Worship Isn’t Just for Sundays

Track 1 00:00:00

A lot of worship doesn't happen in a sanctuary.

Track 1 00:00:04

It happens at the kitchen sink. I recently read about a woman

Track 1 00:00:08

who early in her marriage was constantly annoyed at her

Track 1 00:00:11

husband for leaving dirty dishes in the sink. You might relate to

Track 1 00:00:15

this. She'd come through the kitchen, see that plate and fork

Track 1 00:00:18

sitting there, and feel her blood pressure rise. Every time

Track 1 00:00:23

she moved his dishes, the voice in her head got louder. Why

Track 1 00:00:27

can't he just put this in the dishwasher? Does he not see it?

Track 1 00:00:31

Does he not care? One day, after feeling that same surge of

Track 1 00:00:36

irritation again, she sensed the Lord nudging her to do something

Track 1 00:00:40

a little unusual. Time it. How long did it actually take to put

Track 1 00:00:45

those dishes in the dishwasher? So she grabbed a mental

Track 1 00:00:48

stopwatch, picked up the plate, moved the fork, shut the door,

Track 1 00:00:52

and checked the clock. 13 seconds. 13 seconds. 13 seconds

Track 1 00:00:57

were stealing her joy and poisoning her attitude toward

Track 1 00:01:01

her husband. So what do you do when you realize the thing

Track 1 00:01:05

that's driving you crazy only takes 13 seconds?

Track 1 00:01:12

Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Leger, and

Track 1 00:01:17

today we're talking about something that often gets

Track 1 00:01:20

squeezed into one hour on a Sunday, but was meant to fill

Track 1 00:01:24

your whole week. And that is worship. Not just the songs we

Track 1 00:01:28

sing at church, but the posture of our hearts on a Tuesday

Track 1 00:01:32

afternoon, standing in the sink, stuck in traffic, or answering

Track 1 00:01:37

emails. Psalm 34.1 says, I will praise the Lord at all times. I

Track 1 00:01:44

will constantly speak His praises. What does the Bible say?

Track 1 00:01:49

At all times. Constantly. It doesn't leave much room for only

Track 1 00:01:54

on Sundays, or only when life feels spiritual, does it? David

Track 1 00:01:59

is saying, Wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, I want my

Track 1 00:02:04

heart turned toward God. For many of us, though, worship

Track 1 00:02:09

feels like a place, or a style, or maybe a part of the Sunday

Track 1 00:02:14

service. Worship is the music before the sermon, or we think

Track 1 00:02:19

worship is what happens in the sanctuary, Or worship is what I

Track 1 00:02:24

do when I feel close to God. But in Scripture, worship is bigger

Track 1 00:02:28

than that. Worship is any moment where you respond to who God is

Track 1 00:02:33

with trust and gratitude, with surrender or obedience or praise.

