Have you ever thought about ways to improve worship? Much has been written on the subject recently. Allow me to share a few thoughts I’ve gleaned from my study over the last few years.
3 Keys to Improved Worship
1. God is the audience. When you hear the word audience associated with worship, what comes to mind? Do you picture the preacher, the praise team, the choir, the organist, the pianist, and various soloists on stage at different points with the congregation looking on as the audience? This is what comes to mind for many, but it is not a biblical model.
In biblical worship, the audience is God!
In biblical worship, the audience is God! The person seated on the back row of the balcony is “on stage” in God’s eyes just as much as the soloist and the preacher. God watches all of us as we worship Him. Those in the congregation must understand that those on stage are not there to please them; they are there to please God!
2. Every Christian should prepare for worship. Through the years, I have taught that we should come to the services “prepared” to worship God. We can’t worship if we’re worn out or hung over from a late Saturday night. We can’t place God first on Sunday if we haven’t given Him a second-thought during the week. Worship is a seven-day-a-week proposition and it takes special preparation to be ready for Sunday worship. Many get nothing out of worship because they’ve put nothing into worship during the week.
We can’t place God first on Sunday if we haven’t given Him a second-thought during the week.
3. Preaching is a two-way street. Every week I look out and see a plethora of reactions to my preaching. I see some on the edge of their seats, making mental notes and often taking written notes. Sitting near them, I often see someone fighting back sleep. Now I realize that some people have medical issues that cause them to sleep any time they get still for a minute or two, but I suspect that some are just dulled to the message because of their lifestyle. My preaching would improve in their eyes if they would improve the way they live.
Challenge: I challenge you to a little experiment. Spend one entire week preparing for worship on Sunday. Read your Bible and pray every day. Ask the Lord to help your pastor to hear His voice as He shows him what to say. Go to bed early on Saturday and get to church a little early on Sunday so you won’t feel rushed. During the service, remember that God hears your expressions of praise and knows your heart. I am confident that worship will “come alive” for us like never before when we make it a true priority in our lives.
Steve Rice 
When I first saw the title of this post, I thought, “Worship has it’s own theology?” How do you actually “study” or theorize (is that a word?) something that is so intensely personal, special, and highly subjective? I guess if you want to do a personal study on worship (which I’ve done), to see what God says it is, and to see the examples of the great worshipers of the bible, then that makes sense to me. But the words, “theology” and “worship” just don’t seem to go together. I guess I picture a cold classroom in some seminary where the professor asks that question, then analyzes and scrutinizes the topic to death. But Steve, as I read what you wrote, I began to see that you weren’t squeezing the life out of the topic of worship, but inviting others to prepare their hearts for that special commraderie (spelling?) that we share with God and each other as we worship corporately. You’re so right! When you’re on stage and see the reactions (or lack thereof) of everyone in the room, it really does affect the energy you put into your singing, or preaching. Meaning that neither you, the congregation memeber, or the Lord is getting our very best.
Anyway, I loved that you brought it all back to it being about our “audience of One.” We do it all for Him! Thanks for that reminder today.
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Thanks Angie.
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