How to Worship God When Your Heart Isn't in It
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We’ve all woken up on the Lord’s Day wishing we could just stay in bed and catch up on the rest we missed the previous week, or even the previous night. Sometimes we succumb to our selfish desire and roll over.
Other times we have something fun to do and we avoid gathering with the church for frivolity. And still other times we force ourselves to our place of worship and “slog” through the day’s rituals. Yet we are commanded to worship the Lord.
How can we worship when we don’t feel like it? The truth is that we can and we should. We just have to keep our central priorities in order. Let’s look at what the Bible tells us about the Lord’s Day worship and then revisit this question.
What Is Worship?
The Ten Commandments detail God’s command to worship Him. The fourth commandment tells us, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” The passage continues with the “how and why” of keeping the Sabbath. “You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11).
God commands we set aside one day in seven from our regular vocations and devote that one day to worship — that which He calls the holy Sabbath. At first the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, but Christ’s resurrection instituted the first day of the week — the Lord’s Day — as the Sabbath.
Worship, therefore, revolves around the Lord Christ from beginning to end. Because God is Who He is, divine and holy, a profound difference exists between the Creator and His creation. We owe Him our lives and our praise. Worship is receiving rest from the Lord — spiritual rest.
A profound definition of worship is given by Dr. Joel R. Beeke, “Since God is one and unique, far more majestic than all the created world, worship is the act of His creatures celebrating His unique glory according to His will.” The liturgy we enjoy every Lord’s Day points to God’s redemptive plan for us in and through Christ. As we worship the Lord, we declare His supreme worthiness of all glory, honor, and blessing.
Under the Old Covenant, the Law served Israel toward a “Do this and live” lifestyle (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). Even though they could never obey the law perfectly, the Sanhedrin (the Jewish religious leaders) tried. Regarding worship and the Sabbath, however, they became so self-righteous and legalistic that Jesus rebuked them with serious, true charges in Matthew 23:1-39.
In the New Covenant (of grace), Jesus states, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). Jesus later said, “But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). Jesus spoke of true worshipers. That’s us — Christians.
Why Should a Christian Regularly Attend Worship Services?
The Lord commands that we gather together as a church (Hebrews 10:25). This verse from the book of Hebrews also tells us gathering together with the saints (all Christians are saints) brings encouragement to each other when we meet face-to-face.
It is primarily by attending services that a Christian is served by the Lord’s grace. Let me explain: Every Sunday, many churches provide the ordinary means of grace through which the Lord serves us — the Word read and proclaimed, the Lord’s Supper, and baptism (when they occur). Included in these means are prayer and fellowship with other believers.
Christianity is supernatural, and Christ, through the Holy Spirit, meets with His church every Lord’s Day. Discipleship happens on Sundays with the church, as does sanctification through the pouring out of the Lord’s grace. And Christians grow in His grace and knowledge.
Matthew 11:28 states this wonderful truth from Christ, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” If (when) we don’t feel like worshiping, aren’t we weary and burdened?
Weary and burdened could also be said to be cold and numb. Read these words from seventeenth-century English Puritan Richard Sibbes (as quoted by teaching elder Tony Phelps), “If Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, we should, when we are spiritually cold and numb, retreat to him, and know that he has exactly what we need. Are we dark? He is light. Are we sick? He can heal us. Are we dying? He is life. Are we in discomfort? He is the fullness of love. He is the Sun, we should seek him, and make him our all in all. Make him our Prophet, to direct us by his light; our Priest, to make atonement for us; our King, to help us overcome all our corruptions, and to make us more than conquerors. Malachi tells us, ‘the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings.’”
We learn the creeds and confessions of the faith, which help spur us to consistent worship together with our brothers- and sisters–in-Christ. Most churches have doctrines which guide their faith and practices. None of these supplant Scripture, which alone is our ultimate source for life in Christ. The creeds and confessions of the faith, however, help to firm our foundation and to protect our church as boundaries—where we can go and also where we cannot.
The Second London Confession of Faith (22.5, 8) states, “The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe a holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy … The elements of religious worship of God include reading the Scriptures, preaching and hearing the Word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord, as well as the administration of baptism and the Lord’s supper. The manner of each of these ought to be consistent with the posture of genuine Christian thankfulness and humility: They must be performed out of obedience to him, with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear.
Acts 2:42 tells us about coming together to worship, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” Each part involves the gathering together of the church. None of us is to go solo in our Christian life. Our triune God is relational, and as such, we His people are to be relational, too, especially as we worship Him.
We have never obeyed the Lord’s command to love Him with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Nor have we ever loved our neighbor as ourselves. We won’t until we are in glory. But we know the One who lived the life we cannot live (perfect and sinless) and died the death we deserve — Jesus Christ. Christians need to join together with our local church to learn more about Jesus and grow in His grace and knowledge.
Know He is for you and rest in Him — what He has done, is doing, and will do. We are saved by grace through faith. And our sins (past, present, and future) are forgiven. These are truths we need to be reminded of in person every week.
Our time of worship in community with our church family is to be taken seriously. Yes, circumstances may sometimes prohibit us from joining together in person with our local church (sickness, unplanned travel, etc.), but we should make every effort to be there each Lord’s Day. Acts 2:42 details how our worship should take place, “Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.”
A Christian’s whole life is to be worshipful, living as unto the Lord (Romans 12:1-2, Colossians 3:17). Jesus, Who died for us, is worthy of our love and thankfulness (1 John 4:19; Psalm 95:2) for what’s He’s done (John 3:16), is doing (Matthew 16:18), and will do (Revelation 21:5).
Let’s circle back to our question, “How can we worship when we don’t feel like it?” The answer is that we worship anyway, because it’s about reverence for the Lord, not about our feelings. Wise words about this come from The Reclamation podcast co-host, Michael Lewis, “…if you want to participate in your sanctification, show up to church and receive Christ and receive the sacraments.”
Amen.
Source
Reformed Systematic Theology –Volume 4- Church and Last Things by Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley, Copyright © 2024, pp. 408. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Jantanee Rungpranomkorn
