Before Leading Worship Consider These 4 Things..

Being a worship leader I consider it as an amazing responsibility but more as a blessing because you are being entrusted to carry people into his presence and glory. As we carry out this mandate from God one thing becomes eminent is that there are a lot things to consider before, during and after a worship service.

 One of those things to really consider is the team you are working with that is a choir, worship team, singers, vocalist, soloists or ministry team.  

“And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah… Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you”…“And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth forever”…“And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten”.

2 Chronicles 20: 3, 17, 21-22

King Jehoshaphat was a worship leader but he wasn’t part of the worship team or band and back in the day Kings where part of a lot of things. One thing true is that King Jehoshaphat was a worshipper personally and here in 2 Chronicles they are faced with an imminent war and in that tight place King Jehoshaphat decided to

1.      Seek the face of the Lord: Leading worship means that you have to spend time with the maker alone create a real relationship with him. Devotional time alone with the maker is so important and crucial in life. Someone once said to me “you can never take people to place where you have never been personally in worship”. Seeking his face is the place of answers and it’s the place of his where you personally worship. Your personal encounters in his presence culminate to your public worship and also to your worship leading.

2.      Hearing from the Lord: this is crucial in worship leading hearing from the Lord, He is always doing a specific job in people and we shouldn’t take a worship session lightly. Hearing from Him guarantees that he is going to take over and at times you will not have all the answers when you start leading but always looking for the Holy Spirit to guide you into place where He is. Jehoshaphat war strategy was praise and not swords, hear from God his strategy.

3.      Appointed people to their post and places of gifting’s: I personally believe that worship leading is also about knowing the arsenal in your team and know when and where to use it. Some teams are not blessed with skill but with worshippers who know how to pull on the heavens and for me leading means knowing whom to deploy when you get to certain places in worship.

 4.      The object of worship was God: here is war, people coming with warriors, blades and if it was today guns and God says don’t carry anything, carry your worship instrument and your worship. Jehoshaphat then commands people to “praise the beauty of holiness”,” Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth forever”.  The worship was directed to God his beauty and power more than anything else they wanted. Worship leading means directing people to the footstool of the maker more than anything and to keep reminding them of where God wants them to come to.

Worship leading is one of man’s greatest blessings in life and that ability to connect personally with the Maker changes a lot of things and if we can stand as worship leaders and come to a place where we seek the Lord, have a real and personal relationship and that grace will spill into the worship team.

“The team will never do what their leader never does”.

Worship Leading before an audience starts with the worship team and being able hear from Lord, use gifting’s in your teams wisely and also making sure that all our worship stays and goes to Him alone, then we have a good foundation to leading audiences and nations in worship .

“Leading Them Into The Beauty Of His Holiness”