FIVE WAYS TO ENHANCE YOUR WORSHIP EXPERIENCE.

SERIES: PRACTICAL FAITH.

TEXT: Hebrews 13:15; 2^nd Chron. 5:11-14.

Worship is expression of faith. Practical faith worships God. How do we go to higher ground in our worship?  First worship must proceed from the heart, from our innermost being. Jesus put it this way in John 4:24, “God is spirit and those how worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The most fundamental issue in worship is the condition of the heart. In Luke 7, we have the example of pure worship. A woman who bows at Jesus’ feet and out of pure gratitude for His mercy washes His feet with her tears, wipes them dry with her hair and anoints Him with costly, fragrant oil.

Today let us share five ways to enhance our worship experience. These five ways are all actions that the worshipper must take in order to benefit from them. Just knowing these actions does not help much. Implementation is everything. These actions can be taken in both personal and corporate public worship experience. Let us learn:-

1. BE CONSISTENT IN YOUR PURSUIT OF GOD AND IN YOUR WORSHIP.

• Practice worship during the week, so that you are already in touch with God when you come to the corporate meeting.
• God instructed Moses on how to build the tabernacle. There was first an outer, then a holy place, then the Holy of Holies.
• God’s presence was in the Holy of Holies on the mercy seat.
• Nobody just walked to the Holy of Holies, there were preparations.
• Coming into God’s presence was not something to be taken lightly.
• The priests had to take a bath and wash themselves in the Holy of Holies and in the holy place.
• Psalm 29:2, “Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
• God taught Israel to approach Him with reverence because He is holy.
• There was an appropriate procession into intimacy with God. It began at the outer court, proceeded to the Holy place, and culminated in the Holy of Holies.
• When we come together we are proceeding from where we come from-so if I have been walking in the spirit the whole week, I walk easily into the Holy of Holies.
• If I have been away from the presence of God the whole week, my adjustment at the congregation will be hard the extend that it affect the entire corporate public worship.
• The process of drawing near to God in worship is affected by the spiritual condition of everyone in the room.
• God corrected Israel for thinking they could live one way all week, then  enjoy His favor at the temple by simply switching to a more religious mode-Amos 5:21-24.
• God gave them the same message through Isaiah 1 and
• Living out of tune with God during the week is not right preparation for the awesome worship service on Sunday morning.
• Lack of preparation for worship throughout the week in actually an exercise in hypocrisy and invites a religious spirit rather than the Holy Spirit.
• It is like the Pharisees who loved to say long prayers in public to be seen by men- 6:5.
• God’s favor cannot rest on that. It does not matter how talented the band or how many people are in the building, God is not pleased.
• We must practice the presence of God everyday throughout the week.
• We must be mindful of Him; talking with Him during the week, preparing ourselves for the corporate worship on Sunday.
• Psalm 119:164, “Seven times a day I praise you……..” the idea is worship as a lifestyle not just something I do once a week on Sunday morning.
• So the most important preparation for Sunday morning is how we live all week long, this is practical faith.

1. BE EXPECTANT.

• God has made us some promises in His word that should create expectancy when we come together.
• In 18:19-20, there are two essential keys in verse 20.

1. “Gathered together.” We unite with one another in unity.
2. “In my name.” Just because the church is full of worshipers does not guarantee Christ’s presence and authority.

• But if only a few come and gather in His name, they come under His authority and they have come unto Him, then He is there in the midst of them.
• The presence of Christ in our corporate gathering heightens our anticipation of what might happen.
• In James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” We are anticipating the nearness of the Lord because he has promised to do that.
• Faith expects and acts on the fact that God will honor His word-Heb. 11:6.
• Without genuine expectation of Jesus Christ being in our midst and honoring His promises, we are not able to experience what might have been.
• Therefore, we consider God’s goodness, we consider His faithfulness, we ponder the promises of God.
• We come expecting to meet God. So be consistent and be expectant.
• BE INTENTIONAL.
• We come together for a purpose. The more clear we are about the purpose the better.
• Our main objective is to meet with God and give Him the glory due to His name. It is about God not us.
• In the Old Testament people brought bulls and goats as their sacrifice.
• God no longer requires that of us because Jesus offered up the ultimate final blood sacrifice.
• But Hebrews 13:15 does identify a sacrifice we bring to God in our worship, “The sacrifice of praise,” the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
• The Bible commands us to praise the Lord. Psalm 100:4, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name.” See Psalm 106:1; 57:7; 2^nd 5:11-14.
• A lot of preparation went into the service, the worship service was well planned and coordinated.
• The service leaders were as one- 13.
• God’s glory came down in the midst of the worship.
• Without due preparation, a lot space is given to the enemy.
• Worship is primarily for God. God inhibits the praise of His people-Psalm 22:3.
• If we worship Him out of a heart of love and appreciation, He will meet with us and we will be blessed. This is practical faith.

1. BE FOCUSED.

• Any moment you pursue God, the devil will make sure there is plenty of distractions to take us off course.
• Sometimes, the Christians are the thoughts that come into our minds.
• We must cast off thoughts down to keep our minds stayed upon the Lord.
• Sometime, the distractions are actually agendas for prayer, pray them off.
• Let us focus on the presence of God-Psalm 16:11-Be focused.

1. BE ENGAGED-Body, Soul and Spirit.

• We must worship God from our spirit, but every part of our being under needs to be engaged in worship.
• You may have to do a little talk with Jesus Christ like David did-Psalm 103:2.
• Think about His love, care, provision, goodness.
• Tell your soul to think about the good things God has done.
• Engage all your heart, emotions and thoughts in worship experience-Psalm 111:1.
• We worship God wholeheartedly-Psalm 150:6.
• There needs to be unity; a wholeness-spirit-soul-body in our worship activity.
• Be united, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit during your worship.

CONCLUSION

• Did God impress upon your heart any of these points?
• What point are you going to improve on?
• Take a moment and talk to the Lord about this message.
• Faith is expressed in worship. Worship is practical faith.