Track 1 00:02:40

That means worship can happen anywhere in your car on the way

Track 1 00:02:44

to work, while you're folding laundry or changing a diaper, or

Track 1 00:02:49

maybe answering that difficult email. Or yes, putting dishes in

Track 1 00:02:54

the dishwasher. Whether we realize it or not, our hearts

Track 1 00:02:57

are always doing something in those ordinary moments. We're

Track 1 00:03:01

either grumbling, or we're giving thanks. We could be

Track 1 00:03:04

resenting, or we could be remembering God's goodness. We

Track 1 00:03:08

could be nursing a complaint, or instead, we could be offering a

Track 1 00:03:13

quiet prayer. You see, the circumstances don't have to

Track 1 00:03:17

change, but the posture of our heart can. Most of us wake up

Track 1 00:03:22

and move straight into do mode. We react to the day. Messages,

Track 1 00:03:26

and tasks, and problems, and the messes. And it's easy to live

Track 1 00:03:32

with a full schedule, but an empty soul. But what if those

Track 1 00:03:36

little, repeatable moments in your day become tiny altars

Track 1 00:03:40

instead, places where you pause and turn your attention toward

Track 1 00:03:44

God and offer Him your heart right there? I think that's what

Track 1 00:03:49

a worshipful life looks like. Not less activity, but less

Track 1 00:03:54

divided attention. Not trying to be super spiritual all day long,

Track 1 00:03:59

but learning to weave short, honest, intentional moments of

Track 1 00:04:02

worship into whatever you're already doing. And that brings

Track 1 00:04:05

us back to the woman at the sink. This is where her story turns,

Track 1 00:04:09

and here's what she did. She turned those 13 seconds into

Track 1 00:04:13

worship. Instead of grumbling, every time she picked up His

Track 1 00:04:17

dishes, she prayed for Him. She'd load the plate and whisper,

Track 1 00:04:22

Lord, thank you for my husband. She'd move the fork and add,

Track 1 00:04:26

Bless Him today. Strengthen Him. Help me love Him well. The chore

Track 1 00:04:32

didn't change. The sink didn't magically empty itself, but her

Track 1 00:04:36

heart completely shifted. What used to be a daily resentment

Track 1 00:04:40

became a daily altar. 13 seconds of quiet, unseen worship in the

Track 1 00:04:45

middle of an ordinary week day. That's the picture of worship

Track 1 00:04:49

Psalm 34-1 invites us into. Not a powerful song once a week, but

Track 1 00:04:54

a thousand small choices to turn our attention to God throughout

Track 1 00:04:57

the week. 13 seconds of the sink. Maybe it's a moment in the car

Track 1 00:05:01

instead of complaining about traffic. A breath before you

Track 1 00:05:04

walk into a stressful meeting. Lord, I need you. Help me honor

Track 1 00:05:08

you here. Your life is full of these 13-second moments When you

Track 1 00:05:14

pick up after your kids. Again, when you answer that call you

Track 1 00:05:19

know will be emotionally draining. When you're tempted to

Track 1 00:05:22

stew over what someone said to you. When no one sees the extra

Track 1 00:05:26

effort you're putting in. Each one can either harden your heart

Track 1 00:05:29

or become an altar. Worship isn't pretending everything's

Track 1 00:05:34

easy. It's bringing God into what's real. Into your

Track 1 00:05:37

irritation and your tiredness and your frustration. And it's

Track 1 00:05:42

choosing to respond in a way that honors Him. It's saying,

Track 1 00:05:44

Lord, I'm here. I know this is hard, but I want to meet you in

Track 1 00:05:49

it. And the beautiful thing is those small hidden acts of

Track 1 00:05:53

worship begin to reshape you. Little practices can reorient

Track 1 00:05:56

your entire life. And over time, you'll find your reflex slowly

Track 1 00:06:00

shifting from complaint to gratitude. From self-focus to

Track 1 00:06:05

God-focus. From why do I have to do this to Lord, meet me here.

Track 1 00:06:11

And here's today's challenge. Think of one simple everyday

Track 1 00:06:14

task you tend to resent. It could be loading dishes or

Track 1 00:06:18

commuting to work packing lunches or folding laundry

Track 1 00:06:21

walking the dog or scrolling through those work emails. Today,

Track 1 00:06:27

don't try to change the task. Instead, change what you do with

Track 1 00:06:31

those few seconds or a few minutes. Turn that one task into

Track 1 00:06:35

a worshipful moment. And as you do it, quietly pray, Lord, thank

Track 1 00:06:39

you for the people this task serves. Help me do it with love.

Track 1 00:06:44

Help me be aware of your presence right here. Do it once

Track 1 00:06:48

today, then again tomorrow. let that ordinary moment become a

Track 1 00:06:53

daily altar, your own 13 seconds of worship, if you will. Lord,

Track 1 00:06:58

thank you that worship isn't confined to a building or a

Track 1 00:07:01

Sunday morning. You are with us in the kitchens and the cars and

Track 1 00:07:05

the offices and the hallways. And forgive us for the times we

Track 1 00:07:09

let frustration or hurry fill the small moments of our day.

Track 1 00:07:13

Teach us to turn those moments into worship and to see every

Track 1 00:07:17

ordinary task as an opportunity to honor you. Help us praise you

Track 1 00:07:21

at all times and constantly speak your praises, not just

Track 1 00:07:25

with our songs but with our attitudes and our worship and

Track 1 00:07:29

the choices that we make throughout the day. Please shape

Track 1 00:07:33

our hearts into hearts of worship right in the middle of

Track 1 00:07:35

our week. In Jesus' name, amen. If this episode encouraged you,

Track 1 00:07:40

chances are it'll encourage someone else you care about too.

Track 1 00:07:44

So please share it with a friend or a loved one. Just copy the

Track 1 00:07:47

link in the show notes and send it their way. You never know how

Track 1 00:07:51

much they might need it today. Thanks for helping me spread the

Track 1 00:07:54

word. It means the world to me. Thanks for joining me today on

Track 1 00:07:58

Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, worship isn't just for

Track 1 00:08:02

Sundays. It's for dishes and for commutes and every ordinary

Track 1 00:08:06

moment in between. Come back next time for more encouragement

Track 1 00:08:10

to help you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God

Track 1 00:08:13

bless and have a great day.