Worship Takes Work II

While there are many practical things a Christian can do in order to prepare a time and place to worship, there are some spiritual things that must me done in order to prepare for worship, too. Recently I've been teaching through the Psalms of Ascent on Sunday night. The Psalms of Ascent are Psalms 120-134. There are several interesting discussions about there origin and purpose and their use. One theory maintains that worshippers coming to the temple utilized these psalms to prepare their hearts to meet with the living God. Tradition holds that the worshipper would stand on one of the fifteen steps and recite one of the psalms. The worshipper would repeat this pattern for all fifteen steps and psalms. If that theory is correct, I would imagine that the worshipper would be ready to worship by the time he got inside the temple. In the same way these worshippers prepared themselves to meet with God, there are some very practical things (and spiritual things) we can do in order to prepare ourselves to meet with God.

Having a time of prayer prior to a worship experience (whether that experience be in a church worship service or in a personal / private time of worship) can be instrumental in helping the worshipper to focus on God. You might think of this as tuning in to God. Each week before our morning Bible study time, we have a time of prayer dedicated to help us prepare to worship. In addition to the prayer time, you might consider singing one or two of your favorite worship songs as on offering to the Lord. Remember, you don't have to be a gifted singer, just a joyful noise maker. Finally, simply making yourself available to the leading of the Holy Spirit prior to and during a worship service makes all the difference in the world. How many times have church goers come to church expecting the same ole thing and never once consider that God might want to do something today? Make sure you're not missing the leading of the Spirit in your worship experiences.