Hindrances to Worship
There are many things that can cause hindrances during a worship service. These can be quite detrimental and make your ministry less effective. Remember your goal is to first worship God yourself and also help lead the worshipers you minister to come along with you and enter in that place where they are free to worship God.
Noise
The first issue I want to cover is noise. Outside noise can distract some people that they have trouble focusing in to worship. These noises will at times draw the worshipers attention away from God. Therefore you need to make sure that the environment is free of as outside noises a possible. Imagine if you will that just outside a construction crew pulls up and starts to work. They get out a jack hammer and start pounding out the concrete. As you know this is very loud. You are ready to begin your worship service and the people have trouble focusing because of the noise. I know that this is probably and extreme example but I am sure you get the picture.
Your Heart
Another big hindrance to worship is your own heart. You are a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You have a responsibility to demonstrate the truth. You, quite frankly, are an example to the people you minister to. If your heart is in the wrong place it will make it extremely difficult to do what you are called to do. It may even be somewhat hypocritical. You need to be in tune with the Spirit of God. Here are some things that you need to do.
- Pray – Talk to God and let Him speak to you
- Read – Read you Bible regularly so that your tank is full
- Reconcile – If you are have problems with other people you need to set things right. Having something against your brother will greatly affect your ability to worship God. You may need to forgive and reconcile with that person.
- Know your calling – You may be an awesome singer or musician but you are not called by God to be on the worship ministry. Yes, this is quite possible. You need to be sure of your calling. If you are not called you will not have the passion and heart to this type of ministry.
- Have confidence in your salvation – The most important thing you need is to have confidence in your salvation. You could be in the ministry because of a need. But, you never accepted by faith the truth of the Gospel. This is cornerstone to have the right heart.
Talking
There is a time and a place for conversation. However during worship is not that time. The worship service is reserved for communion with God. As a worship leader you need to be aware of situations in which someone in the church is talking out of line. It is your job to point this out in such a manner as to not offend that offending party.
Not being prepared
It is your responsibility to be prepared for your service. This means making sure that your heart is right with God. It means that you need to know an memorize the songs. Nothing is more distracting that a disorganized worship leader. It is vitally important that everyone is rehearsed and knows their individual parts. You need to make sure that the learning resources are ready and available to the congregation (overheads, bulletin, etc.). Lack of preparation will interrupt the flow of the service. Therefore always be prepared.
What can you do now?
Obviously, you have learned that there are many ways that worship can be affected by various distractions. It is up to you to find ways to avoid these situations. There are things you can do spiritually like prayer. There are things you can do to the environment to create an atmosphere that will make it more accessible to worship. There are things you can do as a leader to help avoid these hindrances. But remember that God’s word does not return void. Even though there may be hindrances to the worship service, it is also important to note that you are in a spiritual battle. And you need to treat these hindrances as attempt by the enemy to thwart the work of God. To this I add, In all cases God’s will will prevail. And this is where you can place you total trust.
RESOURCE BOX
This article is an excerpt for the new book by John Pape, Jr titled "Building
a House of Worship" For more information on how you can get your copy
of this book go to… http://www.buildingahouseofworship.com
John Pape from El Cajon California, an independent, self-managed Christian songwriter who creates worship and praise music for seekers and believers in the church. His music ministry mission is to create songs that will encourage a closer relationship to Jesus. The songs are crafted to encourage Christians in their daily walk. The songs provide a positive soundtrack for people’s lives. John’s songwriting drive is to honor God though words and music. His experience has grown over several years of honing the art of songwriting. In addition to writing songs, John also uses his musical gifts to lead worship in local churches. Currently John is working on a project to release several new Praise and Worship songs that were written to build and encourage Christians in their daily walk. John has loved music all his life. His first musical experience was playing the violin at the Bostonia Elementary School Orchestra and singing in the Glee Club. During high school John got a guitar. This began a new venture that has continued to this day. Learning all he could about the guitar and music John became a very competent musician. The enthusiasm for this instrument led him to become involved with various rock bands. At first these groups played popular cover tunes. Eventually, John’s desire to express more artistic creativity led him to collaborate with others to write original music. Out of this a home recording studio was created and at the same time the songs were being performed with a music group. Most of the venues were at local San Diego establishments. John is also author of the book “Building a House of Worship”. The book was written as a guide to Christian church worship leaders to better minister to the people they serve as they use their gift of music. “Music is a wonderful thing.” says John, “It has the unique ability to invoke emotions without any words. Add Lyrics and the words meanings are enhanced tenfold.” John continued to say, “Music is such an integral part of life. I love the creation of a new song.”
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