Sunday is coming.  The day when you gather together with other believers to worship God.  Have you ever considered the importance of preparing?  What would it look like to prepare for worship?  A couple of suggestions:

First, get a good night’s sleep.  If you stay up until all hours of the night, it is no wonder you are groggy during the service and struggling to stay awake during the sermon.  God deserves our best.  Get enough sleep so you will be alert and able to give your all.

Second, deal with your sins.  Examine your life.  Are there sins you need to confess to the Lord?  Sin hurts our fellowship with God; deal with them so you can worship God without hindrance.

Third, preview the passage you will be studying together.  If your pastor is working through a book of the Bible, this should be relatively easy.  If not, ask your pastor if he can put the next Sunday’s passage in the bulletin. Reading and pondering the passage ahead of time will prepare you to hear the message.  (It is also a great help for your children, but that is another post.)

Fourth, pray.  Pray that God would speak to you.  Ask God to help you praise him as you should.  Ask him to help you encourage others.  Pray for the pastor, teachers, ushers, musicians, nursery workers, etc.  If possible, meet with some others before the service to pray together for God to work among you.

Fifth, come with expectation.  Come eager to hear the Word.  Come excited to sing praises to God.  Come cheerfully to give your gifts to the Lord.  Come ready to build up others and serve.  Come with expectation of what God might do in you and through you.

Remember that these are suggestions, not laws.  I don’t do all of them every week.  Sometimes some of them just aren’t possible.  But they can help us come ready to worship.  Imagine if we all came ready to worship God together!   Let it begin with you.

How will you prepare for worship this weekend?