saltandlight

When you sit down to eat a meal, what do you have to do before you can eat? I’m not talking about saying the blessing although that’s important. I mean, you have had to prepare. You either had to prepare the meal yourself or you had to order the food. Even if someone surprised you with a meal, you go and wash your hands and get ready to eat, right? (I hope! Ha, ha!)

Much like preparing to eat, before we enter into worship with our Savior, we should prepare our hearts and minds for worship. Anything that we do worth while, we have to prepare for it. Preparation for worship is important. You may think that you disagree with me on this, but hear me out….

If you have not been talking to God lately. If you haven’t been in His word. When you attend a church service, how is your worship at the service? Maybe I’m alone in this, but I have a feeling that I’m not. I’ve been there. I’ve gone weeks without picking up my Bible except in a church service. I’ve also gone weeks without spending true time in prayer. The time in prayer that requires more than a few seconds! That prayer time is so important. And when we go too long without it, it’s like being in a desert.

So, when our hearts aren’t prepared ahead of time, the worship won’t feel the same. I’ve had someone say to me recently, “I’ve got to feel it” in a worship service. Well, let me tell you. If you have prepared your heart for worship, you will feel it. If you have not prepared your heart for worship. If you haven’t been in God’s word or at least talked to Him lately, then you are just enjoying the music. There is a difference in emotion and worship. Let me say that again for the people in the back. There is a big difference in an emotional experience and true worship. Don’t go to church for an emotional experience. That is not going to change you. Emotions come and go and change like the wind. An emotional experience will make you feel good at the moment. But it’s not going to change your heart. It’s not going to change you.

Did you know that worship is not just the singing part of each church service? Worship should be a daily part of our lives and in everything we do. In Romans 12:1 Paul says I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

However in a church service, the part of the service that we spend singing and preparing for the message, can be much more fulfilling for us if we have prepared our heart and mind throughout the week.

We prepare for many things. We prepare for work by getting ready and setting up our day. We prepare for a fun day out by planning what we are going to do, where we are going to eat and what time are we planning on leaving and coming back. We prepare so many things in our lives every day. But when it comes to one of the most important things in our life, we just expect it to happen however it happens. That’s not how it works, friend.

I’m going to challenge you this week – it’s Holy Week! The perfect time to start preparing our hearts and our minds. When you step into church on Easter Sunday (it might be the first time you’ve been in a while), but you can come in with a heart ready for true worship! It won’t matter if the church performs a drama, a cantata or just sings hymns. Because it will all feel like worship, when YOUR heart is ready!

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,” Hebrews 12:28

Blessings,

Cheryl