Good worship leaders are no different. They’ve learned to develop certain disciplines that make them effective at what they do. Here are what I would call “7 Disciplines of a Good Worship Leader”:
1. Lead out of your story
- Are you leading out of a ‘NOW’ faith or yesterday’s encounter?
- What has God brought you through?
- What is God currently doing in you?
2. Worship extravagantly behind closed doors
- Who are you when there are no lights, stage, band, etc?
- People see right through a fake worshiper
- Before God blesses your worship ministry, he may teach you how to worship behind the scenes for a while. Maintain that discipline.
3. Constantly improve your craft
- Personally – practice your instrument; practice your weak areas (speaking, transitioning, flowing)
- With your team – create a fun, disciplined culture; challenge your musicians; allow input but know what you want. Musicians like to feel their opinion matters, but they also like to be led well; put front end work into rehearsals
4. Pastor your worship team
- Worship with your worship team
- Prepare yourself and your team for the spontaneous
5. Passionately embrace the vision of your senior pastor
- If you don’t agree with your senior pastor’s vision, it might be a sign that you’re in the wrong place.
- Local church worship leading isn’t a platform for your global worship enterprise or a place to push your own agenda. Get under your pastor’s vision and pour yourself into it.
6. View the worship service through the lens of your congregation
- People don’t care about your slick production, powers stances, and air-tight arrangements. They want to connect with a heart that loves and pursues Jesus.
- Minimize distractions so when it’s time to lead worship you can focus on your congregation and Jesus.
- Practice hard, but don’t just perform great arrangements of worship hits. Connect with the people. Connect with God.
- The best worship times are usually what happens in between your well-rehearsed songs.
7. Pursue an ever-expanding view of God
- A.W. Tozer – “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
- Nothing inspires worship more than amazement. Seek each day to become more and more amazed by the glory of God.
- What books are you currently reading to expand your view of God?
- Do you view your Bible reading as a worship experience?
