Jesus said that we should worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). To be faithful to this, I have constantly changed the order of worship based on three principles:
1 – The congregation must participate in worship instead of being spectators.
2 – The congregation should have worship experiences as diverse as possible.
3 – The order of worship should change when I, as the worship leader, feel that it’s no longer meaningful.
Based on principles 1 and 2, I introduced a time of silent prayer. But lately, I’ve felt that we’re doing it perfunctorily. So based on principle 3, I’d like to change it and do something different during that time.
Someone once defined Christians as “people who let God change them.” How true that is! Many people think of Christians as people who do things for God, but Christians are firstly people who let God do things for them. In our relationships with God, we are not the primary actors – God is. We are merely the recipients of His grace.
Our worship service lacks this aspect. So I’d like to introduce a time in the worship service for God to touch us.
This is not a new concept. During the New Life Bible study, we have a session where we wait for the Holy Spirit to touch us and minister to us. Consider our new time as having this session every Sunday.
There is peace and freedom in the presence of God. In order to experience it, sins that can hinder such grace from reaching us must be confessed and forgiven. We will do this during the time we used to have silent prayer.
As you close your eyes and wait for the Spirit to touch you, I’ll start singing. The words of the song will be recited verbally instead of being shown on the screen for those of you who want to sing with me while waiting for the Spirit to work. But you don’t have to sing along if you don’t feel like it.
And as we sing, we’ll take off our hurts, worries, fears, hatred, and pride, and place them in God’s hands, just like we take off our clothes to let a doctor heal us. God will heal our hurts, remove our sickness, free us from the binds of evil spirits, help us find our callings, and manifest our spiritual gifts.
If you feel the Spirit ministering to you, don’t leave after the last benediction, but sit and continue to pray as the Spirit works in you.
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