Worship

Going to Worship — But Are You Ready?

by J.W. Phillips
07/16/25
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Going to Worship—But Are You Ready?

I haven’t entirely forgotten what it was like in our family on Sundays. The hassle of getting everyone in the car on time had its share of rebukes and reprimands. Even in the front seat where Mom and Dad were sitting there was some sniping and cold stares going on. 

The growls stopped, however, and the smiles flashed as soon as we got to church. 

The ideal family! Look at them as they enter the house of the Lord! Ready for worship!

Little did they know the Armageddon we had just been through.

Other people, having not gone through all that, may have no inside fire of fury to extinguish. Yet, there’s no fire for worship in their hearts, either. They show up at church feeling, well, nothing.

They’re there; give them credit for that: seated, holding their Bibles, ready to worship if they can only stop yawning. 

Does that sound ready?

The Bible says we are to enter into God’s gates with thanksgiving and into his court with praise (Psalm 100:4). This suggests the need to cultivate a daily, habitual praise life before worship is even possible.

Praise means to extol, to honor, to commend, and to do so in a heartfelt way. The real focus of praise, both private and public, is to be on the nature of God—his attributes, his essence—and also on the favor of God, whether transacted through words or deeds.

If contemplated correctly, the majesty and mercy of God will stir the heart, triggering an overwhelming response of gratitude. But if our praise is somewhere between occasional and nonexistent, and even then our words are more forced than flowing, we are spiritually stuck.

Heartfelt, verbalized praise is a critical component of a successful pursuit of God. While bible study is indispensable, and prayer is irreplaceable, still, if praise is taken out of the equation, bible study becomes head knowledge only, while prayer becomes aspiration at best and obligation at worst.

On some Sundays, the worship leader really has his work cut out for him! 

Church attendees, after plopping their bodies down are no more animated than the dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision. 

Cultivating a praise life is one way to reverse this.

Another way, also immensely important, is to come to church, as the previous generation put it, “all prayed up”. 

Without the heart being first touched by prayer, we won’t likely enter his gates with thanksgiving, nor enter his courts with praise. The underlying reason being: If there’s no stirring of spirit before we get there, we’ll simply trudge into worship, plunk our carnal selves down, get the sleep out of our eyes, and never once be moved by the Spirit. 

This principle of coming to church thoroughly prepared by praise and prayer was exceedingly important to John Smith, the circuit-riding preacher from England.

On April 7, 1818, Smith wrote these words, “There is nothing like getting filled with the Spirit before we go to the house of God.…”¹ 

Like most circuit-riding preachers, Smith died while still in his 30s—but not from an empty life, and not with a lethargic spirit!

Later, in April of that same year, John Smith wrote his father, saying, “Oh, if we were always filled with the Holy Ghost before we go to the house of God we should see signs and wonders.”²

The preacher was right! Coming to church with an expectant heart transforms worship! And can there be such expectancy without fervent prayer? 

Samuel Chadwick, the well-known British pastor, once observed, “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying.”³ He knows that prayerless work, worship, and witnessing will be useless in its impact and fruitless in its results.

You might ask yourself, as you think about times when you pray, are you in the habit of rattling off religious words while your mind remains passive and almost vacant? Sure, your head may be bowed, your eyes may be closed, but what about your heart? 

Is your heart being touched? Is your spirit being moved? Or are you still devoid of any sensation of transcendent awe?

To counteract praying as a protocol (which really isn’t praying), imagine you departed this world five minutes ago and are now in a place so beautiful you couldn’t describe it. 

The angels—magnificent to behold! —are at your side. Serving as escorts, you soon pass the Tree of Life, the River of Life, and many of the redeemed—Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul. Why, this scene is so stunning you can hardly take it all in! 

The angels lead you still farther, to where the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth awaits your arrival.

So how are you feeling at this point? Casual? At ease? A bit curious? 

No way! You’re about to see God! 

Perhaps it would be useful to imagine a scene like this whenever you pray. Get a little reality pumped in! Because you are talking to God! 

So let me ask you, will there be any chance that you’ll mumble and stumble your way through your first physical encounter with him? Not a chance!

You won’t be bored. You won’t be distracted. Your mind won’t wander! Why? Because an intense awareness of who you’re talking to will eliminate all that. 

Praising and praying prior to coming to worship will prepare you for true worship.

Notes:
1.Wesley L. Duewel, Heroes of the Holy Life, (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2009), p.169
2 Ibid., p.169
3. Cameron V. Thompson, Master Secrets of Prayer, (Lincoln: Back To The Bible, 1959), p.9.