When we worship, there are times when we are actually talking to God. I'm not sure if worshipers are always thinking of that, or are even prepared for that.
We should first be clear that in order to speak to God, it must be through Jesus Christ. He is not some sort of interpreter, but He is the Mediator. It is on the basis of His sacrifice and righteousness that we have access to God. (Heb. 10:19-25) We can only speak to our Father in heaven by Christ's merits.
It should also be obvious that when speaking to our God and Father that we give Him our humble and undivided attention. We are speaking to a Holy God who is more perfect and powerful than our minds can even comprehend. And, at the same time, God has adopted us into the household of faith. This means we can address him as "Abba Father." In either case we must be careful to speak to Him in accord with His revealed will and with reverence.
But when are we actually talking to God in the worship service?
It should begin with a prayer before the service begins-sometimes called a "Silent Prayer." This is a personal prayer in which we ask God as an individual worshiper to help us put away any distractions, help us to receive His revelation, and receive the worship of a humble servant in Christ.
In a service there are a number of times when prayer is offered by the minister. The first is an Invocation. Here we, as a congregation, are invoking the blessing of God's Holy Spirit to enable us to glorify the Name of our God. We are confessing here that we ourselves are unworthy, but that we come to the Father through the Son's merits.
The longest prayer is the congregational prayer. These words should be the words of the entire congregation brought to the throne of God. This is not a time to let our minds wander or to nod off. We should mentally follow the words of the minister, who leads in bringing words of praise, confession and supplication before our Father in heaven. At times people will ask the pastor to include certain items of praise or need in this prayer. A congregational prayer demonstrates that the congregation comes to God as one body and one voice to beseech Him for His mercy, grace, and love.
Another prayer often offered up is the recitation of the Lord's Prayer by all the people. This is a model prayer which Jesus gave us so that all aspects of praying to God would be brought to our Father. It is good to think of each of the petitions of this prayer. To know the explanation of them in our Heidelberg Catechism helps us to give thought to each petition brought to God.
When we confess our faith before God, we are repeating together the basis of our understanding of the faith. Clearly, the recitation of the Apostles' Creed is telling God that these articles are the summary of what we as Christians believe. Sometimes we read portions of the other creeds of the church-in unison or by the pastor. Here again, we are telling God what is in our hearts through the words of our mouth. The words of these creeds are carefully written so they are in harmony with the Word of God. The Apostles' Creed is more of a personal nature (beginning with "I believe..."), whereas the Belgic Confession (beginning each article with "We believe...") displays the corporate nature of our confession.
Singing hymns and psalms are a special way of speaking to God. Since we are only to speak those things which are consistent with sound faith and are in accord with the Scriptures, what we sing to God must be in complete accord with the revealed will of God. Songs take on various themes-some are especially praise, some are confessions of our faith, some are supplications for our needs. But, in each case they are not sung to the people, but by the people to God. When we hear applause after a choir or a solo, it reveals that maybe the song was misdirected. If you are directed to turn to a certain song in a service, you should sing it with all your heart. This is the worst possible time to take a restroom break or get a drink of water. I've never been able to put my finger on exactly why God ordained singing as a part of praise, but it is something that lifts our praise or petitions to a higher level. Witness the number of songs that God has left us in the book of Psalms.
We often begin our worship with what is called the Gloria Patri, which confesses the glorious nature of God. At the close of worship there is the song of praise uttered by all the people, called the Doxology. These final words spoken by the worshiper are high praise to God: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host: Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."
In communal worship we come to the Father, through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. God is speaking to us, so we must listen; we respond to His Word by speaking to Him. May each word bring Him glory.
