Ritual in worship

A little tidbit came up in our discussion on 1 Cor. 14 last week -- in the midst of a discussion on gifts, and serving others in love, we also talked about focusing on God with the goal/result of meaningful worship. At the time I was also working at home putting together a study on Malachi, and the same concept came up in both places: God desires our heart and soul to be in our worship. We talked about those times when we just go through the motions, or say and do the "right" things without really focusing or being there. Yet there are also times, I believe, when it is ok for Christians to just "go through the motions" -- in times of spiritual dryness (wandering around in the desert) the Psalmist reminds us, I will tell my soul to praise God. (sorry, don't have the verse handy) We know that if we continue on in worship in those times when we feel far away from God we will come out on the other side and find Him again, because He will bless our faithfulness and be in our midst even if we don't feel like it.