Sometimes in life there are times when everything seems to be failing right around us. The walls of security that were safeguarding our hearts are crumbling to the ground brick-by-brick. Uncertainty and desperation become our only companions. Not only may God seem far from us, but all the things we needed, all the things we depended on in this life are losing their grip on us. When these seasons of disorientation come, they can feel inescapable. Let us grieve to God and cry out to Him in our desperation through one of the most famous Psalms of Lament in scripture, Psalm 13:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and
every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.
As the people of God we are called to remember. We are called to remember what He has done. I bet we can think of several key points in our lives when God has broken through those disoriented seasons and reoriented us on our knees before His throne in worship.
When all seems hopelessly lost and forgotten God himself rescues us. He alone lifts us out. The light of His glory shines through the darkest moment and brings salvation to His children. Our heart, mind, and body can only respond to times like these by falling prostrate—facedown in awe of the Author and Finisher, the Mighty One, our Savior and King. May the Spirit of God lead us into worship.
I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.
O Lord, you brought me up from the grave;
you spared me from going down into the pit.
Sing to the Lord, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.
I love dreaming up and teaching worship classes. I’m starting to think that this passion for development of worship leaders is mostly driven by my sink-or-swim experience of learning to lead worship.
My story is the same as many of the worship leaders I know:One day we got pushed onto a stage and designated as the worship leader because one of the pastors found out we could (at least to some degree) sing and play the guitar.
From that day forth, you are committed to be there every week, indefinitely, so you start attempting to figure out what you are doing, week-by-week, through the painful trial and error process. I still thank God for the grace, patience, and unshakable determination to worship Jesus, demonstrated by those in my church in the early days. When you are thrown into the deep end, the only option is to thrash around until you learn to swim.
When looking back at my story, I begin to see what a gift “swimming lessons” could be. God is so faithful to work, to draw his people into worship, and to use completely unprepared people (like me) to serve him. However, there are some things I wish I knew then that would’ve spared a bit of stress, awkwardness, and even distractions. So I if you are starting on the worship leading journey – I leave you with these thoughts:
No matter how good or bad you think you are, it really is true that God looks at the heart….remember that on the tough days, and the fantastic days.
It is not only permissible, but definitely necessary to change the key of the song to match your vocal range, do not expect your range to miraculously change to match the chart (especially if you are a girl)
Therefore, it is invaluable to learn how to transpose
Buy a capo – asap…and don’t be ashamed to use it
Make friends with the sound guy…it’s one of the most important alliances you can have
Having a keyboard player who is adept at playing pads can help you navigate even the toughest transitions
Build up a repertoire of easy worship songs that you have memorized as go-tos
Spend as much time as you can with other people that are leading worship, and who are more experienced than you. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Leading with an electric guitar is great way to add variety and creativity to your worship. Here are some helpful tips if you are considering leading worship with electric guitar.
It seems like wherever you turn today we our surrounded by stories of pain and brokenness. Perhaps this is because of current crisis, or perhaps this is because we are living in a fallen world. Either way, hopelessness is an anthem that people are singing.
As Christians we have the ability to have hope when it feels like there is none by clinging to the promises of Christ. And as worship leaders we have the responsibility to lead our churches into songs of hope.
Songs of hope have a unique opportunity to take the worshipper on a journey, to follow a story of confusion, doubt, and lament to a place of surrender, praise, and adoration. We are reminded of what Jesus told his disciples in John 16, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”
Throughout the Psalms we see a variety of songs, some written when all was well and it was easy to proclaim God’s goodness and others written wile traveling on the path of darkness into light, pain into joy, and hopelessness into hope. And often we don’t realize that these Psalms are just as much a part of worship as the rest.
Whether you are a worship leader or are a worshiper, look for opportunities to sing songs of hope; in your church, your small group, or even your car. Here are few examples of songs of hope that we sing regularly at ROCKHARBOR.
“Blessed Be Your Name” - Matt Redman
“It Is Well With My Soul” - Traditional
“When The Tears Fall” - Tim Hughes
“You Are With Me Still” - ROCKHARBOR
This past weekend at church we said goodbye to one of our pastors, Mike Erre. After his last sermon at the final service Sunday night we celebrated together in worship.
God values not the service of men, if the heart be not in it: The Lord sees and judges the heart; he has no regard to outward forms of worship, if there be no inward adoration, if no devout affection be employed therein. It is therefore a matter of infinite importance, to have the whole heart engaged steadfastly for God.
The other day I was reminded of a few difficult conversations that I’ve had over the last 10 years.Not only the conversations that I’ve initiated, but also the one’s that were directed at me.I’ve had my fair share of honest conversations that left me feeling unworthy, incapable, and even doubtful of my future as a leader.
As difficult as many of those conversations were, I can now look back at just about all of them and see the change and growth that was sparked because someone took the time to confront and challenge me.I’d hate to wonder where I would be if I hadn’t gone through those difficult times.
If there is one thing I have learned in my limited experience as a leader it is to be honest and up front with people.Whether it be encouragement, questions, or full-on confrontation, it is so important to be direct and honest.
For years I operated as someone afraid of confrontation.I would resort to e-mail for any brewing conflict, and would always water down any remarks that I had or surround them with compliments.As a result, people walked away missing the point that I needed to make, further complicating the issue.
When we study the life of Jesus, we see someone that was not afraid to be honest.As people that strive to follow Jesus, let’s make an effort to speak the truth in love to those around us.If this is a struggle for you, try it once and watch it become easier and more natural as you go.
