Worship like you mean it

By: Carole Lynne Haines 

 ⁴³  And on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy, and the women and children rejoiced as well, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from far away. (Nehemiah 12:43 NSB) 

Does anyone have a funny worship story? I sure do. I get lost in worship sometimes, to the point where I forget where I am. This does not happen often enough for me, I get so easily distracted, but when it does, it is a taste of Heaven. I was worshipping in song on one occasion, eyes closed, hands raised, swaying, harmonizing; and knowing me, tears were streaming down my face. Though many people were there, no one else was in the room for me at that moment, just God. When the music stopped, I opened my eyes and was face to face with the people standing behind me. We laughed together about it. But I had swayed all the way around. Hysterical.  
 
The people who had just rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem were now celebrating that victory. There was a lot of opposition as they rebuilt those gates and walls surrounding God’s promised City. To the point where Nehemiah instructed the people to keep building with a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other.  
 

¹⁵ Now when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. ¹⁶ And from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them kept hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah. ¹⁷ Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon. ¹⁸ As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me. ¹⁹ And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. ²⁰ At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble to us there. Our God will fight for us.” (Nehemiah 4:15-20) 

Not all worshippers are loud and shed tears, but their hearts are deep in worship as they sing and pray to the God who loves them. It matters not the form we take in worship; it is the heart that God sees. We have an enemy who does not want us to worship like we mean it. He tries to instigate disruptions, distractions, and chaos in our worship times. I served in many capacities as a worship leader in my younger days and I can tell you, satan really tries to sow discord among worship team members who lead. I have been both part of the problem and part of the healing at times.
I was ignorant of his schemes and had fallen prey to them many times. As I wrote the word “prey” God spoke to my spirit that instead we should fall “pray” to God’s call to worship. Let us pray over our worship services and private times with Him before we even get there. Whatever your posture or preference in worship, we need to have the weapon of prayer in one hand and the tool of a heart that worships Him. With God’s grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can always worship like we mean it.