Spirit Led Worship

So very often, as time goes by, worship leaders get impatient to see the hand of God move people in a worship environment. Because music can be a powerful force in worship, we can very easily slip into modes of manipulation. We have to constantly remind ourselves that we are mere facilitators of the Holy Spirit and not allow our flesh to get in the way. I see this behavior especially in younger worship leaders who try to keep the momentum of experience moving from week to week and event to event. We have to remember that every single person is at a different place in their spiritual journey and some have not yet begun their journey with Christ. The flesh has a desire to overpower others for selfish gain and the worship leader WILL be tempted to use that power for all of the wrong reasons. That is why is it so important for every one of us to be empowered and dependent upon the Holy Spirit of God every single time we begin to minister in His name.

We must clearly understand that our first job as a minister is to "get out of the way" and allow the Spirit of Christ full control of our lives. Galatians 5:16 "Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh". The only way to protect the authenticity of a worship experience is to walk in the power and the authority of the Holy Spirit as we lead. There are techniques of communication and musical "tricks of the trade" that can be good at times, but if they are of the flesh they will "profit nothing". The Holy Spirit knows what each heart needs and is quite able to effectively minister accordingly. Ephesians 5:18 says "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery (party lifestyle). But, be filled with the Spirit." We are filled with the Spirit at the point of salvation but whether we allow Him to control our lives on a consistent basis is up to us.

Each worship event should be different from the next due to the different needs of each particular audience. We have to be very careful to not have false predispositions of what we think God should do in a worship service. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in worship? Every worship leader should be quite aware of what this role of God's Spirit is in the life of the believer.