A Heart for Worship

John Donne wrote, "I throw myself down in my chamber, and I call on and invite God and His angels thither, and when they are there, I neglect God and His angels for the noise of a fly."

We have got to fight the distractions. If our attention is captured by the form rather than by God, there is always going to be a distraction.

Leaders in worship have to worship. We pray that God will enable us to do that before we come out. If there isn't enough bass, the mix is not right, if you act like you couldn't care less, with every movement seen from the platform, it is easy to get distracted. Are we worshiping or are you grading me?

Worship does not happen apart from a consciousness of God and an encounter with Him. We have got to get beyond the horizontal.

There is no greater distraction than our hearts.

THE RESPONSE TO WORSHIP

Can a person who cannot hear, who cannot see, who cannot kneel, etc., still worship? Yes. Go inward. If worship happens, there must be the right response to God. Worship happens when because of God-consciousness we make the right response to God. We have corporate worship, but it boils down to ‘private" worship and what's happening in individual heart's in the roomful of people. Worship must be an experience my heart longs for, seen as a necessary part of my spiritual diet, a celebration of what Christ has done for me, a declaration of worth to Him Who is worthy.

I need to prepare for worship. You prepare for a ball game. You prepare for a sales presentation. You prepare for your vacations. The choir prepares. The worship team prepares. I prepare. We need to prepare ourselves for worship.

Invest fully in every moment that you are here. Don't wait for something to grab your attention. Tell the Lord that you are fully present, fully listening, confessing, responding—every moment of the time in the worship service.

But worship will not happen if the heart is not right. We can think that the better the music, the singing, the preaching, the better is worship. The quality and genuineness of worship originates in the heart. The quality of worship is based on our character. Do we have a heart for worship? The wise men did. Herod used the same word—"worship"—but he had murder in his heart. If he had found the Christ child, though in the presence of God, he would not have worshipped. If you didn't worship, don't be too quick to judge the environment. Check your own heart. God is more interested in the condition of our hearts than the activities for Him here. It does not matter what we do or what we bring, if our hearts are not right with Him.

How dare I come into His presence without confessing my sin. How dare I come apart from humility ( I have not right being in this position apart from the blood of Christ) . How dare I come without praising Him for who He is and rejoicing in His salvation, forgiveness, security, love, etc.

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