Preparing for Worship

The last hour before I go to bed on Saturday night is one of my favorite hours of the week.  This is the time I usually spend unwinding and preparing for worship the next morning.  I run the video screens on Sunday mornings, so it is my responsibility to prepare the show for the next day.  I have to enter the song lyrics, create announcement slide, type up the sermon notes, and put in the scripture text.

What I enjoy about this process is the way that it allows me to prepare for worship before heading to bed.  It allows me to detox from the week and begin to focus my energy on worship and instruction.  I get the opportunity to look over the lyrics of the songs for the next day and get a feel for the mood of our worship time.  Reading over the scripture texts and sermon notes provides me the opportunity to consider and reflect on the message I will hear the next day.

I think that it is important to prepare yourself for worship.  While we should be perpetually in a state of prayer and worship as Christians, it preparation is still necessary when entering into corporate worship.  Throughout scripture God called on his people to fast and consecrate themselves before going out to worship.  Christ himself spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness before beginning his public ministry (one of the primary reasons behind the celebration of Lent).

Too often we rush into worship without having first prepared out hearts and minds to properly offer ourselves as living sacrifices.  We stay up too late on Saturday night and rise too early on Sunday morning.  Then we rush to ready ourselves and walk into church after the service has started.  I am thankful for this time on Saturday night and time on Sunday morning to ready myself for worship.  We need to set aside time each week to consecrate ourselves to become prepared for worship, so that what we offer to God may be acceptable in His sight.  The thought of what our worship could be like if everyone took the time to get their hearts and minds in order is almost too exciting.

My prayer is that I will always take the time necessary to quiet my mind and ready my heart to worship God in a manner that will be please Him.  May I always enter worship equipped to offer my entire self in worship as a living sacrifice.