You always prepare for the biggest, most important events in your life. Remember your first date? You gave it focused time and attention, didn’t you? Or that job interview, or that difficult conversation with your boss, your in-laws, or your spouse – you mull it over first and clear time to arrange your words ahead of time. Worshipping God is the greatest, most spectacular event in your life. Listen to how worship is described in Hebrews 12:22-24,
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
We gather in God’s house with a distant view of, but also a present participation in, heavenly worship; we gather with angels as they worship with us (Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalm 68:17; 1 Corinthians 11:10; see also, Revelation 4:8; 5:8-14). We gather with the saints, the firstborn, the chosen, the elect; those who are singing next to us, and also with the perfected believers who worship in heaven. Earthly and heavenly worship are mysteriously united. In worship, we are in the presence of the holy, omnipotent, creator God. We see and hear Jesus in worship. His blood speaks to us. He is the only mediator between God and man. Paul Engle describes it this way, “There is more happening in the worship service than meets the eye. Worship is a supernatural event. As you assemble to lift up praise to God, you are joined by the invisible angelic hosts. Worship is a truly supernatural event. It is a heavenly event” (Discovering the Fullness of Worship, p. 57).
I am seeking to elevate your estimation of Worship so that you will more diligently prepare for it and eagerly participate in it. In worship, heaven and earth are united. In it the breath of heaven and the wisdom of God can lift and heal your heart and mind.
So, how can we better prepare for the monumental experience of worship? Let me give some very practical suggestions:
- Be there. “Ninety percent of life is just showing up,” -Woody Allen. Life is a tug of war for our time, and it pulls us in many, and necessary directions – but none is more important than worship. To know and enjoy God is our created purpose. If we miss or forsake it, we deprive ourselves of the heart of life and the very reason for our existence. So, make worship a priority; your first priority.
- Get some sleep. Droopy eyes make for lazy worship. If you burn the midnight oil on Saturday night you cripple yourself for Lord’s Day blessing.
- Clear the day. Yes, I mean the whole day. A friend once told me, “I work hard Monday through Friday, Saturday I run errands, but Sunday is my day.” On my calendar, it is the Lord’s Day – the whole day! It belongs to the Lord, and He has made it good for us. The Sabbath was made for man, for his benefit and blessing. Do not allow the rest of the week and all your other necessary duties to leak into the Lord’s Day and rob you of its full blessing. Worship, fellowship with God and His people, study the Word of God, read soul-inspiring books, visit the sick and the elderly, pray with a friend. God gives us each 7 days a week and He only asks for, or should I say commands, one in return. Give it to Him; all of it.
- Prepare to Worship. If you walk with God during the week you can run into His arms on the Lord’s Day. The heart of worship is worship from the heart. Fix your eyes upon Jesus – His life, His death, His wisdom, His love, His presence. Read the bulletin ahead of time. Sing the worship hymns in family worship during the week. Listen to a sermon on the text that the pastor is preaching. Read a commentary. But above all, pray. The Old Covenant people of God used to sing Psalms as they approached Jerusalem for the great worship feasts. We can do the same.
- Listen to what God is saying to you in worship. Worship is a dialogue between God and His people. The elements of worship are not optional, haphazard, or unnecessary. They are God speaking and listening to His people. Enter into each element of worship with open ears and a hungry heart and God Himself will feed you. He speaks peace, grace, and blessing to His people throughout worship. Hear Him!
- Listen to the sermon as if God were speaking because He is. Romans 10:14 states, “How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?” Jesus speaks when His Word is faithfully proclaimed. Be engaged, take notes, give heed. God is speaking to His people in a powerful, life-transforming word.
- Sing the hymns. Listen to the words. Feel the passion and power of the truth that they convey. I sometimes listen in stunned and grateful silence as the truth sung penetrates my soul. God, His love and grace, forgiveness, acceptance, and promises for the future are overwhelming. Hear the message of the hymns, make them your own. Sing from the bottom of your toes the truth of God. When we worship, we play to an audience of one. Show God your grateful heart.
- Pray with the prayers. Listen intently and make the offered prayers your own. Be able and willing to give a hearty Amen! (which means: so be it, I agree) at the end of each prayer.
- Receive the Benediction. In the early church, the apostles or elders would lay their hands on the head of each Christian to communicate a parting blessing. Today, the benediction is given with arms raised and it is to be received by the whole congregation. Some, appropriately, receive it with open arms. Also, the benediction is a pronouncement, a donation, of blessing. It is not wishful thinking, nor is it merely a kind request of God – it is God giving His grace and peace to His children.
- Be changed. Exodus 34:29, “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” If you spend time with God, you will shine like His son. The target for our sanctification in this life is to be like Jesus. Worship transforms us into the image of God. Let it. Cooperate with it. We should be different, better, for having been in the presence of God.
So, squeeze all the life that you can out of worship. Prepare for it, be fully engaged with it, and profit from it. Worship is entering into rest. God is fitting and equipping you for the heavenly life. And it will be glorious.