Wait Through Worship
Wait.
We don’t like that word very much, do we? I know I don’t sometimes and I think that as a whole, we are people who are in a hurry more often than not. What are some things that we don’t like waiting for? How about a paycheck? Food? Perfect timing, or as close to perfect as we can reach? Possessions—cars or beautiful homes? A husband? Kids?
We like things when we like them and we are not very successful at waiting patiently.
I was at a friend’s home this week for a night of high school Bible study. She is a dear friend who opens her home to high school students each week and feeds them both physically and spiritually. We have dinner, we pray, we worship and we study the Word of God together each Monday night. Last night the students were leading us in worship and I can’t remember the song they were singing, but they kept repeating the ending of the song over and over again until the Holy Spirit showed up. For those of you who were not raised in a charismatic church like I was, let me explain.
Have you ever listened to a worship song on Spotify and the song just keeps going on and on at the end? And then after a few times of that, their voices change and get bolder and they usually start praying while also singing and praising? (There are a few songs I love right now that you can listen to on Spotify that are great examples: The Blessing by Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe and Authority by Elevation Worship.) At the ending of each of those songs is when the good stuff happens.
That’s what happened last night. Like I mentioned, I can’t remember the song they sang, but they were proclaiming the ending of it out loud to God over and over and over again; after several minutes of that, I witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit. They sang louder, the worship leader started praying out loud and the other students really began to worship the Lord. He was there with us, I could feel His presence filling that room. When you proclaim the character of God back to Him in prayer, He will show up each and every time. Let me give you another example of this, this time out of Scripture.
After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Master, you are the one who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them. You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David your servant: Why do the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot futile things? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers assemble together against the Lord and against his Messiah.
“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand for healing, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:23-31, CSB)
I’m not saying the ground is going to shake, like this story in Acts, but you’ll be able to tell when the Lord is there with you: last night I could sense Him near to me. I heard it in the voice of the young man leading in worship, his voice became more bold and I just bowed my head and began to pray. He was praying, too and by the end of that sweet time, I was drying the tears that were running down my face. You see, when two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus, He is there—Matthew 18:20 tells us that in Scripture.
What is required of us is to patiently wait. I was convicted last night, of how church services everywhere rush the worship part of the service, my own included. We don’t like to wait; we like to sing a few songs pretty quickly, only the ones we really like and then we want the presence of the Lord to show up there with us so we can get our blessing for the day. (I say this facetiously.)
But do we really want that, when we rush the worship part of the service? I don’t think so. I would guess that the majority of people who attend worship services each week attend out of a sense of obligation—one more thing we can check off of our to-do lists. I am speaking this to myself as well, because I have felt like that more than a time or two in my life.
There is a solution to this and that is to pray. We need to be spending time with the Lord everyday on our own in prayer and in reading His Word. More than just praying and reading Scripture, we also need to be living this out in application in our day to day lives, meaning that we don’t just do this and then keep it to ourselves. We must share it everywhere we go with others!
We need to pray for other believers in the areas that we live in as well, for their pastors and members of where they attend. We need revival, as a whole in our nation and it all begins in prayer. It all begins with each one of us as an individual, and that is often my prayer: Lord, bring us to revival and let it start with me and my home.
We must not be quick to put God into a box, with time attachments. We must allow Him some time to move within us, because He often moves more slowly than we would like. We don’t want to hinder His presence in any way, but I think we do that when we worship and within the timing of how we worship. I used to love Sunday night services as a young girl. That was the “good service”, I often thought of it as and often that night ended with us spending the whole time in prayer and in worship.
Most of us don’t have that now, though and a lot of us don’t even know what that is like. I just know that in my own life and in my own heart, I can pray for the Lord to move; and as one who often helps in the leading of worship, I can encourage worship in the congregation with how I worship. Did you catch that? I can encourage worship in the congregation with how I worship on any given week.
Worship is so important: it prepares our hearts to hear from the Lord. We hear from Him through His Word, yes; but sometimes, like last night, I can sense His presence very near. He is so kind, so sweet, to allow me to experience that sense of Him being near. He doesn’t have to do that for me, but oftentimes He does. I always thank Him for that afterward, because I don’t want to ever take that for granted.
I wonder—what would we look like figuratively and physically after having met with the Lord in a time of worship? Would we be the same? Outwardly, yes; inwardly, no. It’s physically impossible to meet with the Lord and to be the same afterward. Test me in this and try it out for yourself.
I encourage you in this: after praying, reading His word and applying it to your life in a practical way, take notice of how you feel during that time after. Are you a little more kind? A lot more loving or patient? I know I am.
Consider before going in for worship this week praying first. Ask the Lord to prepare your heart for worship and ask Him to show you any unconfessed sin in your heart that may hinder you in worshiping Him. Wait a few minutes if you have to, but I promise He will reveal something.
Confess that to Him and ask for His forgiveness and ask for His help in worshiping Him in Spirit and truth. It’ll make a difference in how you worship! And then, pay attention to the words you sing. I love to close my eyes and imagine myself at His feet worshiping Him.
Try it for yourself—as strange as that may sound, it works.
I pray this both challenges you and encourages you in your week, sweet friend. May the Lord Himself watch over you and go with you as you continue on in your week.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Goodwin is a wife, and mom to four (almost) grown sons. The Lord has called her to serving in several different ministries within her church home, some of which are bible study and leading younger women, and helping in the leading of worship on Sundays. During the week you can find her writing on her blog, Overflowing With Thanksgiving and encouraging others through her favorite social media outlet: Instagram. Follow along with her and be encouraged at @jenlloydgoodwin.