[Today’s post is a guest post by Rob Still. Rob is a worship pastor, songwriter, and author of the new book “resurrection power“. He blogs regularly at www.robstill.com. For today’s post, we’ll select 5 commenters to receive a copy of Rob’s book.]
Dear Worship Musician or Singer,
Congratulations on a job well done! You’ve successfully finished the Easter service (or services!) at your local church.
For many churches, Easter is like Super Bowl Sunday. It’s the big day and we want it to be excellent. Nothing wrong with that.
But sometimes it means a lot of moving parts, more demands on limited resources, and tons of pressure.
After a big project, even one that is extremely successful, it is natural to experience a let down – to feel tired, depleted, or maybe even depressed. You might be asking yourself, “Is this all there is?”
I’ve felt that way too. It is important that we tend to our hearts and care for our souls.
In this post I’d like to share a few thoughts that can help “restore your soul” (Psalm 23:3) through the practice of personal worship.
The Heart of the Matter
Worship is all about God, and God is love. Worship is about having a healthy love relationship with God and others.
Part of a healthy relationship with God is to “be strong in the Lord”, and to “be strong and courageous.” (Ephesians 6:10, Joshua 1:9)
You can strengthen your inner man and build up your relational history with the Lord by practicing His presence. This is personal worship, dedicating private time and space just to be with God.
King David’s Secret Sauce
Personal worship was David’s secret sauce. His heart was “all in” for God. His relationship with God was intimate.
David consistently devoted much personal time seeking, talking with, and listening to his heavenly Father. As a result, David gained something far better than “self-confidence”. He possessed God confidence.
He knew the God of Angel Armies was on his side.
What David did, you and I can do. Scripture commends David as our role model (Isaiah 55:4).
Your impact and effectiveness as a leader is built upon the foundation of being the right kind of person, of becoming a man or woman after Gods own heart .
“But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do” (Acts 13:22).
I want to do everything God has in his heart for me to do. How about you?
Lead From The Inside Out
To be a worship leader in public, you must be a worshiper in private. You cannot lead people where you have not gone. You can not teach them what you do not know. (Ouch, I just ouched myself!)
We minister from the overflow of what we put in our hearts. Jesus framed it this way.
“For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:33-35).
“The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).
We lead people by singing and literally putting words in their mouths. In order for our hearts to overflow with “good treasure”, we must be filled with the Spirit of God.
Personal worship is one method to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
How To Engage in Personal Worship
There are many ways to engage in personal worship and are only limited by your effort and imagination. I think of it like preparing dinner – you can have a lot of variety, but the idea is to eat a nutritious meal.
Times of personal worship may include elements of:
- Reading scripture
- Silence
- Active listening
- Contemplative prayer
- Intercessory prayer
- Walking
- Singing
- Journaling
Each of these elements could be discussed and explored in much greater depth, but that is beyond the scope of this article.
Some people prefer a very consistent set of routines, others enjoy more variety. Personally, I like to mix it up.
Only time with God allows us to build a relational history with His presence.
A Creative Illustration – “Immersion”
“Immersion” is one “creative” experience of personal worship that has had great meaning for me. (I might have made this term up, not sure.) Let me explain.
On the Monday after Easter last year, I was tired, but I didn’t want to “burn out”. I wanted to refresh. So I embarked on a spiritual journey to deeply explore resurrection spirituality during the 50 day period between Easter and Pentecost.
I blogged and shared what I was learning and experiencing along the way. It was transformational.
This experience of personal worship, immersion, is what led to writing Resurrection Power.
What I did, anybody can do.
How To Go Deep Through Immersion
1. Seek the Lord about the topic you should pursue
It could be focused on almost anything. The key is that it needs to be what God directs you to pursue. It could be a topical study. Maybe it’s seeking wisdom for life planning. It could be a creative project like writing a group of songs.
2. Commit
A dedicated start and stop time will help you stay committed. Immersion is intense. It’s like working out.
For Resurrection Power, I had a clear goal and time table of 50 days. So I was “all in”.
3. Share
Sharing is optional, but it can be helpful for encouraging your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Much of what God communicates with and to you is just for you, and should remain private.
However, sometimes sharing is essential. I think of the devotional books by Oswald Chambers or Jesus Calling. They shared intimate conversations and words from God. We’re all glad they did.
Where to Go From Here (plus book giveaway)
In his book Die Empty, Todd Henry describes your “body of work” as “your unique contribution to offer the world”.
For those of us in worship ministry, the relationships we build are part of our body of work. When we lead people to experience the presence of God, that is part of our body of work. When we invest in the destiny of others, that is part of our body of work.
Of course, songs, books, recordings, etc can be part of your body of work, too.
But the most important body of work we will ever do, and the source of energy for all of our earthly pursuits, will be the personal, relational history we develop with God as we practice His presence, and allow Him to expand and fill our hearts to overflowing – for the glory of God.
So let’s talk. Would love your thoughts about personal worship? We’ll select 5 commenters to win a copy of Rob’s book, Resurrection Power.
Question. How do you worship personally? I’m very interested in hearing from you on this. You can leave a comment by clicking here.
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Thanks so much for this encouragement in our personal worship relationship with God through Christ by the power of the Spirit.
Every time…EVERY TIME…I find myself running on empty as a worship pastor the cause is the same: neglect of the care and feeding of my own soul in the precious love and grace of Jesus.
I was reminded afresh of George Meuller’s words (in a re-read of John Piper’s classic, “Desiring God”) regarding this essential life-giving and joy-sustaining power:
“According to my judgement the most important point to be attended to is this: above all things see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord. Other things may press upon you, the Lord’s work may even have urgent claims upon your attention, but I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek above all things to have your souls truly happy in God Himself! Day by day seek to make this the most important business of your life.”
