TWLL #48: Worship Leading & The Power Of Being In The Word

read time: 5 minutes

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There are so many benefits to worship leaders regularly spending time in the Word.  It impacts us as followers of Jesus, but then also impacts our worship leading.  

When we as worship leaders regularly sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His Word, He brings what we've read back to mind as we prepare for, and lead our worship sets.

The Word And Set Preparation

Let's say you're putting your set list together for the weekend, and you're trying to land what songs you'll sing and maybe any prayers or exhortations you might give between songs.  

As you scroll through song options, you find yourself gravitating toward songs that unpack the identity and nature of Jesus (His divinity, His humanity, eternality, etc), or maybe the way He interacts with His people (His mercy, gentleness, sensitivity).

What you might not be connecting in that moment, is that in your own devotional time with the Lord you've recently been meditating on passages like John 1 or Hebrews 1- passages that highlight the nature of Jesus.  

And last year you spent a while in the Gospels, and were struck by how sensitive and how present Jesus is when He interacts with different people- like the sick woman who touched His garment in the crowd, or when Zaccheus was up in the tree.

Whether you're aware of it or not, the Lord is taking the history you've been building with Him in the Bible, and then using it to help you as you plan and prepare for your worship set.

The Word and Set Execution

Fast forward and now it's Sunday morning and you're leading your worship set.

You just finished singing Goodness of God, but feel led to stay with that theme of His goodness before moving on to the next song. 

You keep the chord progression going, and make up a melody line to sing that Scriptural phrase "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.  His lovingkindness is everlasting."  And within two minutes the whole room is singing that phrase with you.

Later on in the set before your final song, it seems like the room engagement level has dropped a bit and they just need a re-center.  So you briefly say or sing out part of Psalm 105 where it says "Sing to Him, sing praises to Him." 

With both the spontaneous moment about God's goodness, and brief exhortation at the end of the set, you were using Scripture.  But maybe you weren't remembering that you've slowly been reading through the Old Testament and you've been struck by how frequently that phrase "For the Lord is good..." shows up, and also how the Psalms in multiple places encourage God's people to "sing to the Lord".

Whether you remember or not- God is taking those moments you've invested with Him in the Word and is using them to help you as you lead worship.  

Conclusion

What's the takeaway in all this?  That your time sitting with Jesus in the Scripture is more valuable than you realize.  

So don't stop investing that precious time with Him in the Word.  And if you haven't been doing it as much lately, jump back in.  Make it simple.  Pick a book of the Bible and just start reading.  Write down what stands out to you.  Talk to Jesus about it. 

Doing this consistently over time is what really starts to change the way you're able to lean into and use the Word as you prep for and lead your worship sets.

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Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you: 

1. The Connection-Based Spontaneous Worship Course.  If spontaneous worship has been a struggle, you might want to check out Connection-Based Spontaneous Worship.  It's a self-guided, self-paced course that empowers you to lead spontaneous worship with confidence, enables your musicians to flow with you, and helps your room engage.  

2- Join A Zoom Group.  Every 3 months I host small zoom groups- one focused on worship leading and one on songwriting.  Each group meets once a week for an hour on Zoom over a 12-week period, as we walk through the process of learning to leading worship/write songs out of connection with Jesus.  For more details about the next upcoming zoom group, including schedule & cost, email me at [email protected]