Lead Me in Love
Leading Worship from a Place of Rest
Have you ever played the piano and been so nervous that your hands were shaking and you couldn’t find the keys? Have you ever led a worship set where you started in the wrong key, came in at the wrong time, and forgot the words – all in the same song? Situations like this have happened to all of us.
During my college years, I was part of a conservative church and often (almost every Sunday) played a piano solo for either offertory or special music. Even though I was a music major and often performed in front of others, I still found myself getting nervous at the thought (and then the reality!) that I would be playing in front of hundreds of people in the congregation – including the college music faculty – and hundreds more watching on livestream.
And then one day one of my music professors said to me, “When you play a special at church, no one is critiquing you.” He paused and added, “No one. We are thinking about the lyrics, and we are worshipping with you.”
Performance anxiety (also called nerves) is common among all musicians and performers. Even professionals who have been performing for years still get nervous before concerts and major events. As Christian singers and musicians, we are not performers. I repeat – we are not performers; we are worshippers. And yet the reality is that we play instruments and sing, and we want to do a good job. We want to play and sing with excellence, we want to worship from our hearts, and we want to lead others into the presence of the Lord – and that can be a lot of pressure. Worship musicians tend to carry an innate sensitivity that helps us to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, but it can also make us more susceptible to the nerves and pressure of playing in front of people. But the good news is that this can be overcome.
Worldly performers overcome nerves by developing their own inner fortitude and mental strength, but we as Christians have the privilege of relying on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Guide (John 14:26), and the best thing we can do is to surrender and allow Him to take over. With that in mind, I would like to give you a few tools to help you focus your heart on the Lord and rely on the Holy Spirit while leading worship.
First, remember that you are not playing for people; you’re playing for the Lord. Worship isn’t about your singing or playing or whether the people like the songs you chose – it is about giving praise and adoration to Jesus. Jeremiah 32:39 says, “I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship Me forever.” Worship is vertical – for Him alone.
Second, your identity is found in Jesus, not in playing or leading worship. This may sound basic, but we as musicians can easily live in prolonged periods of discouragement over a single wrong chord (that no one else remembers anyway) in a worship set (that was never supposed to be about us in the first place). If your heart is pure before the Lord, He is pleased with you – and no mistake while leading a set could ever change that. If your heart isn’t pure before Him, then go to the secret place, repent and let Him wash you clean, and then come lead your set knowing that He loves you and is pleased with you. Your identity, satisfaction, fulfillment, and purpose must be found only in Jesus.
Third, remember that people are worshipping with you. As my college professor said, no one is critiquing you. If that statement was true in a context of one person playing a solo and hundreds listening, how much more true is it in a context with everyone joining voices, hearts, and spirits for one purpose – to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?
Fourth, your only responsibility is to love Jesus. In a book called The Reset, Jeremy Riddle writes to worship leaders, “Your job is to love Jesus well. Not ‘kill’ the worship leader game. Often times when I hear worship leaders lead, love is not the thing I experience. So many other new agendas have crept in. . . . Sometimes I just want to sweep the table clear and say, ‘Just show me your love for Jesus!’ Love leads me in. Love opens my heart. Love renews my passion. Lead me in LOVE” (p. 22). When you are leading worship, you’re not leading singing – you are leading love. As you love and worship Jesus, the people around you will have no choice but to fall in love with Him too. Your only assignment is to love Him and love Him well.
In conclusion, a few practical tips to help you lead with confidence:
Prepare. Know your songs well so that you can focus on the Lord instead of figuring out how to play a Gm7 chord.
Warm up. The day you are leading, spend some time warming up. Review the opening, and practice a few difficult sections.
Spend time with the Lord and still your heart. I like to spend at least an hour with the Lord before I lead worship. Right before starting, I usually sit on the piano bench for a few minutes, still my heart, and turn my affection to Him.
Jump right in! Don’t overthink it, and don’t over-spiritualize it – just play your instrument and sing and love Jesus. After all, this is the heart of worship – to love Him and love Him well.