Being a Lead Worshiper

by Jeff Deyo

Whether at a church, a small group Bible study, around a camp fire or at a citywide worship and prayer gathering like WorshipCityPraise, your preparation for leading worship is VERY important! Here are a few things that have helped my band and me strive to serve the Lord in this way.

As worship leaders (remember each band member is a worship leader, not just the lead singer), you need to remember that leading worship is NOT trying to get people to sing. It is leading by example in WORSHIPING GOD yourselves, SO THAT others will FOLLOW your LEAD! Instead of concentrating on worship leading, focus on being a lead worshiper. Instead of concentrating on plastic smiles and keeping your eyebrows up (hoping everyone will think you are happy and in love with Jesus), focus your thoughts and heart on Christ. Focus on two things—loving God and helping people love God—then others will follow your lead.

For starters, you and your band or worship team MUST worship the Lord together as a small group, alone, away from people and the stage in order to be able to lead worship effectively in front of others. This is not always easy. Put in a Leeland or Chris Tomlin CD (and play it loud) or have someone lead on guitar or piano and then have everyone in the band sing together, TO GOD . . . and not for show or for each other or for “practice” but for God!

Force yourselves to spend time doing this weekly. I believe it is equally and possibly more essential than our precious rehearsal time! In fact, I would recommend cutting your current weekly rehearsal time in thirds and spending one third in Bible study, singing, and prayer and the other two-thirds rehearsing, in that order. This way you will get the most out of your rehearsal. You might say, “There isn’t enough time for this.” But, trust me; you don’t have the time NOT to do this! Once you’ve all worshiped together, you will be amazed at how much quicker you learn the songs and how much better you work together.

During the rehearsal PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE – and then when you get on stage, “forget” it all! That’s a suggestion I got from worship leader Lindell Cooley. What this means is, be very prepared and able to play with excellence, but be equally prepared to do anything God would have you do once worship begins. The very idea of rehearsal is to make ourselves ready and able to do what is needed without constantly having to think too much about chords, lyrics, etc, so that we can be free to let go and really worship.

We need to be in great unity musically and spiritually so that we can go together where ever God leads. We must be practiced in order to do this. You might change things up on the fly too. Maybe you’ll do a song you planned to do fast, much slower or the opposite. Maybe you’ll do a song that was not even on the set list—heaven forbid! Maybe you’ll do one song several different ways for 20 minutes! You may even find that you will write new songs while you are on the stage. The best worship comes out of the heart and is often SPONTANEOUS, especially from the leaders! Don’t be afraid of the unknown—just practice and TRUST God, and sing and play to Him from your heart. He designed you to do this. Anything less can be false humility or insecurity and in that way offensive to God!

I recommend that each member worship God with his instrument AND his voice. One of the keys to worshiping God is getting truth in your spirit. Music has a way of doing that—singing especially. Even if some members don’t sing into microphones, EVERYONE should be singing some of the time. This helps each person worship God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. It also helps instrumentalists not think too hard about what to play so they will be better candidates for God’s Spirit to play through them!

Of course, we also need to strongly emphasize the need for our band members to worship with their instruments—letting God lead their fingers and hands in what to play as a powerful expression to him. The Hebrew word Zamar literally means to praise God with an instrument. That being the case, what does it sound like to play “God is AWESOME” on the drums? What does “We repent!” sound like on the guitar? We need to teach our band members to ask these questions. What they play with their instrument should “agree” with and communicate the same message of the particular song they are playing.

Everyone should study the Psalms intensely. I think it is a good idea to study them together as a team. We should get a feel for how David and the Levites worshiped the Lord. There are times when they were very intense with dancing and shouting and times when they were still enough to know that God was God.Our worship leading should reflect this diversity! We can read Amos 9:11-12 and Acts 15:16-17 which shows us that God is restoring the Kingdom of David in our day—and for HIS purpose—SO THAT all men might find the Lord. Then study passages like 2 Chronicles 5-7 & 20, Psalm 40, Psalm 84, and Revelation 4-5.

David and Solomon are some of the greatest lead worshipers ever! First Chronicles talks about David bringing the ark (the presence of God) to the people, dancing all the way – there is lots of symbolism here. Second Chronicles talks about Solomon building the temple for God. The dedication of the temple in chapters 5, 6 and 7 is especially AWESOME! 1 Chronicles 25:6-8 (AMAZING) will blow the minds of your musicians and help them understand how they best fit into the body of Christ and how they need to be UNDER and submitted to their fathers and leaders in the church. These and many other passages help us see the importance of music and its power for worship according to the Bible.

We also need to start reading Song of Songs again. I know this book is a little strange, but it is actually God’s symbolic love letter to us. It shows us the kind of communion God desires for us to have with Him. King Solomon represents God, and we, God’s people, are represented as Solomon’s bride. The first verse calls this book the “Song OF Songs”, so this means it is the most important song Solomon ever wrote. I’d say this means it must be HUGELY significant to God for us! As you read it, you will start to develop a new vocabulary for praising God. Verse 5:1 says we should drink deeply of God’s love. When we begin to drink of His love on and off the stage, we will find God drawing people to Himself just like He says He will in John 12:32. That is what worship is ALL about!!