Wait a second... aren't praise and worship supposed to be hand in hand with each other? You praise God while you worship, because He is so, so good! And it is wonderful to acknowledge that as we prostrate ourselves.
Or, when you talk about praise, are you talking about those silly rock music concerts in church services by those praise bands, or whatever they're called, that pound your brain so that you can barely think, let alone worship, and thus can only praise? Because those rock concerts in these services are... um... kind of distracting, I think. I mean, they make you feel good. But, they don't allow you to meditate on the greatness of God, and so when it stops you feel kind of... empty, I think. Because, while there is that euphoric feeling during the songs, that euphoric feeling doesn't necessarily last, and it's important to develop your relationship with God, even if music isn't thundering in your ears.
As far as music in church? Music is lovely. I mean, for my church, we sing psalms in church every single mass, and we of course sing the Gloria, the Kyrie, the Sanctus, the Hosanna, and a bunch of other songs that are based on scripture. For example, for one song, we sing "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts!" a la the beginning of Isaiah, and it continues on by quoting biblical passages. It's lovely, because it gets you connected with scripture in such an intimate way, and by setting the scripture to music, you can actually remember it better. I know several psalms by heart because of this!
If it's just the music is just that repetitious rock music that repeats itself CONSTANTLY though and has a beat that drives through your skull, it's not helpful. The music in church should always be scripturally based, and it should help you develop a relationship with God.
If you feel as if the music is setting you back and not helping you connect with God, or if you feel like you can only connect to God if the praise band is playing, but no other time, you're not in a very good place, spiritually. If this is the case, you should definitely take some time out of your schedule and really study scripture outside of the music. God sometimes comes as a whisper, and often His tiniest whisper occurs when we open the bible and read His inspired word.
As far as how we can worship in spirit and truth? Only God is Truth. We must be inside Jesus and accept Him as our rightful lord and bridegroom by obediently following His Word, no matter how hard it is, and carrying His cross, as He commanded us to. Then, when we worship our Lord with praise and thanksgiving and reverence and obedience, we will be worshiping in spirit and truth.
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