Podcast of this post.
How often do we just do lip service when we sing our praises to the lord? I know I catch myself doing it more often than I would like. There could be a variety of different reasons that could keep you partially distracted during worship time, but it's very important that we clear our heads and bring our hearts to not God and not just singing the words.
I'm starting this series based after the song that perfectly describes it. We need to come back to the heart of worship as God looks at hearts when we sing not really the fact that we showed up and can follow along to a hymn.
In this series we will look into each song. We will go over the lyrics and back it up with scripture. We will also look into the history of the song and any interesting facts about it. Finally I will share my thoughts on the song and how I personally relate to it and what I get out of it. I encourage you to share what you get out of it as well.
Today I would like to begin our series with some tips on how to we can get into our worship time and focus on God. These are tips that I use to help me and I hope you find them helpful as well.
Tip 1: Take some time before you start worshiping to focus.
I know it can be a little weird not singing when everyone else around you is, but try not singing and instead praying or listening and reading the lyrics. When you feel ready, then begin. Even better if you can take time before church to pray, read your Bible, etc. I know it isn't always feasible especially if you are rushing out the door with the family in the morning, so this is a good tip to take a breather before diving in.
Tip 2: Move around.
This doesn't mean dance down the aisles, but tap your foot or clap your hands would be good. Get into the beat and let your body flow naturally and relax.
Tip 3: Study scripture.
I love it when I understand references to scripture in the songs we are singing. Sometimes it's a word for word verse and sometimes it's just the message that I can pick up on and tell you what story it is referring to. I wasn't as good at this when I was younger because I wasn't studying my Bible as much, but the more I read the Word, the more I see it. I know you will too.
Tip 4: Close your eyes.
Distractions are all around us; watching other people, looking around the room, etc. That way you aren't distracted by the cute kid a couple rows ahead of you, the worship leader really getting into the song, or the flowers on the front table. Closing your eyes is simple, but powerful when it comes to focusing.
Tip 5: Don't focus on your singing voice.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who can be self-conscious about their singing voice from time to time. Or perhaps you are really good and are focusing too hard on sounding amazing instead of what you are singing. I'm sure worship leaders must struggle with this sometimes. So I think the key is to not listen for your voice when you are singing. If that means you have to sing quieter, than do that. It's about the heart when you sing, not whether you are good or bad.
Tip 6: Make the song a prayer.
A lot of songs can double as a prayer to God. So many songs are prayers for help, prayers of adoration, prayers of thanksgiving, etc. With this in mind try to focus on singing directly to God. It could help to picture Jesus next to you, in front of you or above you when you sing.
Try to use some of these tips the next time you feel you need a little boost with your worship time. You can develop a routine that works best for you. Don't worry about people judging you if you do something out of the norm because most likely they aren't. God's the only audience you need to worry about and focus on. The audience of one.
I hope this post helps you. Next month we will be kicking off our Heart of Worship series with the song Heart of Worship of course written by Matt Redman. We will look into the song and hopefully learn and develop a connection that will help us the next time we sing it for worship. If you have any tips that you use that I didn't share please share them.
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