Advice for Worship Leaders #1 - Leading prayerfully

Leading prayerfully
How can I grow as a leader?
How can I better steward what the Lord has given me?
How can I better serve those that I lead?
How can I solve problems that arise amongst those whom I lead?

The Lord has been freshly reminding me of two things recently. Number one, a good leader is one who prays for increased wisdom in their leadership ability. And number two; a good leader is one who prays for those whom they are leading. As I've been praying into these two areas these last few months I've been amazed at the fruit I've seen in my heart and on my worship team.

Below I've shared a few of the prayers that I've been praying for my heart and my team. If you're a worship leader I encourage you to begin praying them and I promise that you will be amazed at what God does in you, through you, and amongst those on your team.

Pray for Divine order: it’s His team, His leadership is perfect, mine isn't, I want His opinion and perfect order, not what I would deem as perfect.

1. Fill me with the knowledge of Your will and lead me in the way that I should go. I pray that You would fill me with spiritual understanding that I would lead in a way that’s pleasing to you (Colossians 1:9)

2. Lead me Lord in righteousness and the way that I should go. The enemy is seeking to get me off course so I will lean into your strength and You will make my way straight (Psalm 5:8)

3. Help me to daily get in your word and study and meditate for it is the light which lights my way (Psalm 119:105).

4. Lord help me to remain faithful in coming before You in the secret place (Psalm 32:8).

Pray for an increased Spirit of Prophecy: hungering after the spirit of prophecy is something that all should hunger after but especially if you’re a worship leader, singer, or musician. Singing is mentioned so many times in the bible specifically in terms of the return of Jesus and there is singing day and night around the throne of God. In all your getting, get singers and musicians. And once you have them train them in the prophetic. One of the most powerful training tools is leading by example.

1. You have said that in the latter days sons and daughters would prophesy. I ask for a wave of visions and dreams to come to me and my worship team (Acts 2:17)

2. I eagerly desire to prophesy so I ask that You would give me ears to hear what You’re saying (1 Corinthians 14:1)

3. I ask that the musicians on my team would prophesy on their instruments (1Chronicles 25:1)

Pray for creative ideas: ask God for creative ways to minister to and lead your team. Different things will work for different people and personalities so it’s key to ask God for insight into what works best for you and the people on your team.

1. Lord, help me to trust You will all of my heart and not lean on my own understanding but inquire of You. I trust and believe that You are directing my path (Proverbs 3:5)

Pray for a sustained heart in the mundane: whether you lead on Sunday morning or whether you’re leading numerous times a week, the mundane will eventually set in. You must pray for your heart and the hearts on your team to be alive and remain in the secret place in their personal lives.

1. Grant me according to the riches of Your glory to be strengthened with might by Your spirit in my inner man, that I would know the width, length, depth and height of Your love (Ephesians 3:16-19)

2. Lord I believe that I can do all things because You strengthen my heart. You will never give me more than I can handle. Teach me how to re-arrange and re-order my life to get time to stand before You (Philippians 4:13)

Pray for help to become more of a servant leader: leadership in any capacity is a beautiful burden that the Lord invites us into (see my post on “The God ordained burden of leadership”). The promise that comes to those who lay down their lives for others is awesome, but walking it out day by day can get tough! Prayers I pray to help my heart grow in servant hood for my team and those around me:

1. Lord, let my love abound more and more for my worship team and the ones that I lead and interact with on a daily basis. Give me insight, knowledge and discernment into how to better serve and love those that I lead (Philippians 1:9-11)

2. Lord, help me manage the people and resources that you’ve given me that I would lead with excellence and serve others (1 Peter. 4:10)

3. Lord, I want to be great in Your eyes and have eternal reward in the age to come, so help me to serve now and be like You Jesus who came to serve and not to be served (Matthew 20:25-28).

© 2011 Justin Rizzo