I remember when I started leading praise and worship regularly in a weekly prayer gathering called the Feast*. It was in a northern city in Cebu. The crowd peaked at seventy souls on our best night. Twenty on our not-so-stellar nights. Half of them were servants. Some of them were senior citizens and the rest were kids and teenagers. The millennials were strangely absent.

I somehow found myself leading praise and worship again but in a posh hotel. This time the attendees were mostly young professionals. All of them were well-dressed. Some of them were in uniform and others were clad in business attire. We filled the hall with the sound of over a hundred tongues every Thursday night. Sometimes we swell to almost half a thousand in number.

I eventually ended up in a cinema every Monday and Saturday. My knees shook during the first few months. It was a terrifying ordeal to face thousands every week. Most of them were students. Others were professionals. A few of them brought their whole families. These attendees loved loud worship and they came to the right place.

Primed to worship

In these three tenures as a lead worshiper, I encountered many worshipers of different stripes. They brought with them a huge variety of backgrounds and biases when it comes to worship from unchurched to churched, Catholic to Protestant, Christian to Muslim, faithful to atheist, centennial to millennial, and more. You see, leading worship is more than asking people to sing along to the worship song. You got to lead worship in a way that inspires all or, at least, the majority of the congregation to worship.

When you are given the opportunity to prime them to worship, you have the chance to point the way towards Jesus. You have a turn at leading them to the throne room of God. This is the role of a lead worshiper. A lead worshiper points the way to Him who is worthy of all the praise, Jesus.

Let the trumpets sound

You need to exhort. An exhortation is an invitation to worship. The act of exhorting encourages hearts and minds to be open to Jesus. When we lead worship, we are showing people the whys and hows of worship. When you give the why with great conviction, you inspire people to follow you in going to Jesus. When they’re hooked then that is when you give the how. When you show them how you are actually showing them a glimpse of your private worship.

Most times, it is easier said than done. When I give an exhortation, I always imagined myself as the vanguard in an army. The worship leader, which is the Holy Spirit, incites the army to let out a shout of victory. I, as the vanguard, am the first to make a joyful noise. I am the first to be led to worship. The ones who are with me follow me as I am being led by the Holy Spirit.

However, let us be realistic. We are part of the church militant. Our army is filled with wounded and weary soldiers. Not everyone has high morale. Not everyone can see a reason why they should praise God. Not everyone knows that they should give God the highest value in their lives. But I persist with the exhortation because of the glorious truth that the victory already belongs to God.

The truth in many languages

The next time you are given opportunities to lead worship, declare this truth to them in as many ways as possible. There are a great many worshipers and there are a great many ways to lead worship. You will be speaking to unique individuals with vastly different tastes and backgrounds.

So, say it differently on every occasion. Tell a joke. Use a story. Wield a prop. Deliver it in a way that suits the crowd and venue. If you have to act it, then act it out. Remember you are delivering the Good News!

All about Jesus

When you are a lead worshiper, you have the chance to lead others closer to Jesus. Try not to beat yourself up if you cannot get them to the destination. Always remember that it is not about you. You are a worshiper. You are also being led by the Holy Spirit.

Points to ponder

Why do you worship God? How can you use your reason to worship to convince others to worship?
How do you worship God? Are you ready to let others see how you worship?

Love what you read? This is actually an introduction to my course on the basics of leading praise and worship. If you seek to know more then check us out again next month. A new blog post will be launched every second Saturday of the month.

For the meantime, check out our events and do connect with me. I would also be very grateful if you share this post to your family and friends. Thank you and God bless you.

*The Feast – a weekly Catholic prayer gathering