Worship and Expectancy

In his classic book, A Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster states:

“To worship is to experience reality, to touch life. It is to know, to feel, to experience the resurrected Christ in the midst of the gathered community. It is to break into the Shekinah off God, or better yet, being invaded by the Shekinah of God.”

That’s some pretty profound stuff! First of all let me define Shekinah. Shekinah denotes the presence of God, as opposed to a God who is abstract, aloof or virtually theoretical.

It would be my educated guess that for the majority of us who gather together on a regular bases to worship, there would be a lack of focus and expectancy when we come to worship. The process of getting the family ready for church alone is enough to knock us off balance and keep us from entering into worship with a faith filled heart.

I think it would be safe to say that virtually everything in life conspires against an ability to rest in Christ, to sit at His feet, to depend on Him for everything. It is easy for us to be distracted, lacking focus.

How often do we get up on a Sunday morning and feel an excitement and anticipation regarding the worship service? How often do we realize that in the gathering of the community of faith there is the promise of God’s presence and its power touch and transform our lives? We all know that having a quiet time or devotional time is an important part of our walk with God. But it is in the gathering together with others that Jesus promises to be in our midst. Jesus said ‘Where two or more are gather in my name, there I will be in the midst of them.’ So every time we gather together with other believers we have the promise of the presence of God. I think that experience is intensified when we gather together to praise and worship God in the corporate gatherings. Singing songs and lifting our hearts to God in faith. There is something very special when we gather corporately, the dynamic is different.

The dynamic changes even more when we gather with expectancy, with faith, believing that God rewards those who seek him. The Bible says, ‘Without faith it’s impossible to please God.’ Conversely if we gather with faith we can be assured that God is pleased. How incredible is that, that we can be pleasing to God in our worship.

The truth is when we gather to worship; we disengage from the reality of this world and its cares and burdens, allowing us to engage with the reality of God and His kingdom.

I would encourage you to come to worship with expectancy, ready to meet with God, ready to bless Him. In doing so I believe you will truly be blessed.