Worship: the ultimate DIY project

Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.  — Ecclesiastes 5:1

Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.  Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me.  –Psalm 50:14-15

If your primary worship takes place on Sunday morning at church, you are doing it all wrong and in all likelihood endlessly frustrated.

If the main worship you do takes place on Sunday morning at church, you’re putting too heavy a burden on your church’s worship leaders.  They cannot do for you in one hour what you should be doing for yourself seven days a week.

If the only worship you do takes place on Sunday morning at church, even at the best you are anemic and undernourished and will often find yourself faltering during the week.

If your worship is something restricted to the Sunday morning in the house of God, you need to enlarge your concept of worship, your love for God, and your understanding of yourself.

Worship is not something done for you. Worship is not something done to you.  Worship is something you do yourself.

Worship may be the ultimate do-it-yourself project.  After all…

–You decide whether to  worship.

–You decide how to  worship.

–You decide Whom you worship.

And when it’s all over, if you did not worship, then you should have no trouble deciding whose fault that is.

“O Lord our God, little children praise Thee perfectly.  And so would we.  And so would we.”

When I awaken in the middle of the night, whether I get up or not, I will worship the Lord “who giveth songs in the night.”

When I rise in the morning, I will turn my heart toward my Heavenly Father and give Him thanks.  I will give Him myself, and give Him this day for whatever purposes He has.

As I go about my business throughout the day, I will worship in brief moments here and there, now and then.  I will send up prayers for those who come to mind and prayer for myself to deal with whatever I’m facing.

I will try to make some time to pull aside and open the Word and read it, whether for an hour or two minutes.  With that in mind, I will have a definite place to leave the Bible so when I sit there, my mind automatically goes to worship.

During the week, among the objects of my prayers will be my pastor and church leadership.  The Father alone knows all they face, the struggles and decisions and criticism and challenges.

Then, on Sunday as I enter God’s House, I will come intending to give rather than to receive.  I will give an offering.  I will give greetings to all I see and a hug as is appropriate.  I will lift my voice in praise and turn my heart to God during the prayers.  I will listen to the sermon with an open Bible. And if I decide the message was not for me today, I will pray for those for whom it was intended, that the Spirit would use it for His purposes.  And I will give thanks to those who lead our church.

I will not–God help me, I determine never to–walk out of church criticizing the music, the preacher, a worship leader, a teacher, or volunteer.  I will never say “I was not fed today,” for I did not come to be fed.  I’ve been grazing successfully all week and need very little when we gather on the Lord’s Day.  I will never say “That music did not bless me,” for if it didn’t it’s rarely the fault of the singer or musician.

I will give thanks at all times, Father.  Mostly, I will give thanks that my name is written in Heaven.  Everything else is secondary.  (Luke 10:20)

May my feeble attempts at worship be acceptable unto Thee, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.  Amen.

 

One thought on “Worship: the ultimate DIY project

  1. Thank you for the reminder that it is the effort that the individual/believer puts in to remember the Lord Jesus and then to praise God for His love for His creation which determine whether worship is meaningful or not.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.