This past Sunday we got to cap off our BURST series with a day of just musical praise. We sang songs, we threw some paint and we had some of the loudest drums we’ve ever had in our services. If you weren’t able to join us, you can relive all the fun on our series page.
And then we went home.
So now what? Here are three ways to continue growing in your worship of God.
Start the Day with Him
How we start the day can have an incredible impact on our attitude throughout the day. I can speak from experience on the days when I sleep through any and all alarms, or when the first thing I do when I get up is stub my toe. But aside from the little things, starting my day by making sure He is the first thing my brain takes in can have a drastic impact on the rest of it. For some of us that means we need to not look at our phones or the TV right when we get up. Technology is everywhere in our lives now, but that’s the thing — it’s still going to be everywhere five minutes later, so it can wait. Take the first few minutes to open your Bible instead of your Bible app, or to play a worship song while you’re getting ready rather than watching the morning news right away. Email and text messages can wait a few minutes. Give Him the priority He deserves by making Him a priority from the get-go. That simple act will be something you carry with you throughout the day because you started the day being AWARE of Him. That makes the moments where we come to praise Him even more meaningful because we can actually see how He has been working throughout the week.
Schedule Time to Rest with Him
That means like actually putting something ON YOUR CALENDAR.
Let’s be real, we LIVE by our calendars on our phones, and maybe the one on the fridge. If we’re going to start to be real with God about how much He means to us and our lives, let’s start setting some time aside for Him. And just Him.
Before you freak out, this will probably look very different for each person. Some of you might want to go hiking or go on an adventure with God (maybe even climb a tree). Some of you may want to find a quiet place out of town to be quiet and alone by a beach, a pool or a fireplace. Some of you may be terrified at the idea of being that alone, so you’ll find a noisy coffee shop in the next town over that’s new.
But the theme here is the same — you need to get AWAY. There is something about being intentional about getting out of your normal surroundings to spend time with God and listening to God that allows you to actually clear your head. I like to go to the beach and bring a journal and a Bible and just get everything in my head out on paper, then pray and listen for what God wants to do with it. Whatever it is for you, get away for half a day or even a whole day if you want, and make time to rest with God.
Find Moments to Sing
Nope, not joking. We talked this whole series about how God’s word actually tells us that He LOVES when we sing to Him! It doesn’t say He only loves when the Worship Team sings to Him. It doesn’t say He only loves when Josh Groban sings to him. WE. It’s as though David knew we would question this when he wrote this song in 1 Chronicles 16:8-10:
Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
Exult in his holy name;
rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
No way around that one, folks! Rather than fight it, I dare you to embrace it (and it seems David dares you, too). Whether that’s on your drive to work, your walk home, when you’re getting ready in the morning or when you’re making dinner at night — whatever it is, start by finding a time to blast your favorite worship tune and sing along. This is in no way about the quality of your voice or how well you know the words. This is about you and Him! Sing the words of the song until they’re real and true to you. No shame in hitting that repeat button! And remember, this isn’t about what we can get out of it, it’s about letting Him know how much we love him. The truth is you’ll get so much more out of that one act of loving God than you will have expected anyway.
Don’t let your worship end when you walk out the door on Sundays. Create the mental and physical space to spend time letting God know how much you love Him. He’s looking forward to spending that time with you this week.
If you’re at a loss for where to start, a great resource is our Hoboken Grace Spotify Playlist, which is updated often with the songs that we sing on Sundays. You can always go back and watch the music from any service on our Livestream page as well.
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