Preparing for Worship

One question I get asked is how should one prepare themselves for worship? That’s a great question. A perfect place to look is God’s word. In the book of Isaiah we find a glimpse of what’s it’s like to worship the Almighty.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. Isaiah 6:1-4

There are angels in heaven created just to give our Father glory and praise. These seraphs have six wings. The wings represent how we come to worship.

Humility…with two wings they covered their face. This is a sign of humility. We must humble ourselves as we prepare and participate in worship. What is humility? In his book, The Purpose Drive Life, Rick Warren defines it as this: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” This reminds us of the need to place ourselves and our interests in the back seat during worship.

Dependence…with two wings they covered their feet. This is a sign of dependence. We should depend on God. Webster defines dependence as “the state of relying on or needing someone or something for aid, support, or the like.” When we come to worship our need for a holy God should be strong…stronger than any song we sing or play. Remember our phrase here at Cottonwood, “if you sing it like you need it, you’ll sound like you mean it.”

Service…with two wings they were flying. This is an act of serving. Notice that four out of the six wings are acts of worship. Before we can serve our Lord, we must come to Him in worship through humility and dependence.