Usually, my thought process is similar to this when I sit down after we’ve sung a few praise songs in church: Seriously? Did I really zone out for all of those songs? I just sang four hymns, and they didn’t count for anything? Why can’t I pay attention?
Because I’m too busy staring at the cute guy in front of me and wondering if he’ll ever notice me. Or I’m too busy looking at my friend’s bouncy curls and thinking about how I can make my hair look like hers. Or I’m too busy staring at the clock and thinking about how many minutes have passed since I last sat down.
Normally, my focus during church worship services isn’t actually worship. But why do I struggle to focus? Why can’t I ponder the words that I’m singing? Am I the only one who has trouble concentrating on God?
Overcomplicating It
The answers to these questions are actually really simple. Ultimately, Satan wants to distract believers so their focus is on themselves rather than God. He can’t destroy our relationships with Christ because nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). But he can distract us. He can use anything—from cute guys to bouncy curls to ticking clocks—to lure our thoughts away from Christ. And the truth is that we distract ourselves from Christ, too. In our sin nature, we shift our thoughts from what we should think about to what we want to think about—which ultimately causes our focus on ourselves instead of Christ.
Somehow, I have no trouble focusing on my family, friends, phone, or anything else in my life. But I just can’t seem to focus on Christ—and authentically worshipping Him—for 20 minutes a week during church.
Friends, our inability to focus on Christ isn’t something that can be treated with medication—it can only be treated by saturating ourselves in God’s Word and in prayer.
Saturating ourselves in God’s Word means reading it, studying it, memorizing it, and sharing it. Saturating ourselves in prayer means asking God to meet our needs, praising Him when He does, and thanking Him for who He is. It’s not easy, but it’s simple.
The “Why” Matters
There’s one more thing that we need to remember about worship and its purpose: God doesn’t love us because we sing worship songs and focus on the lyrics; He loves us because we’re His children.
Worship isn’t about trying to earn God’s love; it’s about seeking to honor Him because of who He is and what He has done. We all have to choose to meditate on Him while we worship. It probably won’t be fun or feel natural, but it’ll definitely be worthwhile.
Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. (Psalm 29:2 NKJV)
True worship gives God glory, and we need to do it consistently because He has done so many amazing things for us! Don’t do it so that He’ll grow in His love for you. Do it that you’ll grow in your love for Him.
This post was originally published here.
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