Worship Requires Preparation
What Happens Before the Music Starts Matters
WORSHIP ARTICLES AND TEACHING
9/8/20261 min read
By Pastor George Kingsley Judah
We prepare for what we consider important. Before an important meeting, we review our notes; before a journey, we make arrangements; and before a wedding, considerable preparation may take place. Yet when it comes to worship, we can sometimes assume that preparation belongs mainly to those leading the service.
The musicians rehearse, the worship leader prepares the songs, the pastor prepares the message, and the technical team prepares the equipment. The congregation then arrives expecting to worship. Scripture, however, presents another picture: the worshipper also prepares.
Before Israel encountered God at Mount Sinai, the Lord instructed Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day” (Exodus 19:10–11).
They were not approaching an ordinary event; they were preparing to encounter the holy God. Their preparation communicated an enduring principle: we prepare for what we consider significant.
Christians are not required to reproduce Israel’s preparations at Sinai, but the principle remains instructive. If God matters to us, approaching worship with intentionality should matter too.