Worship is a Flow

Have you ever experienced a worship that just didn't seem to flow? And, you had to go through those awkward moments  feeling inadequate, or worse, like maybe you should just stay quiet the next service, and let everyone around you worship every Sunday from now on? 

I have a heavy weight on my shoulders. A weight that was not pressing in until I woke up. And, now it's pressing down HARD. 

Why? Something I'd been battling with during the week: 

Last Sunday, while leading our congregation during our praise and worship song set, I forgot to come  back in to repeat the refrain, or chorus, of a song. This caused the congregation to continue, but they were slightly off time, and when they tried to stop singing, I shouted out, "Keep going! It's for Him," (meaning God).   They wanted to stop, and I urged them to keep going.

Why did I do this? 

Actually...

because I could feel the Lord moving!

If just for that one moment, I was so pleased!  The congregation worshiped on their own! We, as team leaders are asked to lead the congregation and we did...

It was a beautiful moment!

Ten seconds later, I could hear the congregation going off again...and they sounded like they wanted to stop, so I  jumped in. 

"And you're wonderful to us, God!" and then came in nice and strong with the bridge, and they followed. We were right back on track, and we finished the song. 

I smiled inside all the way through the sermon and after the closing song. 

Then we went for rehearsal for another group. 

I asked a few of the girls on the team, "How do you feel about today's worship?" 

"Fine," they said. 

"What about the last chorus--when the crowd went off time?"

"That would have normally bothered me," one lady said, "but I felt we were in the midst of worship, so I just decided to go with the flow." 

"Go with the flow...I like that," I said. 

Is that what worship is, once the Holy Spirit shows up? Going with the flow? Or, more than that... isn't that what we do while we're worshiping? Are we supposed to "get lost" in our worship? 

Worship leader, musician and author Martin Jones, says in his book Called To Worship, tells us to avoid any tendency to restrict our praise and worship to a formula. 

"If we are worshiping in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24), then the Holy Spirit ultimately directs you. There is no right or wrong way to lead worship as long as our heart's desire and motive is to bless God's heart."  

Since my husband and I stepped into the role of directing our team in leading our corporate worship, we -are as are each of us are -still adjusting. 

Many Sundays I step onto or off of the platform, and feel... inadequate. I feel like I mess up. Oh, I shouldn't have said this, shouldn't have said that, why did I sing that note? Why didn't I sing louder? Softer? Did I hit the right notes? Why did I look away from the lyrics? Did I make sure to smile at everyone in our congregation? How come that person yawned? And on, and on, and on... 

And, I know in my heart I am not alone. Someone else feels the same way. Someone feels like they need ... 

I feel torn: someone tells me to sing out! Let Him (God) have His way! Get out of my own way! Don't hold back! And when I do, fully release myself to worship I hear, "we messed up!" 

In a moment, the audience went off a little and I made a judgment call, but according to what I felt in my spirit. I'd rather not interrupt the flow of their worship, let's let them have their moment, and then I reeled them back in. The song got back to its structure as soon as it was back on the bridge. This happened last week. 

I am angry, because I am frustrated. I am angry, because I am full of remorse. I am angry,  because the person on our team who implied that we are messing up is the last person to step up and lead! 

We serve an audience of One; and that is God. 

And, when I checked in with Him He said He was pleased. Every time I pray  and ask Him, He says He is pleased. Was pleased with last week's worship to Him. 

Not even our pastor understands completely. Sure, he melts when I tell Him that God is pleased with how we worshipped Him last week, when another person on our team said "Oh, that's two weeks in a row that we've messed up." We say we feel like we're being graded. He says, "you're graded each week (by the congregation.) Great. But, can we NOT be graded by our own people? 

It's... pun not intended... degrading.

At this early stage in the game, we do need our team to encourage each other. 

Besides coming to the Lord in prayer, there are a few solutions: 

• Pray for the team member who is complaining. Hurt people hurt people, true, and we are all hurting in one way or another. 
• Pray for team members who feel criticized and unsupported by their own team. 
• Pray for God to step in and lead. 
• Pray for a unified spirit among the team. No one is better than the other. We are each on the same boat and that is in leading the congregation to worship Him. We have the unique responsibility to lead the congregation to experience God in a fresh way... for some of them it's for the first time. 

We--as a team--have the humble responsibility to help others encounter God.

And, sure there is the "leader" of the song structure, but really we are all one body--one team--one church-- standing up there simply to point all of our eyes to Jesus. 

Image Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Image:(bullseye) Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash