There are some things that you don't need to prepare for. You just do them. But there are other things that are more important and that have some significant consequences. These are things that you need to prepare for. Worship is one of these things. And that makes sense if a person remembers what we are doing on Sunday mornings. If all we are doing is having our weekly religious club meeting, then there is nothing that you need to do but show up. The people up front will let you know what to do. And the goal is your own satisfaction with what happens. So, you don't need to prepare for that. But if Sunday mornings is about our meeting with God so that we might offer to Him our worship, then that's different. That's something that we need to prepare for since that is something that we want to do well. We want offer a gift He will enjoy.
So, how does someone prepare for worship? When you prepare for some other important event you consider what the goal is and you prepare to achieve that goal. So, what's the goal on Sunday mornings? It's to offer the gift of worship to God. So, preparation is about doing that well. Each Sunday we speak, listen and eat as acts of worship. Preparation is getting ready to do those things well. One part of being prepared is being rested enough. It's hard to worship well if you're tired. That can result in zoning out at different points of the service. So, preparation might include being sure that you go to bed early enough to get enough sleep. When it comes time to speak, it's good to be able to do that with some understanding. So, it might be a good idea to know what we are going to sing or the Psalm we will be reading so that you can do those things well.
And more important than any of that is this. Being able to worship God well on Sunday depends on worshiping Him well during the week. Trying to have a good relationship with God only based on meeting with Him once a week is like a husband and wife trying to have a good marriage by seeing each other only once a week.
When it comes to worship the goal is not about us. It is about him. The goal is pleasing God with the gift of our worship. We prepare for worship so that we might offer Him something good.