A worship-hungry heart

People on a plane and people on a pew have a lot in common. All of them are on a journey. Some sleep, and others gaze out the window. Most, if not all, are satisfied with a predictable experience. For many, the mark of a good flight and the mark of a good worship assembly are the same.

"Nice," we all like to say. We exit the same way we enter, and we're happy to return next time. We are content with a predictable, uneventful flight. We are content to sit in church, look straight ahead, and leave when the service is over. Content to enjoy an assembly with no surprises or turbulence. Content with a 'nice' service. 

"Seek and you will find," Jesus promised. If a nice service is what we seek, a nice service is usually what we find. A few, however, are not content with nice. They long for something more. And these few usually leave wide-eyed with the wonder of having stood in the presence of God himself. 

Do we prepare to meet God? Many of us simply wake up and show up to church. We're sadly casual when it comes to meeting God. Would we be so lackadaisical with the president? If we were going to the White House on a Sunday morning, how would we spend Saturday night? Would we figure out what to wear and collect our thoughts and think about our questions? Of course.
Should we prepare any less for an encounter with the Holy God?

We should also come to worship prepared to worship. Pray before you come so you will be ready to pray when you arrive. Sleep before you come so you'll stay alert when you arrive. Read the Word before you come so your heart will be soft when you worship. Come hungry. Come willing. Come expecting God to speak.

Our goal is not to conjure up some fake, frozen expression. Our goal is simply to stand before God with a prepared and willing heart and then let God do his work. And he does. He wipes away the tears. He softens our furrowed brows. He touches our cheeks. He changes our faces as we worship. But there's more. Not only does God change the face of those who worship, he changes those who watch us worship.

Your heartfelt worship is a missionary appeal. Let unbelievers hear the passion of your voice or see the sincerity in your face, and they may be changed. Seekers may not understand all that happens in a house of worship. They may not understand the meaning of a song or the significance of the communion, but they know joy when they see it. And when they see your face changed, they may want to see God's face.

So prepare your heart for worship. Let God change your face through worship. Demonstrate the power of worship. Above all, seek the face of God, and you can leave changed with a new set of wings.