Worship Takes Work

Each week I spend a considerable amount of time with our music guy planning the worship service at the church. We give every aspect of the service attention because we want everything we do to please God and to invite others into God's presence. It takes a great deal of time and energy to plan the services each week, but the investment is well worth the sweat when Sunday rolls around. When we've sought the Lord and allowed his Spirit to guide us in all that we plan, there is a special anointing that comes when the actual service begins to unfold. We have seen God do some extraordinary things that I think would have been impaired had we not planned and sought the Lord in advance.

In the same way we give time and energy to the worship service each week, every Christian who desires to live in the presence of God must give some attention to the work of worship. Let me share some practical things that must be done in order to worship God on a regular basis. First, you have to dedicate yourself to meeting with the Lord on a regular basis and that means scheduling time to worship. The important will always give way to the urgent and the problem is that most of us see everything as urgent and neglect what is important. Set a time and stick to it. Pick a place where you can meet with the Lord. It is good to go on retreats and into the remote desert places where you can meet with God, but it will be rare that you'll be able to drop what you're doing everyday to run up to the smokey mountains to meet with God. Pick a place in your home or yard and go there regularly to meet with the Lord. Just a couple of more things. If you like music, take along some of your favorite worship music and sing it to the Lord. Take it along and listen to it while you meditate on the Word. Always take your Bible. It is in the Word that God reveals himself and it is in his presence that you worship. Take the time, make the investment and do the work that is necessary for worship. Blessings!