Ready or Not, Worship!

Worship by far is one of the most powerful things that we do at Horizons.  There is no other setting in which we gather in large numbers, all begin walking down the same path together, and find ourselves, at the end, completely enveloped by God's spirit, God's word, God's redemption, and God's new life for us.  Missing worship is like missing the soul's weekly feast.

Yet, I know, from experience and from visiting with others, that even when we DO attend worship, there are times when we still feel like we missed the worship.  Our minds are still cruising, thinking about work, the mad rush we had to make with the kids under-arm, the last exchange of words we had with our spouse or youth before rushing out of the car, the soccer schedule for the afternoon, the meal schedule, the dog, the neighbor's dog, the funny crease in the pastor's shirt, the overly "amped up" worshipers in front of you...  None of that magically goes away upon entering the building.

Furthermore, there are always those songs, messages, scripture texts, or series that we feel just aren't grabbing us.  Perhaps they don't make sense.  Perhaps we're not too fond of the particular focus or scripture, or we're feeling convicted.

Regardless of what combination of the above, the worship experience can be difficult to get into on Sunday mornings.

Although not one of us immune to worship interference, there are steps we can take to help us get ready for truly life-impacting worship:

1. Know ahead of time what the topic, title, and scripture is.  Every Monday, a preview is available on the website of the week to come including short thoughts and scripture.
2. Know the scripture.  Take time at some point during the week to read the scripture.  You'll know what to expect, and you'll also begin to see your own curiosities grow about what God has to say to you.  You may even want to write some thoughts down that will help you focus.
3. Get up a little before the kids (or simply earlier than what time normally leaves you rushing), and take a moment to wake up to the morning.  A prayer that I always find helpful, even as a pastor, is "God, this is YOUR day.  You know that I feel like I'm drowning in some parts of my life, but let me give all that to you today so that I can see how you wish to pull me out of the water."  
4. Pray as you enter the worship center that you can be fully present and that your worship will honor God.  Ultimately, although we believe that God clearly intended that part of worship be our learning and receiving new life for the day and week, we must remember that our worship is mostly about honoring, exalting, and glorifying God.  If we start there, with God first, we often find that God finds open places in our hearts to respond to our worship.  My prayer before worship is often similar to this, "Lord, let everything else in my life fall away today.  Right now, nothing else matters but who you are.  Let me remember who you are, witness what you have done, and celebrate what you wish to do with and in my life."  

Let these simple steps be the beginning of a whole new experience of worship for you.  Enjoy!

More to come!

Jason <><