Worshipping Well
#2 Praying for Corporate Worship
Peace be with you!
“It is plain throughout [Scripture] that the health of God’s people depends on their attentiveness
to his Word.” John Stott, Between Two Worlds
Did you know that the Bible gives more instruction on how to receive God’s truth properly than
it gives on how to proclaim it properly? To be sure, God is very concerned about how well
preachers preach and teachers teach, but we don’t often concern ourselves with how well
listeners should listen. Unless we come to worship ready, willing, and able to embrace the
preaching, teaching, and truth contained in the song lyrics we sing, even the best of such
elements of worship will fail to change our lives.
Jesus made a point to tell his audience, “Take care then how you hear”. (Luke 8:18, ESV) Fifteen
times the Gospel writers record Jesus’s exhortation, “To him who has ears, let him hear!” And in
Mark 4:3, Jesus starts his parable of the sower by saying, “Listen!”
Some research I read recently showed that most people do not prepare in any significant way for
worship. Fewer than half of the worshipers pray for their encounter with the Word presented in
worship. Even when the sermon passage for the next week is announced, only one in five people
will take the time to read it prior to coming to worship. Take heart! With a little encouragement,
and God’s empowerment, we can drastically improve in our preparation for worship!
As written in Luke 8:15, we want to be “those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest
and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” But how can we become that type of person? In
addition to what we learned last time, we can be a people who pray! Let us be a people who pray
to God and ask for a significant encounter each time we come to hear His Word. Let us be a
praying people whose expectations for worship become well aligned with God’s expectations for
our worship.
This Week’s Suggestion for Preparing to Worship Well
“People come to worship not knowing what they want. They go away having gained no spiritual
blessing. Why should they? They left their spiritual profit up to chance, having attended with no
preparation for their purpose.” Paraphrased from Charles Spurgeon, Sermon 420, Spurgeon’s
Sermons: Volume 7.
1. Read the upcoming passages that will be studied in worship before Sunday. Pray that God will
open your heart to His Word and His Word to your heart.
2. Pray and ask God for the Holy Spirit to reveal something significant to you from His Word
that He wants to become a part of who you should be in Christ Jesus.
3. Pray that God’s Word will be a great spiritual profit to you and our congregation.
Worship well, Christian!
Pastor Brandon
#2 Praying for Corporate Worship
Peace be with you!
“It is plain throughout [Scripture] that the health of God’s people depends on their attentiveness
to his Word.” John Stott, Between Two Worlds
Did you know that the Bible gives more instruction on how to receive God’s truth properly than
it gives on how to proclaim it properly? To be sure, God is very concerned about how well
preachers preach and teachers teach, but we don’t often concern ourselves with how well
listeners should listen. Unless we come to worship ready, willing, and able to embrace the
preaching, teaching, and truth contained in the song lyrics we sing, even the best of such
elements of worship will fail to change our lives.
Jesus made a point to tell his audience, “Take care then how you hear”. (Luke 8:18, ESV) Fifteen
times the Gospel writers record Jesus’s exhortation, “To him who has ears, let him hear!” And in
Mark 4:3, Jesus starts his parable of the sower by saying, “Listen!”
Some research I read recently showed that most people do not prepare in any significant way for
worship. Fewer than half of the worshipers pray for their encounter with the Word presented in
worship. Even when the sermon passage for the next week is announced, only one in five people
will take the time to read it prior to coming to worship. Take heart! With a little encouragement,
and God’s empowerment, we can drastically improve in our preparation for worship!
As written in Luke 8:15, we want to be “those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest
and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” But how can we become that type of person? In
addition to what we learned last time, we can be a people who pray! Let us be a people who pray
to God and ask for a significant encounter each time we come to hear His Word. Let us be a
praying people whose expectations for worship become well aligned with God’s expectations for
our worship.
This Week’s Suggestion for Preparing to Worship Well
“People come to worship not knowing what they want. They go away having gained no spiritual
blessing. Why should they? They left their spiritual profit up to chance, having attended with no
preparation for their purpose.” Paraphrased from Charles Spurgeon, Sermon 420, Spurgeon’s
Sermons: Volume 7.
1. Read the upcoming passages that will be studied in worship before Sunday. Pray that God will
open your heart to His Word and His Word to your heart.
2. Pray and ask God for the Holy Spirit to reveal something significant to you from His Word
that He wants to become a part of who you should be in Christ Jesus.
3. Pray that God’s Word will be a great spiritual profit to you and our congregation.
Worship well, Christian!
Pastor Brandon
Posted in Worship & Liturgy