Listening to Worship

We often think of worship as the songs we sing, but listening to the preaching of God's Word is also an act of worship. Just as we prepare our hearts to praise Him with our voices, we should prepare our hearts to receive His Word with faith, humility, and obedience.
Here are eight ways to engage with a sermon so that listening becomes more than merely part of your Sunday routine.

Listen Humbly
Realize that you need God's Word. Don't listen with a grudge or a spirit of arrogance. Don't allow familiarity with the text to hinder your willingness to be taught. Every passage of Scripture has something to teach us because God always has something to teach us.

Listen Intently
Do whatever you must to stay engaged with the message. Sit near the front, take notes, or remove distractions. Listen attentively and expectantly. Fight the urge to let your mind wander. When you notice your attention drifting, pray and ask God to help you focus.

Listen Biblically
Use your mind to weigh what is being taught against what you know from Scripture, just as the Bereans did (Acts 17:11). A faithful listener doesn't check their brain at the door; they gladly test every teaching by God's Word.

Listen Personally
Listen for yourself, not just for someone else who "needs to hear this". Ask God to show you how His Word applies to your own heart and life. Think about how you should respond to what you hear. Ask God to show you specific ways you can be conformed more and more to the image of Christ. Then, by His grace, act on what He shows you.

Listen Gratefully
Be thankful that God has given your pastor the desire, gifts, and perseverance to faithfully study, prepare, and proclaim His Word. Above all, be grateful that God has graciously spoken to His people through the Scriptures.

And on the days when you still struggle to focus or cultivate a worshipful attitude? That's when you preach the gospel to yourself.

Remind yourself that God's perfect Son stepped into history, taking on human flesh. He willingly bore our weaknesses, our failures, and our rebellion, cancelling the debt we could never repay. He died the death we deserved so that we could receive the life we never deserved.

Because of Christ, even when we fail to listen well or come with distracted hearts, we are not met with condemnation but with grace. His mercy frees us to repent, to grow, and to try again.

So thank Him for His grace. Ask Him to give you ears to hear. Then, in humble trust and joyful obedience, come ready to worship Him through the hearing of His Word.