By Andrew Mangal, Worship Pastor
We have all been at worship services where the atmosphere is so rich; where people are falling on their faces and crying out to God as the band provides anointed music to create the soundtrack to this experience.
The worship leader only has to sing the first two notes of the upcoming song and the congregation immediately surrenders both of their arms to God in the air and join in unison to each note and each word that is being sung, creating an ocean of music in the sanctuary.
The question is: how can we achieve worship services like this on a regular basis, week after week? If you truly want to expand the effectiveness of your worship and make it count, then here are three suggestions:
“God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)
Recognize the Importance of Worship
“So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.” 1 Samuel 16:23
God has equipped us with a powerful tool called worship to combat the enemy. True worship has the ability to bring deliverance, healing and to loose spiritual chains! But in order for that to happen, we must recognize that worship is an integral part of our spiritual lives. We must not only worship God on Sunday mornings, but from the moment we wake up worship should be rising from our lips to God.
So however you worship God, whether it is through giving, through your service to the church, through song, through playing an instrument, through dancing- realize how important it is to your spiritual life and that you must always bring your best to God, be it a Sunday morning or a mid-week prayer meeting.
Pump Yourself Up
One of the oldest instruments in our world today is the pipe organ. In its early days, this instrument required two people in order for it to be played: one with the musical dexterity to play the keys and another to pump the billow to fuel the air into the pipes which would create the sound.
The only thing was that the player could not play the organ until adequate air was pumped into the instrument first. If the player started to play, you would hear a mess of notes and the tuning would be horrendous until the pressure was established.
Our worship is sometimes like an organ. Many times we have to get “pumped up” and the person on the stage needs to prod us to open our mouths and sing or even to lift our hands. In fact, by the time many of us are ready to worship, the worship portion of the service is over!
We should come prepared so that our worship starts as soon as we enter church. Regardless of our circumstance, we have the power to speak to our souls just as the psalmist did in Psalm 43:5: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour, my God.” Purpose in your heart to worship Him and it is at times when we don’t feel like worshipping God that we must worship Him even more!
Heaven’s Rehearsal
“Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.’”- Rev. 19:6
If Jesus was to appear to you at this very moment, what would you do? How would you act? Would you fall to your knees? Would you cry out? If you were to act that way if you met Jesus face to face, then why not start now? We might not physically see Him in our devotionals or services, but Jesus is always there.
Musicians and actors rehearse for months before putting on a performance to make sure that when they step out onto the stage for their opening night, their performance is as close to flawless as can be. Athletes train vigorously for months before the season starts to make sure that they are in top shape for the important games. As Christians, every time we enter into worship while we are here on earth, we are rehearsing for what we will be doing for eternity. This is Heaven’s rehearsal.
What have you been learning lately about worship?
