God not only expects his people to worship him in private settings, individually and within family circles—but he expects us to worship him publicly with the gathered church. On the Lord’s Day, we are to worship him in spirit and truth through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word (2 Tim. 3:16-4:5; Acts 2:42), praise him in song (Eph. 5:18-19; Col. 3:16), experience him in the ordinances (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), and pray together as a church and for the church.

This week, I was reading Wayne Mack’s book—Life in the Father’s House in preparation for my men’s book study, and one line hit me and made me think. He writes, “Praying specifically for the church services is another way of preparing ourselves for them.” [1]

Sure, you pray for the church. That’s what we are called to do as Christians. You have been taught the difference between the church building and the church body. However, as we devote ourselves to praying for the individuals and the families of our church—along with the leaders—when was the last time you prayed for the worship service?

If you’ve been in the life of the church for any length of time, you’ve probably come to the reality that people have various and sundry opinions about every detail of the worship service. Sometimes these opinions are expressed in form of compliment, but still others are offered in the form of complaints. For some, the preacher preaches too long or he uses confusing vocabulary. For others, the music does not suit their needs. Still others have complaints about the fact that we’re standing too long in the worship service.

At the end of the day, some of the complaints may have merit, but how much of the complaining would be solved by a simple prayer each week that centered upon the worship service? I recall arriving early on Sunday mornings and gathering with men from our church to pray for the worship service each week. I remember that as a college student, I was made aware of the seriousness of the worship service and the need to commit it to prayer every week. How would this change our view of what’s happening in the worship service every week?

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