Worship = Power

Our churches are filled with broken people that have real hurts. Others keep coming through the doors in denial, thinking that everything is well and that they can just “phone in” their worship by showing up at church once a week, usually right before the teaching. How can we, as leaders, facilitate worship that breaks through great pain and denial to help people connect with God, who is waiting to embrace them with open arms? Could it be that we need a better understanding of the sheer magnitude of the power of God and the endless possibilities it brings?

When we worship God together at church, we connect with the Creator of the Universe and the power that raised Jesus from the dead! It’s also amazing that huge miracles were achieved by just a few words. “Let there be light.” Boom. “Lazarus, come out!” Raised from the dead. “Quiet. Be still.” No more storm. When the words are backed by the incredible power of God, not much needs to be said for miracles to happen. What if this applied to our Sunday services and the songs that we lead? We should get excited about the potential of our worship times and realize what may happen when we give ourselves to His service and really lead our churches into worshiping Him.

Spiritual warfare is a real thing, and worship is our weapon. The Bible calls us to pray for outward events all the way up to world leaders, but the real battles often rage on within us. People in the church struggle with fear, loneliness, rejection, pride, discouragement and many other burdens God promises to free us from. We, the worship leaders, are no exception to the rule. How many times have you stepped on the stage struggling with your challenges and emotions and struggled through your set? May I humbly suggest that we use worship as the weapon against all of it by inviting God to visit us by His power through our worship times, both alone and during our Sunday services? Just imagine what it can do to our worst enemies:

Fear – The acronym False Evidence Appearing Real sums up the smokescreen of fear. The enemy uses the lie of fear to beat us into submission, but God’s power is much greater than the sum of all our fears. Worshiping God will fill us with assurance about God’s power and presence in our lives, helping us to learn to trust Him and let go of our fears.

Discouragement – Worship fills us with a sense of purpose that goes way beyond what we do. We all have dreams, and having to wait for years is hard. Knowing that God will move in His good time and filling our waiting time with praise and worship is the right response of trusting Him. Nothing we do will move that date, imagine how much better your life can be when you accept it and enjoy His presence while you’re waiting!

Fatigue – Living water, anyone? Let God fill you with His power as you rest and worship Him privately so you will be able to lead others to Him and have the energy when you’re required to give to others. When life gets you down, pray for His power to help you through, step aside and watch Him draw people to Himself as you lead worship.

Pride – How can we remain prideful in our negligible achievements, when He merely spoke a few words, and by His gigantic power everything came to be? Worship helps us release our pride and submit to God as we get an understanding on who God really is.

Satan – With all his strategies, strength, stealing, killing and destroying, he is still no match to the one who created everything, including him. Worship gives us perspective to rise above our circumstances and see that ALL THINGS work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). God’s power is stronger.

The list is longer, but you get the idea. There is no enemy that is more powerful than God. When we connect with His power by surrendering to Him in worship, He receives our offering of humility and gives us His favor just as His Word promises in James 4:6, “As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud but favors the humble.'”

It’s time to go into battle once again with God’s power on our side, and remember that worship is power.  Spend rich times in private worship of God and let Him fill you with the power that has no equal. Be praying about what you, your team, your congregation, your city and your nation are going through. Write it down, and either find or write songs that address those very issues with God’s truth. You will arm your church with power that will blow burdens, obstacles and resistance into smithereens!