The Role of a Worship Leader and a Worship Team_Part 2

F-Lead and Be Led

As worship leaders, we publicly exercise the principles of corporate leadership.

You cannot lead people somewhere you are not prepared to go yourself, and people will not follow someone they do not know or do not trust.

As worship followers, we keep our eyes on Jesus, watching and waiting intently for the Spirit’s every move. There’s a powerful partnership between the Lord and the leader.

We lead as we follow, and we follow as we lead. Be a leader of the people and a follower of the Lord.

1. Be Spiritually Prepared and Focused

In Deuteronomy 6:6-9 God relates to us the importance of always contemplating His Word and will.

As worship leader/followers we must keep His Word in our heads—always!

2. Worship Warm (Heart, Hands, and Voices)

Excellence follows preparation! As worshipers, we too need to warm up before worship.

With regular, private offerings of heart, hands, and voices to the Lord, we are primed for powerful public praise. No complacency.

Worshiping warm means spending time with God and maintaining musical discipline.

Through daily devotion, instrumental engagement, and vocal vitality, we keep our hearts, hands, and voices always ready to lead (and follow) in worship.

We are spiritual athletes: skilled, disciplined, stretched, and focused on one thing—His glory!

a) The Heart: Daily Devotion

One of the greatest examples of the daily life of the worshiper is found in Acts 2:42-47.

It lists five habits of the early Church and the blessings that followed: spending time in the Word, hanging out together, praying, giving, and witnessing

b) The Hands: Instrumental Engagement

Once we’ve established that our first priority is to have our hearts devoted to the Lord, we can begin to examine the more physical aspects of worshiping warm.

In 1 Chronicles 25:1 we find the musicians prophesying with “harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals.”

They were skillful with their hands. They practiced. Every minute we invest in raising our skill level brings greater ease and flow to our corporate worship times.

c) The Voice: Vocal Vitality

Nothing restores the vitality of the voice like rest.

It’s also important for singers to watch what they eat! No chocolate, no dairy, and no caffeine before singing! Chocolate and dairy products coat the throat and restrict vibration. Caffeine dehydrates the vocal cords. It’s best to go without for up to 24 hours before singing.

To prevent injury to the vocal cords, we should never clear our throats. The experts say, “simply swallow instead.”

Sit or stand as tall as possible when you sing. Back straight, top of the head held high.

We should also be sure to wear loose clothing when we sing. Constrictive attire impedes the expansion and contraction of the diaphragm. To worship warm, we must be able to breathe freely.

Humming, warm-up exercises

Singer's throat spray

Drink a lot of room-temperature water

Sip herbal tea (caffeine free)

3. Be Mission Oriented

The mission of a worship band is to highlight and focus people on God and his beautiful attributes.

It is to bring God to the center of a room and creating an atmosphere for people to speak directly to Him.

It is to go before the throne of God and take others with you.

G-Maintain Musical Discipline

Remember that those who choose to follow us are directly affected by our distractions.

As lead worshipers, one of our highest goals should be to break the chains of pleasure and pressure that so often hinder us in our genuine expressions to God.

1. Removing Distractions to the Worshiper’s Heart

“The essence of excellence is the absence of distraction!” Distractions come in many forms, from broken strings to broken hearts.

Through these, our limited attention span is easily drawn away from the singular object of our affection during worship: Jesus Christ.

When we remove distractions from worship, what’s left are the things that truly edify and draw the listener/worshiper toward the heart of God. This is excellence in worship!

2. Pleasure of the Spotlight

This should be the reason we work so hard to become excellent.

James 4:10 brings us loving correction. It’s His business whether anyone notices you, but your business to make sure that everyone notices Him!

When we’re playing or singing at our very best, it’s quite likely that we’re not distracting others from their focus on God.

We don’t play for the pleasure of being noticed. Instead, we offer our best to God, removing potential mistakes that could become a real distraction to others!

3. Pressure of Fear

The pressure of fear is a huge motivator to those of us driven to perfection! Here again is a great reason to strive for excellence.

A high skill level brings with it confidence, and when we’re confident, we are much less likely to fall prey to wrong notes, bad rhythms, and poor execution brought on by nervousness and anxiety.

4. Freedom

God’s will is that we should not be slaves to the pleasure of the spotlight, or the pressure (fear) of performance! Neither brings any promise of worship excellence.

Whether deceived by our own artificially inflated abilities or petrified at the mere thought of standing before people and ministering, we are the ones who create our own worship distractions.