Preparing for the worship service

My Sunday morning worship begins on Saturday evening at 5:00 P.M.

Let me explain.

I want to give God my best.  I want to worship God with the best attitude I have, the best physical awareness that I have, the best condition that I can be in.

For years, people in church life have talked about "dressing their best" on Sundays in order to worship God.

And yet, on the inside they are far from being prepared to engage God in worship.

Some will spend 45 minutes pampering their bodies in preparation to "look good" for Sunday's service, but not spend 45 seconds in preparing their hearts for God.

Here's what I know:  Good worship takes planning.

Planning.

Planning works.

If I told you that you had the opportunity to meet your favorite celebrity or political figure at 8:00 A.M. tomorrow morning in downtown Chicago - you probably wouldn't sleep much the night before, you would get up early and prepare yourself and not only arrive on time but arrive early.

Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that every Sunday morning, we have an appointment to meet with the creator of the universe!

God.  God himself!

Some people come to a worship service prepared.  Others come preoccupied.

They fail to realize the potential that is present in a service.

Oh, at work they arrive early and are consummately prepared.  They remain on task.  Overtime is no problem.

They made be overheard saying, "Let's close the deal - no matter what it takes!"

Yet that same person will somehow compartmentalize an encounter with God, shoving it into a lesser category.

"If I'm there, okay, but my priority - indeed, my identity is my work (or my family, or sports, or shopping, etc)."

But what is more important? 

Your job is temporary - your worship is eternal. 

Old Testament priests came to worship prepared.

New Testament priest came to worship prepared.

Perhaps we should run with the comparison of work and worship.

Perhaps we should use the same values for worship that we do for work.

Arrive at work on time - arrive at worship on time.

Come to meetings prepared - come to worship prepared - spiritually, mentally and physically.

Speak articulately - praise and worship with common sense.

Defer to the supervisor - defer to the worship team/leader.

Be cognizant of the needs of those with whom you work - be aware of the needs of fellows worshippers.

Give your full time, honestly, knowing it will be rewarded - seek after God, knowing that he rewards those who diligently seek him.

Numbers 3:10 tells us, "Appoint Aaron and his sons to served as priests; anyone else who approaches the sanctuary must be put to death."

Preparation for worship sounds very serious here to me.

Tradition tells us that they would put bells on a rope, tied to the ankle of the High Priest as he entered into the holy of holies - in case of a sudden death if the High Priest entered into the presence of the Lord in an unworthy manner - they could drag him out with the rope.

Even in the New Testament, Ananias and Sapphira were struck down, dead, because they came to worship with impure hearts.

In the New Testament, believers were all considered priests, living stones, a holy nation (1 Peter 2:5,9) - in order to declare the praises of him who call you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

In Christ, we have authority.  Christ's authority in us.

However, this authority if only fully implemented in the spirit of praiseful worship, as we exercise the office of "priests."

Worship is the foundation to kingdom advance in your life.

The power of the believer before God's throne, worshipping the Lamb and exalting in the Holy Spirit of praise, is powerful in overcoming the enemy.

Through praise and worship - I am an overcomer.

When we enter into a worship service; our hearts should be pure.  Forgiveness should have been given, sins confessed, our bodies presented as a "living sacrifice to God."  Romans 12:1,2.

The things of this world must be put aside.  Distractions are to be laid down. 

And when we do that, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3, that there is liberty - which leads to transformation. 

Don't miss that principle:  Liberty leads to transformation.

That's where the sacrifice of praise comes in.  The word sacrifice means to "kill, slaughter for a purpose."

Praise often requires that we "kill" our pride, fear or sloth - anything that threatens to diminish or interferes with our worship of the Lord.

Our focus should only be on Christ!

Here's what I am saying - in every worship experience, we must embrace our personal responsibility as priests.

We must plan in advance - we must arrive early with a distinct frame of mind in place that will release the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Your preparation for worship is just as important as those who are leading worship. 

So, whether you are up or down - praise God.  Psalms 150 tells us that everything that has breath - and I assume you are breathing as you read this, praise the Lord - at all times (Psalms 34:1)

Here are some practical ways of preparing for Sunday worship:

Get a good night's rest before a worship event.  Watch what you watch on Saturday evenings - "garbage in - garbage out."

Who wants carnal images distracting their focus during a worship set?

Prepared your heart.

Pray in advance.  Lift up the arms of the worship team/leaders.  Ask for the Lord's presence and blessing upon the gathering.  I must say this at this point:  As you come to the church, or as you stand in the foyer, or even as your stand in a worship experience and are criticizing the worship either verbally or in your heart, you create walls or barriers around the worship team, whereby it is very, very difficult for them to experience and lead the rest of us into the presence of God Lord.

It is like the critical "worshipper" is putting a "ball and chain" around those leading us, whereby they are in the prison of a bound spirit - that takes time and effort to break out of!

Sanctify your drive.  Instead of daydreaming or arguing, build an altar in your car.  Play worship music.  Pray on sentence prayers.

Be a self-starter.  Don't wait for someone else to stimulate your worship response - but proactively assume that responsibility!

That is the essence of maturity - accepting responsibility for your behavior.

Pastor James tells us (4:8-10) to cleanse our hands, purify our hearts and to walk in humility as we draw near to God - and He will draw near to us.

Finally, if you are like me - you come to any worship set with worries. 

Worries from this world - worries from the day.

The word "worry" in the New Testament denotes distractions, anxieties and burdens.  It means to "divide the mind."  It means to live with a divided mind.

However, even there, we can worship or we can worry.  It is more than ironic that in the midst of our worries, if we worship, our worries will vanish!

During your worship experienced, "cast all of your cares upon Christ" (I Peter 5:7), "because he really does care for you."

What are other common hurdles to worship?

Pride.  An arrogant spirit.  A spirit that says I can come in to a worship time any time I want to.  A spirit that tries to draw attention to itself.  A spirit that is constantly criticizing those who are leading in worship or worshipping around them.  Pride objects to open, expressive praise.  It rejects the notion that people can be free in the spirit, taking the scripture, "all things are to be done decently and in order," out of context.

Peer Pressure.  The opinions of others.  Being intimidated by others, as far as  "whether or not I will express myself in worship."

"What will they think if I express myself openly."

Or, "what if I cry, what if I show some kind of emotion, they will think I did something wrong."

Let me ask you this:  By whom do you want to be controlled?  The opinions of others or the spirit of God?

Preoccupation.

This is what we have been talking about this entire blog.  Not being prepared.  Working through problems at home or at work while  you are worshipping.  Counting the ceiling tiles.  Noticing Suzy or Joe's hair style.  Taking note of what Sally and Bob are wearing.

As at work - we must remain on task in our worship.

1 Peter 1:13 states, "prepare your minds for action (worship)...."

It all comes down to preparation.