A Biblical Overview and Study of Worship

A Five Part Series by Isaac Surh

PART II: SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF WORSHIP

Leadership

- "A worship leader can take the people only as far as he's gone himself." - Brian Doerkson

- "Don't pray for something if you're not willing to be the answer to your own prayer." - Lou Engle. Lead by example; be the first to do what you want your people to do.

- Be the shepherd; be accountable to your fellow worshippers; support and edify them, especially during worship team meetings or rehearsals. Let them know the good things they are doing and how they are growing. And when you do give criticism, make it constructive, always in the context of improvement rather than cutting them down and emphasizing failure.

- Take responsibility for mistakes, even the mistakes of those under your leadership; don't hide, deny or run away from them. Learn from your mistakes. This will ensure that you grow quickly as a leader. See 2 Samuel 12:13 and Psalm 51. David did not even think about defending himself or justifying his sinful behaviour. He immediately confessed and repented, and so God showed him great grace and mercy.

- Give glory to God in all that goes well. Do not become proud.

Spiritual Warfare

- All people in leadership positions are vulnerable to attacks. As a worshipper, you are the spiritual descendants of the Levites who attended the lord in His Tabernacle. The Levites were at the very front of the Israelite marching order (see Numbers 10:11-36), since they were the ones who carried the Ark that led the people of God. Therefore, they were the first to take the brunt of attacks by approaching enemies. In the same way, as spiritual Levites, worship leaders will be the first in a church body to be attacked.

- The two most common areas of attack for worship leaders are pride and impurity. See 2 Samuel 11:2-4 and Isaiah 14:12-15. Pride was Lucifer's downfall, and sexual impurity was David's great sin. Even many renowned worship leaders in the church today have fallen because of sexual impurity. Worship leaders, therefore, must also be warriors, bearing the armour of God and the sword of the Spirit. See Ephesians 6:10-18.

- Intercessors are vital for the continued spiritual well being of worship leaders. Do not think for a second that you can survive spiritually without them.

- Expect confrontations, especially during the days leading up to your worship leading. Satan will use everything from traffic to your own family members to get to you when you are about to lead people into God's presence.

Anointing

- Anointing represents the divine selection and setting apart of an individual for a specific task. High priests and kings of Israel were anointed before they could take their positions and begin their duties. Worship leaders need the anointing or blessing of God before they can be set up in front of the people and serve as a leader.

- "Where God guides, He also provides." - Anonymous. Anointing, in this context, represents God's empowerment of the anointed person. He will not put a person in a certain position without enabling them to carry out their duties. With God’s anointing comes the blessing of His grace.

- Watch out! Never fall into the trap of believing that anointing is some magical force that you can possess. Anointing is simply an extension of God's grace, which is undeserved.

- God is willing and wanting to bless. He releases His anointing every time we ask for it (Luke 11:13). So what's the problem? Why are we so often without His anointing? The problem is our sin. When we sin, we fall out of God's holy presence, because the presence of sin cannot exist in the presence of God. God's holiness must remain pure and absolute. When we fall away from His presence, we also lose His holy anointing. So, remain in His presence day by day, and He will renew His anointing on you every morning, just as He renews His mercy and compassion on us every morning in accordance to His unfailing love and faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23).