Monthly Archives: November 2011

Praying For and Encouraging Worship Leaders

  By Andy | November 10, 2011 - 11:39 pm |
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Tonight I was privileged to be able to pray with others for a worship leader who has just been given the awesome responsibility to start leading the Sunday congregation.

I became quite overwhelmed as I was compelled to pray for her, as she steps forward once more on this journey of worship leading.

It’s a journey that she doesn’t take lightly, and she knows she’s not in it for show or recognition, but because she has a heart that burns to see people coming to greater praise, worship and intimacy with God.

I’m seeing that my passion for worship and those who serve the church in this ministry is ever expanding. I’ve prayed for many leaders and musicians in the past, but tonight I just had a deep-down gut feeling to pray encouragement, strength, protection and anointing.

And the feeling hasn’t gone away. As I type this, I’m not fully sure what I should be doing with these feelings. I’m a little drained and emotional but also very excited. I’m excited to see what God will continue to do and build in our local church, and also where He will choose to take those who earnestly seek to serve Him in worship ministry.

I think we should all be praying for our worship leaders and musicians. As I’ve said before, these leaders are at the forefront of the battle and are prime targets for attack. We need to be praying protection for our leaders, as well as that they’ll be guided by the Holy Spirit, and will be inspired to greater creativity and inspiration. That their relationship with God will be deeper and richer, for its own sake as well as for their service to others.

We need to understand what the committed worship leader and musician gives of themselves, even to the point of hardship. They study, pray, practice, rehearse, develop their musicality, invest money in buying and maintaining instruments, and often (though it can sometimes be hard to pinpoint exactly) face trials and tribulations as a direct result of their active service.

True worship leaders and musicians don’t just “turn up” on Sunday, sing and play a few songs and then go home. They generally give a lot of time, energy and money and need both our prayer coverage and our encouragement.

Worshipping in Great Buildings

  By Andy | November 2, 2011 - 9:30 pm |
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I’m happy to worship pretty much anywhere: in halls, tents, front rooms, shopping malls… the location doesn’t tend to hinder my ability to worship.

That said, I’ve sometimes been in places where I’ve thought “Wow! This would make a great place to worship God.”

The last time I had the experience was when I went to a ‘private’ Robert Plant gig in Central London. We entered St Mark’s Church (One Mayfair) to experience an intimate gig celebrating Plant’s new “Band of Joy” album.

The music was good, but what struck me most was the awe-inspiring sound that echoed around that place. I’m not sure how much of it was down to the mix itself, and how much to the awesome history that building must have seen. How, before it was used by a veteran rock star, it saw praises rising to God.

As Robert sang “Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down” I realised that I’d adore to fill these kinds of buildings — originally built for and to the glory of God but so often sadly neglected or but a pale reflection of their former glory — with impassioned songs of worship once again.

I know many great churches and cathedrals still raise great streams of praise and worship. How amazing would it be for every such building to be used for its original purpose once again.

God Gives The Gifts

  By Andy | November 1, 2011 - 10:17 pm |
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Are you a budding worship leader or musician who is concerned about your musical gifting or ability to lead? Fear not! If you’re truly called to be involved in leading worship, God will give you the abilities if you seek Him.

Let me tell you my story by way of a little encouragement.

I’ve always been very musical. I love listening to music. I’ve been playing the piano ‘by ear’ and by taking lessons and exams since the age of five. I’ve sung in choirs since I was in primary school.

You might think that, from a technical/musical point of view, that qualifies me admirably for worship leading, right?

In fact I was terribly nervous about playing in front of other people (sometimes I still am, particularly when I’m just playing around with musical ideas).

This nervousness may go back to a time when I attempted to perform a piece of classical music in front of a church gathering, and froze halfway through. This was despite the fact that the room was arranged such that the piano was facing the wall, and so I had my back to the audience. I think I got through it eventually, but it wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences.

Things improved, and in my early 20s I started playing keyboard in the worship band at church.

A couple of years later and our church was about to plant a new congregation in another part of town. The main worship leader, who lived in that area, decided to move to set up the new plant, leaving the current congregation without a worship leader.

The need was there and I was asked if I would begin to lead worship.

I accepted.

The only slight issue I had was that I couldn’t sing and play at the same time. This is a bit of a drawback when you’re trying to lead worship from an instrument.

I’d tried singing and playing in the past, long before the thought of being in any kind of band had crossed my mind. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t do it. Perhaps it was the equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. It wasn’t happening.

What did I do? Panic? Well, perhaps a little, but in fact I prayed.

Within a couple of days, when I sat down at the keyboard to play, I found I could also sing at the same time. Not only that, but the quality of my playing didn’t seem to suffer, and I could sing the repertoire of songs we were using at the time.

The point to this story is that God will increase the gifting He has given you when the time is right for you to be using them in a particular ministry.

Two points to bear in mind: worship leading is not a hobby. Keep it simple.

You don’t have to be the greatest singer or musician in order to lead worship. If you feel you lack anything, ask God for it. He will honour those who have taken seriously the call to serve Him.