How do you pray in a formal worship service? Of course we want to join our hearts to prayers that are prayed out loud as part of the service. And we pour ourselves into the praises being sung.

However, there’s so much more praying we can do in a worship service. Every time we enter a worship service we can ask God to help us hear His voice. One of my life Scriptures is Matthew 23:1–12. In those verses Jesus said none of us were to be called rabbi or instructor “for you have one Instructor, the Messiah [Christ].”

This is a reminder that if we learn from or are stirred by a preacher, Christ Jesus Himself is speaking through that person.

For many years, as a pastor, I began worship services by inviting people to ask God to speak to them and let them hear His voice. I usually added words like, “I do not believe it offends God for you to pray, ‘God if You are real, let me hear Your voice.’”

I have also asked people to pray the same prayer for the persons seated on either side of them. We may not know exactly what that person needs to hear from God, but He knows. During the course of the service, worshipers can pray for many people seated around them. Pastors can encourage this to become a regular practice. When your mind wanders, bring it back by praying for the person next to you!

Though it is good not to be distracted from our own needs or sins, I believe we ourselves are more likely to hear God’s voice if we are praying for others throughout the service.

DAVID YOUNG, a retired pastor, devotes himself to prayer and writing (watchinginprayer.com).