'messiah' and it means 'leader'. There is a distinction between God, who is WORSHIPED, and Jesus, who is FOLLOWED. Jesus never asked us to pray to him or to worship him, but to follow him.

I apologize for this being a larger than normal post, but I didn't feel right cutting such a great story in half. There is sustenance here!