Hello,
Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2, "And so, dear brothers and
sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all
he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the
kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God
transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then
you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and
pleasing and perfect."
All too often much church resources is fixated and invested in
that time of worship so that people have a "great time of worship".
But if you consider and meditate on the above passage you would
realise that worship is not about singing songs. While worship
includes prayer and singing of songs to God, it is certainly much
more than that, though unfortunately many would associate it
with that 20-30 min sequence of prayer-song-prayer that
takes place on Sundays and cell meetings.
Consider again in the NT, when the believers came together,
there was no designated worship/song leader, but Paul wrote in 1
Cor 14:26, "Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize.
When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another
will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in
tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything
that is done must strengthen all of you."
See also http://www.emmausnz.com/openworship.htm
My suggestion? Share with your group about what worship really
is, then sing the songs you have prepared. Whether you open in
prayer or close in prayer is not really the point. You can't be
faulted for doing it or not for doing it. Worship is not a routine
set of things to run by anyway. Then encourage your group to each
freely share a song (or two) or a teaching or a testimony when
you meet again the next time.
