Several years ago I was introduced to Life Journaling. I had been struggling for years in my daily devotions. It was producing some pretty mediocre results and while I really wanted to learn more about God and sense his direction, I always seemed to come up short. Some friends of mine from New Hope Christian Fellowship started hammering me on Life Journaling. After some persuasion, I caved. It changed the landscape of my spiritual life.
Life Journaling is pretty simple. It is a system of daily Bible reading followed by writing some thoughts. I Journal each morning. Sometimes it is dry and tough to pull some application out, sometimes the heavens seem to open and I get some incredible insights for the things I am struggling with. By Life Journaling I am allowing the Spirit of God to speak through the scriptures and bend my life to be in tune with what God is speaking. For a worship leader, daily time with God is a non-negotiable.
More important than your vocals, your chops, or your leadership ability, is your spiritual base. Worship leaders lead worship. We don’t lead music. You can fake it for awhile. You might even be a fantastic musician and can read a room like a book, but sooner or later you will burn out on worship. You will be frustrated and the people you are leading will be frustrated. You simply can’t take people where you have not been.
So where are you when it comes to your spirituality and worship leading? Here is a good test. Listen to the things that you say before a set or a song, or listen to the prayers that you pray during a set. Are they words that are coming from your quiet time? Are they the same old tired things that have been overused and are simply not authentic? This becomes a checkpoint for me. I hear myself saying things like “We love you God. We praise you. You are good.” Not bad things but they are more borrowed than original. When my devotions are at their best, I am praying to God with new insights from my journaling. It is both refreshing and authentic.
I believe so much in Life Journaling and daily devotions that we ask all of our worship musicians at exchange to Life Journal. As a matter of fact, we encourage everyone at exchange to Life Journal. There is simply no substitute for connecting with the one we have given our life to. You may be the most talented worship leader on the block, but if are leading from a place of low connection to God, I am not interested in your worship leading. Neither is God. Worship leaders have a responsibility to lead out of an overflow.
Stand as an authentic worshipper of God, connecting daily to the word, letting the Holy Spirit shape your life like Christ. Put down the guitar and the aspirations of being the next Crowder or Tomlin and connect to the one that we orient our lives around. You may never be the same.
Find more of his articles at www.reson8.org
