As You Are

“You are a worship leader.”

This is a thought the Lord woke me up with the other night and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. My initial response was, “Lord, You and I both know I can’t sing. What do You mean by this?”

Throughout this past week, the Lord has revealed to me that I viewed worship in such a finite way. I’ve always viewed worship as singing and therefore, to be a worship leader, it means I must know how to sing. I’ve always desired to be able to sing, to be gifted with leading others into God’s presence. Silly me, my understanding of worship was so small and the Lord has really opened my eyes this past week that we are all worship leaders, because we are all called to live lives of worship. The Lord has revealed so much to me about what worship means this past week, but I think it can be summed up best with these three statements: 

1. Worship is a heart posture. 
2. Worship is a pouring out of oneself in response to who God is. 
3. Worship is using the spiritual gifts that God has blessed you with to lead others to encounter Him. 

The Lord has really spoken to me about these aspects of worship through Romans 12:

“Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship,” (Romans 12:1, AMP).

Simply put: to worship God is to give Him all of us. When we’ve encountered Him and His presence, it just makes sense to give Him all of us—it’s the logical, intelligent thing to do. 

But what does it practically look like to give Him all of us? Well, I think it’s dedicating all that we are to Him. It’s taking every thought, hope, dream, hurt, bitterness, expectation, desire, etc. before Him. It’s about allowing all that we are to be used by Him. It’s about submitting our will, our ways, our thoughts, etc. to Him, because we trust and believe that His ways are better and higher (Isaiah 55:8–9).

Romans 12:1 really helped me understand worship as a heart posture and as a way of pouring ourselves out in response to who God is, and then Romans 12:6–8 really clearly breaks down how to use our spiritual gifts: 

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully,” (NIV). 

The takeaway: USE YOUR GIFTS. When we use the gifts that God has given us, it leads others to encounter Him. If you have the gift of prophecy, the prophesy over people. If you have the gift of encouragement, encourage others. When we operate in our gifts, it shows people more of who He is. 

Note: Romans 12:6–8 is not an exhaustive list of spiritual gifts. You can read about other spiritual gifts in these Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 12:8–10, 1 Corinthians 12:28–30, and Ephesians 4:11. 

Bottom Line: we are all called to lead lives of worship—with our hearts, with our lives, and with our spiritual gifts—which makes all of us worship leaders. 

I’m a worship leader because I work daily to bring a fully open heart before the Lord. 

I’m a worship leader because I work to daily submit my will, my ways, and my plans before the Lord, and say, “as You will, Lord,” trusting that His ways are better and higher.

I’m a worship leader because I do my best to utilize my spiritual gifts of faith, encouragement, discernment, speaking, administration, and leadership to show people more of Jesus. 

How has God equipped you, in your own life, to lead a life of worship?