Praying with you and for you that your soul is happy in the Lord today.
Wow Brad that is such a wise quote “see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord”. Thanks for sharing and praying!
There is so much to be learned after reading a post like this one. Thank you for your encouragement because especially after a time like Easter it is easy to look back and wish you could give it another shot. I think that in the mind of most, if not all, musicians it is always habit to look back on a worship set or performance and point out the flaws that may have taken place even if there were few. It’s sometimes difficult to look at all the amazing things that God may have done in a church service because we are stuck in our little bubble of music and worship. I have found though, the easiest way to avoid a mindset like this is exactly what you said Dave. It’s about making our hearts long for His. When we are always worshipping everyday through our moments with Him, that is where the true, passionate, raw worship comes out. Worship doesn’t start when the 5 minute countdown ends and the lights turn on and you begin the worship set on a Sunday morning (or Saturday night). It begins when the lights are off and you are alone with God.
Thank you for sharing this and reminding us to pursue God throughout the week. Only then can a worshipper lead others. I love what you said about leading, “To be a worship leader in public, you must be a worshiper in private. You cannot lead people where you have not gone. You can not teach them what you do not know.” That is so beautiful! I love that truth.
Thanks again. I appreciate these posts so much.
Hey Aaron, love your quote “Worship doesn’t start when the 5 minute countdown ends and the lights turn on”. Appreciate your comment, be encouraged!
Sorry I thought Dave posted this and I just wanted to say thank you too Rob. This is really good stuff for anyone to hear.
So well said, bro! Gotta give props to Rob Still, as he wrote this post. I agree, buddy, we too often evaluate worship sets from a musical/performance perspective. So much more important to look at our hearts.
David, Contemplative prayer is a real “buzz word” today. What exactly do YOU mean by it?
That is a great observation and question Louise! There are books on the subject from differing perspectives. . For me, contemplative prayer is simply carving out a time and space to meditate / contemplate God in His truth and glory, built on the foundation of His word. It means being quiet and listening to His voice, responding as is appropriate. It is applying Psalm 37:7 “Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him” I don’t approach it as a time/space for intercession, petition, studying, planning, or problem solving.
I hope that is helpful to you! 🙂
Thank you Rob! Yes that helps and it is thoroughly Biblical too. The art of deep thought/meditation is lost today.
Thank you for sharing these blogs. I am new to worship leading, but have always had a passion for worship through prayer and music. I am in the process of taking our current team back to the foundation, building back up upon God’s word, teaching the team about private worship, and what it means to worship (big picture). These blogs continue to confirm for me what God is placing on my heart. I know there will be challenges as we kick off in a new direction, but I am so excited to see what God does with a team that is on fire for Him!
Hi Kortney, thanks for reading the blog! I’m glad it is helping you in your new ministry. That’s why I do this! Very excited for you as you lead God’s people in worship. Blessings!
Hey Kortney God bless you in fulfilling your mission! David’s website has TONS of great advice and articles. You might also check out some of the resources on my website, there’s a category on “Practical Advice” and a series on practical theology of worship http://www.robstill.com/practical-theology-of-worship-landing-page/.
I most definitely will! Thank you!
For me personal worship has always been a challenge. I’ve been going through a very rough personal spot in the last month or more and have found myself embraced to the grace of God with streams of prayer and conversations.
I started running again (5K runs) and use that time to talk to God and pray for the community I run through while struggling to find the silver linings in my life.
On my hour commutes to work I find my self in thought out loud or silently talking things out or looking for solstice in tunes on the radio. There’s this devotional from the UK (called Life) that’s a monthly and I’ve tried to make that a daily thing and deep read the text that accompanies.
As a media coordinator for our church I’ve taken to verse of the day posts with a mini essay attached to it. Then at night as best I can I cry out (quietly in my head) for Gods will in my family and my life.
I like the bit in the article above about confidence in God and his work. I have always believed God looks out for me but its easy to neglect him and others in your life as you become complacent.
In God’s great grace.
Hey Jason, I can really relate to what you shared. When I go for a “run” frequently that becomes a me & God time. The methods are not what is important, what matters is building a relational history with God. Much grace to you mate!
Hey Jason – I love how you’re finding creative ways to connect with God in the midst of a busy life. I’m inspired!
I found this to be very helpful. We have had several events going on at church leading up to Resurrection Sunday and even though everything went great I’m exhausted and need refueled. This is a great thought on doing just that. I am taking this Sunday off (even though I feel awkward not being there) as a way to refuel and fill back up.
Enjoy the rest, Steven. You deserve it!
Hey Steven, very wise of you to take one off and refuel. That’s how you make your ministry sustainable. Well done.
I think personal worship is always being left like you’re desperate for more! More of His presence, esp the quiet listening for His voice. I need this more but struggle to settle! However it’s always so worth it! Also doing daily reading plans & not just rushing through them. My biggest way though is to dig into a study, which leads you to more breakthrough and growth; repentance, renewing your mind, staying humble, always hungering for more. And also, praying for others! Esp one or two people God specifically gives you, to pray for, to help them on their journey. I can identify with the runners, in that, getting out and away from the noise etc, out into the countryside eg. I take our dog and go hillwalking and it’s there that I feel closest to God; hearing/feeling Him, thanking Him, praying for others and my own family. And just taking the time to really appreciate His beautiful creation. (Scottish Highlands)!
Beth, I envy your view 🙂 Love that you mentioned repentance here. I think this is such an important, often forgotten discipline. It keeps us humble and in need of God’s grace continually. Thanks for sharing!
Beth, these are awesome practices, you inspire me! So important to listen for His voice. Are you in Scotland? I’d love to go there some time …