Hindrances to Worship

John Pape, Jr.

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 accessable to worship. There are things you can do as a leader to help avoid these hinderances. But remember that God's word does not return void. Even though there may be hinderances to the worship service, it is also important to note that you are in a spiritual battle. And you need to treat these hinderances 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
SPECIAL NOTICE: Please feel free to publish this article in your e-zines, newsletters, on your website or in your book. I only require that you publish the Resource Box and the end of the article.
Copyright John Pape Jr.

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