Should I Ever Go Through the Motions in Worship? // Ask Pastor John

Is there an alternative between empty, duty-driven worship and spontaneous, joyful worship? Pastor John gives six marks of a middle way.
Happy Thanksgiving! This episode releases on the evening of the holiday, and we pray your day has been full of gratitude for God’s kindness. As we look forward to another weekend, today’s timely question is about corporate worship, from a listener named Scott.
“Dear Pastor John (and Tony), on this show I have heard you say that no one can truly worship God without enjoying him. That’s been a big indictment to me for the many occasions in church when I have participated in the service without any feelings of joy in God for who he is.
“So my question is, Should we still try to worship God even when we aren’t enjoying him? Should we wait for enjoyment to come first — seek it out prior to the beginning of musical worship? I have a feeling you’re going to say we should go ahead and try, and pray for enjoyment. So then, can we work backward from an action to a state of heart? That is, can going through the motions of worship produce in us the sort of heart that would bring forth that same worship spontaneously?”
Episode 1280:
Related Resources:
“Should We Sing of God’s ‘Reckless Love’?”
“Should We Raise Our Hands in Worship?”
“When Worship Lyrics Miss the Mark”
“What Is Worship?”
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