Some church services are cold – and I don’t mean the room temperature. Instead, there simply is little sense of Christian warmth, little indication of Holy Spirit-given “fire” when the congregation gathers. If that’s sometimes the case in your church, maybe one of these suggestions will be encouraging to you:
- Pray you’re reading the situation properly – but, more importantly, be sure to pray for God’s love and power to be evident in the congregation. My goal is that we would not get discouraged by the situation, but that we would instead pray God’s blessing on the group. In general, it’s a good rule to pray first for the Lord’s wisdom and insight before we reach conclusions.
- Remember that all kinds of things can contribute to an apparent lack of “fire.” It could be that the church is dealing with internal conflict. It could also be they’re dealing with corporate grief over some tragedy in the church family or the announcement of a departing staff member. Maybe the church has spent little time praying together. Or, it could even be that a bunch of folks are just tired . . . . My point is that we may not know the cause of the coldness, so we should not immediately make a judgment about the church.
- Pray specifically for those who lead the worship service. They may or may not recognize the coldness. But, my experience has been that the leaders are often aware when something is amiss. In fact, sometimes our own situations and struggles contribute to the problem. Pray your church leaders would not be distracted or discouraged as they lead the congregation to encounter God.
- Give yourself fully to the worship experience. Regardless of your assessment of the situation, don’t be part of the problem. Come to the service with your heart in tune with God. Pray before you join other believers, and ask the Lord to give you godly expectation for the service. Bring the “fire” with you.
- Watch for “glimpses” of God’s work among the congregation. I’ve previously written about the value of daily seeing the glimpses of God’s glory in our lives, but it’s especially important to watch for them in worship. Sometimes a fire starts with just an ember – with a spark of the hand of God moving in a life. You may not immediately see that spark, but you’ll approach the service differently if you believe God is still doing that kind of work. And, He is . . . .
Readers, let’s agree together to pray for the “fire” of God to be evident in the services of all our churches this weekend!
