A church service consists of hearing God's message and of praying to and worshipping God.
God's message should be an explanation or exhortation from the bible. The role of the preacher is to make the people understand and appreciate what God says in the bible. It is normal for there to be more than one preacher: Let the prophets speak two or three. (1 Corinthians 14:29) But the pastor should not let people preach who speak a lot of rubbish.
If our lives are according to the truth of the word of God, we can worship God. Worship is so important to God that He seeks it. Jesus said: true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (John 4:23)
But God has no pleasure in the worship of the disobedient, Jesus saying to the Pharisees: This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Mark 7:6,7)
Whilst we should not be hypocritical, we also should not deprive God of the worship He seeks, if we love Him. Therefore after putting our lives in order we should say to Him: so will we render the calves of our lips. (Hosea 14:2)
Church worship is shown in Psalm 22:22 where it is the voice of Jesus that says: In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. So Christ joins us to praise the Father. If Christ joins us to praise the Father, church worship must be esteemed very highly by God.
Worship may comprise the singing of psalms and hymns or the saying of prayers. A church service should always be commenced with worship and thanks: Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. (Psalm 95:2) It is unfortunate that the singing or reading of psalms for worship is being increasingly neglected today. They offer such a rich variety of worship. Not only is it good to sing Psalms but we are commanded to.
We can also worship the Lord in group prayer. In fact prayer should also begin with worship, as when our Lord taught us to pray to our Father in heaven, He began with the words of worship: Hallowed by thy name.
When the church prays the congregation should often kneel. Although there are Scriptures speaking of standing to pray, the bible teaches that kneeling is a good posture for prayer. Solomon knelt when he prayed at the dedication of the temple according to 1 Kings 8:54: when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer . . . he arose . . . from kneeling on his knees. Paul and the church of Troas knelt. According to Acts 20:36: he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. In extreme cases supplicants would fall upon their faces before the Lord, but kneeling is more general. This is the way that Paul usually prayed, when in earnest. He said: I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 3:14) If kneeling is not useful why does the bible say of so many that they knelt to pray. And why does it say of Christ that He: kneeled down, and prayed. (Luke 22:41)
The saying that God sees our hearts and not our knees is not in the bible. Kneeling is one way that we may declare the sovereignty of God. It is written of Christ: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. (Philippians 2:10) If those in heaven, whose hearts are humble before God are not exempted from kneeling then neither is the church today exempted from the need to kneel, although not necessarily for all our prayers
If believers are born again and have heard messages from the bible about the wonderful works of God, they should be able to kneel and worship God from the heart, without needing to be told exactly what to say all the time. The problem with set worship is not so much that the congregation is told what to say; as this is also the case for psalms and hymns. Rather the problem is that of excessive repetition and that no worship other than that already written is permitted. It would seem to me that if there is to be a written participation for the congregation, there should be a dozen or so alternatives to choose from each week, and there should also be time for unwritten individual worship.
There should also be a time when the whole church gathers to say prayers of intercession and supplication. This may either be at the same service or at a different service. Jesus said: Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? (Mark 11:17)
Although Jesus stresses the importance of not showing off about how much we pray, saying to offer individual prayers in secret, He also teaches us to pray in groups, promising even greater answer to such prayers: if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 18:19)
Women may pray in church as in the context of church gatherings Paul refers to: every woman that prayeth. (1 Corinthians 11:5) But, they may not take control of the church and there is therefore sometimes a time for women to be quiet, because the authority has been given to man: Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience. (1 Corinthians 14:34)
Nevertheless, there is no reason why the silence of submission should prevent women from speaking to God in prayer in church. To say the contrary, is to say that God is more likely to listen to a man's prayers than a woman's, and that is to say that men and women are not equal in God's sight. But God affirms such an equality in Galatians 3:28,29: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Even in the Old Testament we see women worshipping. After Moses and the Israelites sang a song of praise, the women under the lead of Miriam also sang worship to the Lord: And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. (Exodus 15:20,21)