My look at what it means to be a lead worshipper

 
Musical Worship: what does it mean to be a worship leader?

I have read so many practical things on what it means to be a worship leader. I'm not professing to be someone who knows everything about worship, which is why I have decided to look at it in a fresh way. For this I have been getting alongside people I really admire and who have a heart for worship. Practically, I’ve been learning more songs, trying different ways of worship, seeing new cultures and looking at what the bible says. These are some of my thoughts at this stage in my life of what it means to be a lead worshipper.

What is and Why worship?
I would say that worship is doing what pleases God, 'This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs’ psalm 69 .it gives him what he rightfully deserves. Worship should be the whole of who we are, not just the 2 hours that we give on a Sunday morning. The word worship means to show 'worth' ( worthship) I believe worship is what we were created for. We have heard it said many times, that Christianity is not meant to be a religion, but about a relationship between us and God. Worship is that connection between us and him, where we can invite his presence and bless his name. Worship is also more than a song, or going to church or giving money to the poor. Worship should be our hearts response to the living God. Deep calling to deep. Throughout the bible we see people praising God through spiritual songs and hymns. The psalms display this beautifully. I believe that God did not just give us music to make us 'feel' nice, but I believe musical worship is a form of spiritual warfare. I also feel as worship leaders we need to remember that we are not leading Gods presence, he goes and does what he wants to! We need to think of ourselves as the lead worshipper, the person ushering in God’s presence and encountering him so others will follow!

Flow from the quiet place

I know from experience the times when I have lead worship at church or at DNA I can always recall that the times I have felt the session went ‘well’ is when I have really been seeking God before hand, I know it sounds so simple and obvious but so often we can rush around in our weeks, attending so many prayer meetings, feeling as if we are doing lots of Godly things but we are not having the quiet-just-me-and-God time .Making sure that my whole week is being geared up to a crescendo of worshiping him in a public place that has flowed out from my intimacy with him throughout the week. I know that I have to be sure of his love for me before I can relay that to others. If I don’t spend time with him I begin to forget my identity, and standing up on a Sunday morning to sing in front of others suddenly becomes nerve racking. What I’m learning is that as worship leaders we have the responsibility to be getting our hearts right before God in order to lead others into that place of decision too. Its far better for us to be doing that in the week before the meeting rather than having things to battle though five minutes before we are meant to be leading. Of course its right to pray etc before the meeting but I know there is a big difference. I love to look at Jesus and see what he did; He always took time to go to that secret place. No matter how busy he got.
Joyful worship!
I completely agree that worship needs to be sacrificial, in the sense that we need to really give of our selves. I think the best way we can do this is joyfully. 'David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals’ I think if we can't enjoy worship there is something wrong. We should hunger to be in God’s presence. Psalm 42 puts it perfectly 'As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants, for you, my God. My soul thirsts, for God, for the living God. Where can I go and meet with God?’

