the drive home.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 04:35PM 
i've been leading worship for 15 odd years now.
15 years of trying different things, new songs, new tones, tunings, pedals and the like.
15 years of prepping and executing, prepping and executing… repeat.
15 years of conference attending, blog reading, cd buying and coffee chatting.
after 15 years of doing all the stuff it takes to grow as a worship leader one thing rises to the top: it's all about the drive home.
if you're like me, the drive home is like instant replay on the service - what i said, how i sang, what other people said, how engaged people were, how the band did, how the mix sounded, what that weird look he or she gave me was about. it's the 'monday morning quarterback' time for and of myself.
early on as a worship leader i started feeling a prompting every time i had finished leading, packed up and was headed home. the prompting was to skip all of the instant replay stuff and ask one simple yet terrifying question.
"God, were you pleased?"
terrifying, isn't it? it's an unnerving question because it's personal, intimate. my immediate temptation is to flip it into an abstract, impersonal and safer question like "was God pleased?" or "was God glorified?" but that wasn't the question, was it?
God, the God that i as a real human being have a relationship with, are You pleased with that time of worship and my role in it?
now that you've asked God a question you'd better listen for an answer, right?
when i ask this question and listen for the answer i begin to hear the whispers of the Spirit. from week to week these whispers can direct my attention to anything from spiritual dynamics in the room to things rolling around in my own heart. over the years this weekly time of asking and listening and searching has become one of the biggest single factors in my growth as a worship leader.
try taking time over the next few weeks to create space for God to give you some feedback. you may be surprised at what He says. i don't know where the Spirit will lead you, but i do know you won't want to miss what He has to say.
Reader Comments (2)
Powerful! Love this!
I love this! I'm always challenging young worship leaders to learn to ask good questions. But I've never challenged them (or myself) to learn to ask God "good questions". Thanks for mentoring me even on the first blog I've read. I've got a great question to ask him right now. I'm now curious.