Have you ever had one of those Sundays (and come on, you all know you have) when you catch yourself just "phoning it in" during church? I busted myself on this a few weeks ago during worship.
Everyone has their own worship styles...my mom, for example, is a hands-up kinda girl...dad, on the other hand, wants to makes sure he blesses anyone in a 10 foot radius with his voice, because that's just how he is...My husband varies...there's days when, for him, it's deep and personal and he keeps both hands clenched in fists close to his heart. There's other days where his Penecostal is showing, and you had better watch out, 'cause he's a mover! I think for me, I vary as well...sometimes I would be a "jumper/dancer" and can't be still (maybe some of that husbandly influence!) Other times, I am more of a reflecter...I literally stop singing and just read the words, taking them in and making them my prayer...
And yet, on this particular Sunday, for some reason, I was a million miles away. Maybe it was thoughts of some stress at work, or maybe it was some sleepyness still lingering, but whatever the reason, I found my soul shaking myself awake, and screaming "Do you even know what you are singing?! Or are you just repeating words on the screen?!"
After the thorough butt kicking that myself gave to...um,..myself, I zoned in on the lyrics of the song the band was presenting. We were singing one of my favorite songs and yet I wasn't connecting to it. There was a particular lyric that is repeated in this song: "Heal Me..." and it struck me... how many times have I sung this and it has been nothing more than a pretty tune? And how sad that is, when there are people crying for healing all around us? There are people, in our very own church, struggling with various diseases, like the monstrosity that is cancer. There are others dealing with wounds in their marriages, scars of past mistakes that keep reopening...maybe for others they are suffering from a temptation they do not want to give in to, and yet find themselves locked into every time...It made me think, what are the healing prayers of those around me? The lady two rows in front of me, what is her healing prayer? the guy three rows back, who snuck in when nobody was watching...what does he need healing from...What is driving their passion to sing "heal me" with tears on their faces and hands reaching up, prayers of desperation on their lips...and it caused me to pray...it drove me to pray for those around me whose prayers of "Heal me" are so much more desperate than my own. It caused me to wake up and realize that these words aren't just words, but cries from one soul to the ears of the Father...it drove me to remember that worship is not one sided, but interactive...
Worship, in a sense, means to give praise to one that is worthy, but there is also a response...a stirring, from the heart of the Father to the ones who give the praise...and if we find ourselves phoning it in, we may just miss the true message He wants us to see...
Make your worship interactive...
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