David said to Michal … “I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this “I love how out of a place of joy, David worships sacrificially and becomes undignified. This passage also goes on to give a warning about not judging others in worship. David did this from his heart as a pure act of worship before God. Sometimes we can spend too much time worrying about what's 'authentic' and what's not. God wants us to wake ourselves up and be joyful, I don’t have a problem with dancing around because I want to bless God in that way, even if the holy spirit may have not 'prompted' me to. It still comes from a heart of worship for God. Of course there are times to be sensitive to who is around you, but I believe for people to catch on to freedom, they first have to see it! I think worship should be a time that can include children as well. I love watching one of the little girls in our church in the worship times, she is so free! She just skips about singing her own little songs, raising her hands, twirling around. I think this is really the model of worship we should all follow. Being ourselves before the father, doing what we want, not what we have been taught or copied. Matthew 19:14 “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”
Prophetic and Bold
I think practically it is so good to be prepared for worship. Getting together with the band and practicing before is vital. I do think the worship needs to be spirit lead but if the instruments can all know what they are doing that provides a vessel for God to really move, as the musicians know what they are meant to be doing inside and out. This therefore also provides the perfect vehicle for prophetic worship, I believe, seeking God before the day, asking what he wants to say, hearing the right songs, practicing them and writing thoughts down in the process. seeing your worship practice as a time to seek God for that time to come.. Use it as a time to intercede for the meeting as well. I love how God has given me prayer points to pray for on the meeting on Sunday in those times. For me, feeling like I know where God wants to take things prophetically makes me feel far more prepared than practicing a song over a few times.
We read in scripture that God does not want us to be shy with the gifts he has given us! 2 timothy 1:4 ‘keep that ablaze! God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible’. I believe that as worship leaders, the way we worship should reflect this. If you are an amazing drummer I believe God calls you to drum to the best of your ability to glorify him! I have seen that in church sometimes people’s musical ability seems to be dulled down, in order to not 'distract' from what's going on maybe. But through seeing lots of different models of worship I feel the times where the musicians have been really going for it have been the most releasing. God is a God of excellence! Our worship times therefore need to allow room for people to use their gifts. Allow space for people to pray for healing, for people to give words, to speak in tongues etc..In 2 timothty it also says ‘For we have not been given a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind’ Fear can hold us back in worship if we let it. I heard one worship leader say that he was singing in the spirit one time, as well as he could, and afterwards someone accused him of 'showing off' and making people focus on him. I think that's such a shame. I would argue that having words on a screen can be far more distracting. People relying on the next slide to come up in order to sing something.
Open to input
When leading worship we need to be open to what other people may want to bring in the worship time but also have great discernment on where the 'flow' of the spirit is going. For instance I have seen an example of one person from church feeling as if God was prompting them to go and play the drums in a song, even though he wasn't in the band, the worship leader rightfully said that it wasn't right for that time as it would have been overpowering in that room. That mans feelings may have been temporarily hurt, but we need to use wisdom and understand our authority as worship leader. I spent a time in Germany recently in a town called hernhut and I learnt so much. They have a model of worship leading called 'harp and bowl' this is where they intertwine prayer and worship, allowing the meeting to be very open. The leader would therefore listen to what the congregation may be praying from their hearts, pick up some lines and sing them out too. I experienced this to be such a powerful way of doing things. No words on the screen just connecting in a really authentic way. This model may not be right for every setting but is something I definitely recommend and want to see more of! Whilst in Germany I also heard a woman speak on what it is to worship with the 'whole' of who we are. Mind body soul and spirit. This really challenged me. I have heard it said before about our posture in worship reflecting what our heart is saying. For instance if we are saying 'we stand and hunger for you in your presence' but are sat down looking completely disinterested it doesn't match up. After this time I decided to really sing and do what I mean. When it says 'I bow before you God' I now choose to actually kneel down, and it really helps me to connect to God. I think we should encourage our congregation to do this too. Without telling people how to worship but making them aware this is another way in which we can often feel closer to God. A way of saying. 'wake up lets worship' even if you feel really tired.

The balance of being God focused and the importance of songs
From being a worshipper for ten years now I have experienced a range of different worship times. So many times I will look around a room and see people taking the stance of 'receiving from the lord' you know the one, where you hold both your hands out in front of you, or even just standing there looking bored, waiting for the words on the screen to appear. I think that when we enter a worship time we first need to focus our gaze and attention on God almighty. Recognising that no matter what kind of week we have had, whether we are tired or feeling close to God, he is worthy of our praise. When leading worship I will try to find the balance of 'God' focused songs and 'Me' focused songs, for instance. 'Our God is an awesome God' and 'How he loves us so' would be two examples. I think both are vital in worship times. Through gods grace we are changed when we worship, but our focus can not be 'what am I getting out of this worship time?' it's as we focus on him and recognise who he is that we are transformed and feel different.
There is also the danger that we can only be focusing on Gods greatness and therefore are not sensitive to what God might want to say to the church at this time. Of course God wants us to focus on him but we also need to allow room for God to move! That's why the balance between the two needs to be looked at sometimes. The beauty of worship is that there is no formula. God is calling us to be creative and individual with our worship times but sometimes it's important to understand why we might be singing certain songs etc. As worship leaders we need to check that what we are singing makes sense. Does it reflect Gods character? Is it what the bible says? Is it relevant? We also need to recognise the flow of the lyrics, is there a theme that they seem to have? What is God maybe trying to say in this time? . I know for me that when I'm preparing to lead worship there have been many times where God had placed songs on my heart that seem to tie in with each other. For instance one Sunday I felt God directing me to songs that reflected his Father heart. Worship leaders are not just responsible for the music side of church. I think we need to have a prophetic edge to what we bring.
Encounter brings relationship

As we worship we invite the holy spirit, the manifest presence of God to be with us. I became a Christian through being in a worship time and someone inviting the holy spirit to be amongst us. I had no idea what to expect but God met me in a powerful way. I just knew there and then that he was real, and that he loved me. When we encounter God, we encounter his love. Rick Warren says that ‘to feel loved by God ... is the starting point for every ministry, every revival, every renewal, every great awakening’.

I think as worship leaders we need to be looking to release others into leading worship too. We can't become too possessive over our style of worship or the certain songs we like to sing. We must remain open minded and be looking for others to go even further than we have. Raising the platform on which we all stand. I love watching the way people worship. Through being in a church this year made up of people from different nationalities I have learnt so much. I love the way this lady form Africa is so passionate when she worships. When she is joyful about something you can see it all over her face, when she is upset about something you can see when she is bringing it to God. She dances and cries out to God in such a moving way that it inspires me to do that same! I also love how the church worship leader is from a different country; it seems to shake us all up to a different way of connecting with God. Worship must be a place that encompasses diversity and brings us in to unity with God.