How do you prepare yourself for worship?

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“May … God … give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,  so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6 NIV)

When we worship together, we become the instruction manual of Heaven’s reality. We show our oneness with God’s glory and our unity with other believers, praising God with our hearts as one.

At least that’s the way the manual says it should be. More often than not, though, we put this worship-thing together, ending up with extra parts and an outcome that doesn’t look like the picture on the box.

If you’re like me, that’s about the time you actually read the instructions, which include two very important tools necessary to master your worship project.

First, we cleanse ourselves of anything that comes between us and God, the things that keep us from oneness with him.

The Holy Spirit makes us aware of our sins, and, once he’s done that, we confess those sins and jettison them from our lives.

What is sin? It is anything that separates you from oneness with God; anything the Holy Spirit says is sin; anything that pushes God down in your life or out of your life; anything you wouldn’t do with Jesus right by your side; anything you wouldn’t do knowing the Holy Spirit is right inside you.

This is where the ancient worship leader sings us into the throne room of God: “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3-4a NIV).

Second, we intentionally remove any obstacles to our unity with other believers: “If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God” (Matthew 5:23b-24 MSG).

– How do you prepare yourself for worship?

– What does it mean to have an attitude of worship?

Jon Walker is the author of Breakfast with Bonhoeffer, Costly Grace, and Growing with Purpose. He is managing editor of Rick Warren’s Daily Hope devotionals.

This devotional is copyrighted 2013 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.

Jon Walker

Jon Walker is managing editor of Rick Warren’s Daily Hope Devotionals and a contributing editor at pastors.com. Copyright © 2017 Jon Walker. Used by permission.