I was in a prayer meeting with six or seven students. One of the leaders brought an IPhone to play worship music on. I do this often as well but tonight the inevitable happened; in the middle of a song the phone rang, later you could hear an email come through, then a Words With Friends update.
I could have taken the route of saying, “nothing should distract you from worshipping God”. Then I began to think of worship as a relational activity with God rather than to God.
What if God wants to interrupt our worship? Our song? Our prayer? Our dance? What if he has something to tell us or reveal to us?
Many religions objectify their god. Their god is a static tool for them to worship. The god simply sits and listens to the chants and prayers and is under no obligation to interact with it’s worshippers. But this is not true of our God.
We teach our students and ourselves to focus on worshipping Jesus and to not be distracted. But, what if God interrupts our worship with the thought of a scripture or a command.
- Maybe there’s a sin God wants us to repent from in the middle of our favorite song? Isn’t that what the presence of God does? It reveals. All things come to light. In God’s presence, Isaiah became aware of his foul mouth.
- Jesus said, “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.” Matthew 5:23-24 Maybe God wants us to stop worshipping and reconcile a relationship.
- As the worship leader or youth pastor, if the Spirit is moving, interrupt static worship for a call to prayer or tell someone that you love them or to respond to the worship song in some way with action. Obedience is worship.
God is not an idol of static worship. He is the ever-living God who wants to celebrate a son coming home, forgive a sinner who repents, hug a child seeking love, befriend a lonely soul seeking a friend.
Let us worship God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let us leave room for God to interrupt our singing, our raising of hands, our kneeling and our focus so we may worship Him with our obedience.