When the Opening Prayer for Worship Service Irritates God

You do not want to irritate the One who spoke creation into existence. But the truth is that superficial Christianity that does not govern how professing Christians live angers, irritates, and disgusts God.

We want to remain in control of our lives and ask Jesus to solve our problems. Jesus is the Emergency Room physician, but usually, we handle life ourselves.

That is a symptom that we have the Sin-25 virus in 2025 or its mutation in any given year. We also have Long Sin with multiple debilitating self-seeking symptoms.

We worship our Creator best when we say no to our selfish desires so we can say yes to Him. True worship is declaring His worth and giving Him glory through our words, attitudes, and actions as a way of life.

When the Holy Spirit fills us, we submit to God’s rule in our hearts and truly worship Him by being living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2). If the Spirit of Jesus is not in the driver’s seat of our lives, some idolatrous substitute for Him is.

In Isaiah 1, God was upset with Judah and Jerusalem. We tend to rebel against Him and go astray as they did. Like them, we do not recognize His care for us (Isaiah 1:3).

Because we have turned our backs on Him and grabbed the steering wheel of our lives that belongs to Him, we carry the welts of His disciplinary punishment (Isaiah 1:5-8). Judah and Jerusalem were not prospering in Isaiah’s day, and neither is the church in the USA today.

God was sick of the meaningless offerings and worship rituals of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. They gave Him no pleasure because they were devoid of real commitment to Him. The rituals of their pious meetings disgusted Him (Isaiah 1:13). He could not stand them (Isaiah 1:14).

He paid no attention to their prayers because of their behavior outside those meetings (Isaiah 1:15). He challenged them to give up their evil ways (Isaiah 1:16).

He also dislikes the rituals of our pious meetings. What part? The singing? The offering? The prayers? The sermon? If we are not seeking His kingdom and righteousness outside those meetings—all of it. The opening prayer for the worship service through the benediction.

Attending or leading a church service does not make us instantly virtuous. It does not erase our self-centered offenses against God and others.

If we are not following and worshiping God outside the sanctuary, we are not doing either inside it. That is the clear message of Isaiah 1. One hour a week “worshiping” and 167 hours doing as we please upsets God the entire week.

The church can be different. First, we must repent and give up our evil ways (Isaiah 1:16). One foot in the world and the other in the church irritates our heavenly Father.

God suggests we learn to do good, seek justice, help the oppressed, defend the cause of orphans, and fight for the rights of widows (Isaiah 1:17).

In the New Testament, Jesus tells us to love God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). That is the worship God desires.

Apart from a commitment to obey, our religious traditions irritate God (Isaiah 1:20). Worship in spirit and truth outside the sanctuary validates worship inside (John 4:23-24). What is your takeaway? See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians.   #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources 

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