What is the ideal worship service to you?

Would it consist of singing?

Shouting?

Raising hands?

Praying?

Lots of "Amen!"s and " Hallelujah! "s?

Jumping?

Crying?

I believe the prime example of the "ideal worship service" was given to us by God himself in Nehemiah chapter eight. And I will break it down for you!

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"Now all the people gathered together as one man (#1) in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate (#2); and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel (#3).
So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding (#4) on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday (#5), before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law (#6).

So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose (#7); and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up (#8). And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground."

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(#1):
They gathered as "one man."
Unity. Unity in a group worship is important.

(#2).
They gathered in front of the Water Gate.
It doesn't matter where you are. As long as you are attentive to the Spirit and have your heart, mind, and soul set purposefully and solely on worshiping Him, God will provide and you will see mighty things take place.
The scripture also said they were in the middle of the open town, meaning that people were probably passing by, but did they care? Heck no, tech no! All they were worried about what how much they could please the Lord with their praise! Amen!

(#3):
The Lord commanded them to assemble.
Assembly of the brothers and sisters in Christ is something God expects from us. He commanded us to. I feel like we take assembly for granted too often and we don't put it as a priority like we should. This commandment from God is just as important and living as "thou shalt not kill," right?
Though, it doesn't have to be in a church setting. You can have a worship service with just you and Jesus. Those are pretty heckin lit, too!

(#4):
The assembly consisted of ALL people with understanding.
Men, women, and even children. All who could hear and comprehend were there. If we look at this with a bit of a deeper perspective, in a way I think it is meant to remind to not exclude anyone from reaching God's word and His presence. Some parents say their kids are too young to understand or we think people with bad history shouldn't be let in to the service for "safety concerns" when all they need is Jesus, just like you once did.

(#5):
Ezra read the Word from morning to the afternoon.
You can call it whatever you'd like, but I believe that is some serious dedication, passion, and an incomparable desire to worship God. Ezra spoke for HALF a day, praising God's name in front of these people. Would you be willing to do that?

(#6):
Every single person was attentive my listening to the Word.
There was no one dozing off, thinking about something else, wondering around, playing on their phone, checking social media, twirling their hair. No. They were all so captivated, so passionately into worshipping God and absorbing His holy word.

(#7):
They had prepared beforehand a special platform for Ezra to preach the Word from.
Guys, these people were SO passionate - just wanting to praise God and give Him their absolute all - that they went out of their way to prepare a place for it!

(#8):
All of them stood for the entire half-day service.
Again, passion. Dedication. Desire to worship their Saviour. You seeing where I'm going with this?

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I WANT TO BE A PART OF A WORSHIP SERVICE LIKE THIS ONE!
I bet we all feel that way, but here's the catch: Do we ever make a true effort towards that worship? Or do we sit and fiddle and think about what's for lunch, what your ex said to you, how you're getting home from rehearsals, etc.?

Many times I find myself wanting to praise Him, wanting to say amen or raise my hand or cry, but I don't because I'm afraid someone will see me. Why, though? That's so dumb! My Bible tells me to not quench the Spirit! Yet, we all fail.

But today, together let's start making an effort towards removing all of the outside noise and focusing on worshipping God our Father with every part of us. And meaning it. Jesus meant it when He sacrificed Himself for us, didn't He? And He did it publicly, didn't He? So why don't we?

One day or day one. You decide.

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I hope me breaking down this scripture piece by piece has really helped you and maybe even inspired you to not only put meaning into your worship, but to also dig into your Bible. Highlight, make notes on the side, use sticky notes, underline, get a separate notebook for dissecting scriptures... It doesn't have to be anything fancy, really. But I feel like true worship begins partly with true studying and understanding of God's divine word.

A Bible that's torn in pieces usually belongs to a person who's whole.

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Please pray for my Mawmaw. She has a LOT of heart issues and they only seem to be getting worse. We had to take her to the hospital today right before my sister's wedding shower, which got stressful. They put her in ICU immediately. They ran some tests to see if she'd had another heart attack or not and by the grace of God alone she did not have a heart attack, but she still needs your prayers that hopefully things will get better sooner than later. My sister is getting married in three weeks and we want our Mawmaw there. 😊

Thank you! I love you all so much!!
God bless you and keep you safe!

•BPL

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