photo credit: mhartford

I've made a big deal during my years of blogging about worship being much more than just the music we sing on Sunday mornings. I've often used the buzzword of "lifestyle" in relation to what worship could and should be in our lives (not to contradict Rich and his Worship Mythbusters).

Whatever the language you use, the whole point is to view worship of the Lord as an integral part of your daily life, not just something tacked onto the beginning of our weekly corporate celebrations. The truth of the matter is that we will likely not give true and authentic worship during the corporate gathering if we have not been worshiping privately throughout the week.

Here are some practical things we can all do to point our hearts in the right direction for corporate worship. While these practices do not guarantee worship, they can help facilitate the heart and mind necessary for worship to occur, and you may just find yourself worshiping in the middle of your hectic week.

1. Keep a short leash on sin. Confession and repentance are paramount in our relationship with the Father. Unconfessed sin is the greatest impediment to worship. Spend quiet time in prayer and meditation with the Spirit, and let him guide you by pointing out possible blind spots in your character. Even if you have somehow forgotten about sin in your life, the Spirit will be sure to convict you, not for condemnation, but to spur you all the more quickly to confession and repentance so that grace might fall. This is first commandment living: love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
2. Make sure your relationships are where they should be. Start with your family. Make sure your relationship with your spouse and children (or parents, etc.) is where it out to be. Be quick to extend forgiveness where it is needed, and ask for forgiveness where you yourself where you have failed. Consider your work relations, neighbors, acquaintances, and church family. Are there any grudged or bitterness being harbored? Offer grace, even where it may not be deserved, just as the Savior has done for us. This is second commandment living: love your neighbor as yourself.
3. Realize that the main point of worship is not for you to be blessed, or even for you to be a blessing to others. The primary function of a worshiper is to worship God, to minister to Him, to be a blessing to Him. In doing so, you will in turn be a blessing to others, and God will certainly bless you.
4. Gather together expecting to meet with the Lord. Come with an expectation that His holy presence will be among you, and expect to hear His voice. Come expecting the Lord to reveal Himself. Don't come with a preconceived as to how the Lord will manifest Himself. Enter corporate worship with the reverence and awe the High Priest must have felt as he entered the Holy of Holies, but realizing He is already present within you. You are now the Temple, and the Holy of Holies is inside you.
5. Practice the presence of God. What is this? You can read Brother Lawrence's seminal work for free here, or listen to the audio book here.
6. Live throughout the week actively striving to live out the Word.
7. Come early. Don't walk in the door at the last minute, show up in time to drop off the kids wherever they're supposed to be, grab some coffee, fellowship with friends, and meet new people. Then, as you take your seat, spend your final moments already lifting your heart and mind to the Father. Remind yourself of who He is and what He has done. Literally "count your blessings."
8. Invite the Lord to make Himself known in your gathering.
9. Lift up your leaders in prayer, especially the pastor and worship leaders ("music minister," choir, band, singers, readers, etc.).
10. Cultivate and insist upon openness in your heart before and during the corporate worship time. Don't look for comfort and ease in worship, submit yourself and see yourself stirred by your worship experience. If you are not prodded, challenged, made uncomfortable, spurred to action, and humbled by grace, then you've not worshiped, you've just been entertained.
11. Determine to be a participant not an observer. Remember, you are there to worship God, to minister to the Father. God, and not you, is the audience. Don't be concerned about the actions and attitudes of others, if you are focused on the Lord, he will lead you to interact with your church family and visitors in a proper manner. Worship is ALWAYS an action, even when internal and personal. It is impossible for worship to be passive.

For the record, none of this is original with me, I've just codified it and put it my own words with my own spin. Many, many ideas were taken from Richard J. Foster's Celebration of Discipline, and from Dan Burrell.

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