How Do I Prepare My Heart For Worship?

Worship. What a word! What a concept. I forget who coined the term that was representative of the 80's and 90's - "Worship Wars," but mention worship and you will have as many opinions as you have worshipers. 

Each week believers are privileged to gather as a body that is to be reflective of the overall body of believers. Each week buildings and meetings houses are occupied with individuals who claim to gather to "worship" God. I think there are at least three (3) dangers believers face each time they gather for the purpose of worship:

• misunderstanding the nature of worship
• failing to prepare for worship
• maintaining improper expectations from worship

Today's post focuses minutely on the second danger that believers face each and every time they gather for the purpose of worship. Most believers fail to prepare their hearts and minds for worship. So, how do I prepare my heart each Sunday morning prior to gathering with the folks at North Kelso Baptist Church? Allow me to share some things that I do  in order to prepare my heart to gather for worship.

Delight in the Word

--read passages about worship

--you can find over 100 different passages dealing with worship 

--read a Psalm from Psalms 95-100

Spend time in confession

--Read Psalm 32, 51; 1 John 1:9

--ask God to search your heart (Psalm 139:23-24)

(read this and memorize it from the NLT)

Read about worship

--from the bible

--from the books

Worship: The Ultimate Priority (John MacArthur)

Worship Matters (Bob Kauflin)

Read a chapter from a solid devotional book about God

--The Knowledge of the Holy (A. W. Tozer)

--The Attributes of God (A. W. Pink)

Spend time in prayer for the worship service

Sing some hymns