Preparing the Heart

          In the many things we have discussed  and read through each of the books, there have been a few things that really convicted or were awakened for me personally. However, there is one concept in particular that I want to point my focus. In Gospel Worship, Jeremiah Burroughs talks about the “importance of preparing for worship.” (pg. 47) In my mind I guess I always thought that you just walk into a worship service and that God would do the rest. However, Jeremiah Burroughs make it very clear that we are sanctifying the name of God and because of this we need to be giving our all in worshipping God. More specifically we need to be preparing our hearts for worship. Burroughs also tells us that in scripture we are told to “sanctify ourselves for worship” (pg. 51) or “concentrate ourselves.” (ESV) Which in other words means to prepare to worship God. In 1 Samuel 16:5, Samuel tells the family of Jesse to concentrate themselves and to go with him into make a sacrifice. Also we see this again in Job 1:5, here Job is concentrating himself before offering up his sacrifices. I was also very taken back that there needs to be “preparation because of the great hindrances of the worship of God.” (pg. 55) During the semester I am so busy that when I’m not doing homework I am cooking, cleaning, practicing, or sleeping, I am not making excuses for myself in this matter if anything I was convicted about how busy I am. Thinking back on this past semester I can think of all the times that I was this busy and would just walk into church or into chapel more or less because it is the right thing to do, unfortunately this was not the right attitude to have because I was not opening up my heart for God to work. Not only do I want to work on this area of being prepared in cooperate worship but I also need to be pursuing this preparedness in my private worship time.  I believe in a sense I have always considered reading my Bible on a daily basis to be good enough for private worship, however, this is simply not enough. I have become to distracted with the many gizmos and gadgets to the point that I can be reading a verse one minute and the next be completely focused on whatever catches my eyes. When I am prepared for private worship I have noticed that my attention stays in the Word and what God is trying to teach me. I no longer want to be unprepared and miss out on the wonderful learning opportunities God gives. From now on I want to make it a goal to set aside time everyday before my devotions, chapel, and church to prepare my heart for worship. Through these books I have learned what true worship is and I am going to strive to worship God with all of my heart, soul, and mind.