It would take a book or two to really delve into all the ways we could answer that question.  So, my plan today is to home in on just one small, albeit significant, way that God revealed I had inadvertently been giving him much less than he deserved.

We know there are many ways to worship God.  Through prayer, through evangelizing, through giving, through serving, through preaching the Word, through confession and repentance, to name just a few.  While we don’t always classify those as worship, as a side note, I’d encourage you to consider them in your total “worship picture.”

The worship I want to address today is often what we traditionally consider worship – singing songs of praise to God.  It’s why we often call the music time on Sunday, our worship time.

Before I share how God spoke to me this past Sunday morning, I want to list a few other ways our thoughts can be distracted during worship.

• “I don’t really like this song.”
• “I think the drums/guitar/keyboard/singer is too loud/soft.”
• “Did I forget to put my phone on silent?”
• “I still don’t know what we’re having for lunch today.”
• “Doesn’t [so-and-so] look adorable/tired/messy etc. today?”
• “I wish that kid (or my kid) would stop crying/fussing/fighting.”
• “Why don’t the parents take him/her out?”
• “I wonder if I could sneak a nap in this afternoon.”
• “I’m so mad at my spouse/child/boss/mom/dad/friend.”
• “I need to talk to [so-and-so] about [such-and-such].”
• “I’m not sure what to do about … anything!”

How many bullet points do you suppose I could come up with?  Endless numbers!  If we could see the collective Sunday morning worship time thoughts as actual dialog balloons above our heads, I’m quite sure we’d all be appalled!  Guess who doesn’t need a dialog balloon to know our thoughts.  Yep, God.  How discouraging must that be for him?

I wanted to get all those typical distractions out of the way so I could share the unusual and very specific way that God revealed my wandering mind.  I share it today, in part because we are headed into the Advent season when many of us will be singing very familiar Christmas-themed songs.

As a musician and long-time alto, I almost always hear harmony when I’m singing along with any song, and specifically when singing worship songs on Sunday mornings.  I’ve never considered that to be inappropriate, let alone a distraction.

But that’s where God led me this past Sunday.  He revealed to me that my focus through the songs was primarily on hearing the best harmony notes.  Or whether I should sing the melody on this section because it is right in my range.   Or would someone hear that harmony and think it adds something to the worship? 

God convicted me of the fact that I was letting my musicality (def: “sensitivity to, knowledge of, or talent for music”) take center stage while I was singing.  Oh sure, I knew what words I was singing, and had some level of awareness of their meaning or theology.  And there were times that I clearly felt the Spirit infusing my worship. But I began to see that, more often than not, my focus was on the technical aspect of singing.

It was a humbling, sobering realization.  Not only was my focus misplaced, but I began to grasp the magnitude of all that I was missing through this newly discovered distraction.  How much deeper and richer could my worship experience be if I let go of any performance biases (even if unintentional), and let the Holy Spirit fill me with the truth of the words I was singing?

Now, you may or may not be a musician, but I bet you could relate to that bullet point list!  And, honestly, those thoughts distract me, too.  So what’s the solution to all these distractions?  Can we just will ourselves to stay on subject?  In my own strength, I could do that for maybe ten seconds.

I believe the solution is two-part.  And both parts require a prayerful conversation with God.  First of all, ask God to reveal to you the myriad ways that you can be distracted during this vital aspect of Sunday morning worship.  In many cases, I bet you already know some of your distractions, as did I.

But perhaps there are some hidden ways that your heart is led away from true worship.  Much like God revealed to me.  And as a reminder, Satan does not want you worshiping God with your full attention and devotion!

Secondly, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit during these times so that it’s HIS strength and focus that allows you to worship your faithful Father more fully.

As we enter the Christmas season, I’m adding one more distraction – familiarity.  We’ve sung those Christmas carols for decades perhaps.  Ask God to help you see them with fresh, expectant eyes, revealing truths you may have been missing in years past. 

As God opens our eyes to these distractions, may our worship begin to resemble true worship that honors him more wholly.

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;

let this be made known in all the earth.

Isaiah 12:5