Sun 9:30a Class; 10:30a Worship; 11:35a Communion
Bible Bites
Better Worship During Prayer
Worship is work. Whether individually in the privacy of your home or gathered together with the congregation, worship won’t happen accidentally. Further, worship doesn’t happen simply because you can check one of five acts off a list.
If you’re like me, the easiest time to slip into a checklist mentality rather than worshiping is while being led in prayer. It is so easy for the leader to be speaking God’s praises and seeking God’s blessings while I’m rehearsing my sermon, thinking about what’s for lunch, or grousing in my mind about how long the prayer is. I bowed my head and said, “Amen,” at the end, so I worshiped right? Wrong. According to John 4.24, worship is not simply about the action being taken but the attitude, motivation, and submission that accompany it.
Worship is expressing the worth of the object of our worship through reverence and obeisance. A great example is found in Revelation 4.8-11 when the four living creatures and the 24 elders worship God. They declare His greatness and worthiness and profess their own unworthiness. We need to understand this because worship is about the object of worship, not the ones worshiping. Some seem to think that worship has happened when they have experienced some kind of emotional fulfillment. That is not so. Worship is not about us being moved by God; worship is about us moving toward God in humility. Therefore, I’m not worshiping better in prayer because I feel emotional, giddy, stricken, or pumped up (though all of this might happen). I’m worshiping better in prayer when I’m drawing closer to God, surrendering more to Him, proclaiming His worthiness more.
We might easily misunderstand what is happening during congregational prayer, thinking the one leading is praying, but unsure what we are doing. In Acts 1.24, we witness a congregational prayer. The text says, “And they prayed and said, ‘You, Lord, who know the hearts of all...’” This was not some liturgical prayer. They didn’t have this written down in a book to read in unison. They were led in prayer by someone offering these words. But how did the Holy Spirit describe what was going on here? “They prayed.” Notice a similar occurrence in Acts 4.24-30. This even says, “...they lifted their voices together to God and said...” Really? They all said these exact words in unison? No. They were led in prayer, perhaps by multiple people, but God viewed it as the whole group praying, even lifting their voices together as one. When we are being led in prayer, God sees the whole congregation as praying together. We are not listening to a prayer when being led; we are praying. Or we should be.
What must we do then to be lifting our voices in one accord when being led in prayer?
First, we have to take care of some issues before we pray. I trust we are working on these things. For instance, James 5.15 explains that the prayer of faith is effective. If we want any of our praying to be better worship, we have to work on our faith. This, of course, leads to the principle in Proverbs 28.9. We need to listen to and heed God’s Word. Our speaking to God is useless if we are ignoring what God is saying to us. Finally, we need to check our thankfulness (Philippians 4.6; Colossians 4.2). We need to be grateful for this opportunity to pray.
Second, we have to make sure we are properly focused while being led in prayer. I Corinthians 14.13-19 provides the two-pronged focus we must strive to maintain. Paul said first, “I will pray with the spirit,” and second, “I will pray with the mind also.”
Paul’s praying with the spirit was connected to miraculous gifts that the Spirit no longer employs. However, there is a principle that applies to us. The one praying in a tongue was connected to God in that prayer. The prayer’s spirit was interacting with God’s Spirit. We may not experience the miraculous aspect of speaking a prayer in tongues, but we need to remember that prayer is about connecting to God. It is about our spirit reaching out to God. These are not words that are floating in air; these are spoken directly into the ear of God. As Hebrews 10.19-22 says, we are drawing near to the presence of God. We may not be walking through the veil into the Holy of Holies literally, but that is exactly what we are doing spiritually. By the blood of Christ, we are walking into the very presence of God. We must be humbled and amazed. This is no ho-hum occurrence. God may allow it repeatedly and frequently, but we must not let the amazingness of what is happening be lost in the repetition. God is allowing us en masse to praise and plead in His presence. Be in awe.
Praying is also about the mind, about understanding what is going on and what is being said. We need to attend to what is being said. Instead of letting our minds wander, we need to focus our attention on the words so we can be lifting them up together with the one leading. Perhaps we can use some practical help here. I do not suggest that you pray your own prayer while the leader is praying. How then could you say the “Amen” to that brother’s praying? However, I do suggest that you mentally repeat what the leader is praying, even adding in further praises, confessions, petitions on your part. Perhaps, like in Psalm 118, you can have a phrase that you repeat mentally as the leader leads you. As the leader’s prayer reminds you of God’s love you can repeat in your own mind, “His steadfast love endures forever,” or some other statement proclaiming God’s greatness, holiness, and worthiness. Finally, if the leader prays something you do not agree with or in a wording you feel is off, simply correct it in your own praying alongside his.
Yes, this is work. And yes, sometimes it may even seem tedious. Let’s face it-it is a whole lot easier to just let our minds wander unless the prayer leader grabs them and moves us. But worship isn’t about us being moved; it is about us moving. That takes work. But when we have worked, we will have worshiped better.
— In "Pressing On", October 2011
