“Date nights” are special for Sherry and me. Our lives are really busy. Both of us work more than full time. We have kids. It seems like there is always something demanding our time and attention. After nearly 25 years of marriage, we’ve learned that it is really important for us to focus our time and energy on each other a little bit.
I really look forward to our date nights. I usually try to make sure we plan in advance what we’d like to do that night. I ensure that my schedule is cleared from all other activities. I usually go home from work early. I will change clothes, and freshen up to spend some time out together. By the time the evening arrives, I am focused, ready, and we usually end up having a great time together.
In other words, I prepare in advance. I want this night to count, and to be fun, so I approach our date together by taking steps to maximize our time.
I do this, because I believe that your approach can determine your experience. That isn’t an absolute truth, and there are no guarantees, but my anticipation, my preparation, my attitude, my approach to the evening sure can influence the outcome.
Of course, I could just ignore this principle and stumble into the evening unprepared. Yeah. I love that conversation in the car…
“What do you want to do tonight?”
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
Sure enough, by the time we finally pick the restaurant where we want to eat, we have to wait in a long line. By the time dinner is served, we realize we are missing the movie we thought about seeing… Which isn’t a big deal, because I forgot about those emails I had to return anyway, so… Maybe we’ll get to spend some time together next week or sometime.
That experience sucks. But that is what you get a lot of times when you aren’t prepared. That’s why the principle is that your approach can determine your experience.
I wonder if the same can be true of our Sunday morning corporate worship experience? Sometimes the worship time is vibrant and alive with people genuinely worshipping in the Spirit. Sometimes, it feels like it falls kinda flat. Is there some mystery going on here? Does God only show up on some Sundays, but sleep in on others?
I wonder if we realize that our approach can determine our experience on Sunday mornings? Do you prepare to meet God along with the body of Christ? Which of the following approaches do you take to corporate worship?
- Sleep till last possible minute before having to get ready for church, drive onto campus just as service is beginning, grab coffee while singing is going on, and walk into the service bleary-eyed and trying to find a seat in the dark, getting your bearings and figuring out what is going on just as the last song ends.
- Arrive prayed up, having met with your group earlier in the week, knowing verses and songs so you can express yourself well and have the sensitivity to hear the voice of God.
You can continue to have limited, dull, lifeless experiences, OR you can take the steps to prepare your heart and mind to encounter the Holy Spirit in a life-transforming and church-revolutionizing way. Approach Sunday morning corporate worship expecting something incredible to happen!
Pray Up!
Have an already open, ongoing conversation with God. Intimacy isn’t a switch that you can flip on and off… It is a potentially rich soil that must be cultivated.
Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. -Psalm 5:3
Read Up!
Take some time.. Even if it is just a few moments.. To be in His Word
How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word. I have tried hard to find you- don’t let me wander from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. -Psalm 119:9-11
Worship on your own
Everyone does this differently. Practice private worship during the week as you prepare for corporate worship on the weekend.
Each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. -Psalm 42:8
Live by faith!
Let me throw this one last thing at you… Worship is a response. It isn’t a list of songs or a dedicated period of time on Sunday morning. Worship is what happens when we catch of glimpse of who God is. It is what happens when we realize what He is doing in and through us. When we see Him, we will naturally respond by being in awe. When we see Him, we can’t help but drop our jaws and fall to our knees, surrendering ourselves to His majesty.
Maybe our worship experience is a little flat because we don’t have anything to respond to. Maybe we have crowded him out of our lives, leaving no room for Him to work the miracles that only He can work. Really. When was the last time you took a leap of faith, having no handrails to hold on to, and you just had to trust that HE was in charge of the result?
What does that look like? For me it is often giving when I have no money. Serving when I have no time. Sharing when I have no patience. Speaking out when I don’t have the words. Standing when I have no courage. It is when I can’t that He proves that He can. He works. I worship.
When God works in our personal lives, I know he will show up in a big way on Sundays with us together. Trust Him. Take a step of faith. Give him a chance to work in your life. Approach corporate worship with something to respond to. Expect God to do something this week!