Prepare the way & get out of it!

I'm reading a great book right now by David W. Patterson called Equipping The Worship Team. In many ways it is right where I am at the moment in regards to leadership. In chapter 2 it brought to light something that I wanted to share with you.

Here's what David has to say about preparation:

"To know what is coming yet not prepare is a lack of faith even if you believe it will happen! If we truly believe God has called us to stand in His presence when the body of Christ gathers for worship, then we need to approach every meeting with anticipation and faith that God is going to do great things. If you believe God has called you to lead (in) a powerful worship team and see His presence influence your city, then what are you doing right now to prepare for the coming visitation? We see in Isaiah a prophecy of John the Baptist & Jesus. Within that prophetic word is a principle of preparing the way that applies to our churches and worship teams right now.

3"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make straight in the desert

A highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough places smooth;

5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed,

And all flesh shall see it together;

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah 40:3-5

In verse 4 where it says 'Every valley shall be exalted -raised up- and every mountain and hill made low,' this is referring to the ancient practice of preparing a travel route for kings, queens and monarchs.Before a dignitary would leave their domain to travel to another region they would send out an army to build a highway for the chariots of the emperor (did you know that...I didn't). This process would take months, sometimes years to remove the boulders, trees and debris from the road. If there were ravines that had been washed out they would fill them in. All of the obstacles, even hills and portions of mountain peaks were removed inpreparationn for the entrance of the sovereign. In regard to John the Baptist, the obstacles were religious tradition, self-righteousness and hardened hearts. The message of repentance and baptism was thepreparationn for the revealing of 'The Glory of The Lord', Christ. The principle here applies to our churches and worship communities; when we prepare the way by removing the obstacles and hindrances to true worship, the glory of the Lord will be revealed!"

I hope that this spoke to you as it did me. What is your heart like as you enter into corporate worship? Is it just one more thing in an already busy week, or have you "prepared the way" by eliminating all obstacles that might be in the way of the Lord?

I want to make sure that you understood one key point to this whole application. We are not removing obstacles that would keep us from Him. On the contrary, we are removing those things that keep Him from us! He so desperately desires to come and have community with us, His children.

Is the highway to your soul cleared and open for His Grand entrance??