Click to view our setlist in PCO
Glory To God Forever – Fee
New Doxology – Gateway
The More I Seek You – CFNI/Kari Jobe
Word Of God Speak – Mercy Me
This morning was an awesome time of worship! Everything went well, and I loved the attitude of worship that I saw! My only regret is that I started tearing up on Word Of God Speak, and for whatever reason I couldn’t shake it off. My voice was shaky from trying to control the torrent of tears that was pressing the backs of my eyes. Nevertheless, everyone worshiped through my emotions and poor singing, so I was glad.
Has this ever happened to you? What do you do when you’re leading a song and tears of surrender and worship press hard to be released? My throat closed up and my vocals were rendered powerless. Vocal gurus, is there a secret to controlling this?
Thank you for reading my blog. I would love it if you would comment below and tell me about your worship service/s this morning. And I invite you to go over to check out other Sunday Setlists at theworshipcommunity.com.
deepwaterwalk 
Wayne, I’ve been there before on a few occasions. The act of worship stirs up all kinds of emotions. To be human… to be real in your act of leading, is a beautiful thing. I’ve always received positive comments after those moments. Though I’ve got to admit it’s really a struggle to gather yourself sometimes. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does I tend to focus on the face of someone I’m serving. Often that’ll bring me back. Blessings
I have to say… “Let the tears fall!” The Spirit brings streams to dry places. You are a worship leader. Worship him! The music will come – but nothing should stop the genuine nature of awe and wonder towards an awe inspiring and truly wonderful God. Don’t be embarrassed. He is worthy of reactions like this…
Be blessed!
Thanks for the comments! And I agree with you. I am constantly telling our folks to be transparent, and I try hard to keep that in the forefront of my mind as a leader in our church. I wasn’t embarrassed at all. I’m very comfortable with leading by example and showing my emotions, and love for God in public. But my vocals came out as though I was nervous, instead of crying. So that was unfortunate. I talked with some people after, and they didn’t realize I was choking back tears, they just thought I was nervous. Not the case at all.
But thank you guys for your feedback! God bless!
Honestly? This happens to me all the time. And the only thing I can do…is let it flow. I pull back from the mic and pray and worship. Seems like it shouldn’t be that way when you’re “leading”, but God always takes care of it. It’s almost as if, when I stop being a Martha and trying to get this right, and just let go, and surrender to what God’s doing in my heart, the Holy Spirit is freed up even more to work His ways in the service. It’s hard sometimes to let that control over, but when I do, it is so rewarding, not just for me, but for everyone who is there worshiping. Sometimes my favorite parts of worshiping now, are the parts where no lyrics are sung, and we simply rest and soak in His presence.
Joy,
Thank you. I truly needed to hear this. As a worship leader, it’s so easy to hold on too tightly. We strive for excellence in our musicianship. We strive for excellence in our leadership. We strive for excellence in our spiritual worship, feeling the Lord deserves our best. The Martha reference is such a dead on word for my heart this morning. We’re at our absolute spiritual best… when we are broken; when we’re utterly surrendered, like you said, and not when we’re “trying to get it right”.
I’m laying this down, Lord. And the tears are flowing again.
Wayne, I am a weeper! I’m with you bro!
I have two rules about showing emotion when I’m leading worship:
1) if I never get emotional, something’s wrong.
2) if I always get emotional, something’s wrong.
I agree with the other comments here. It’s crucial that we recognize our priestly dual role of ministering to the Lord and ministering to His people, so it’s not like we can totally forget where we are and go on a personal journey with the Lord, leaving everyone else behind.
However, we do have to go somewhere with God ourselves, in order to be able to lead others, to take them with us, to point the way so they can follow.
There’s a balance to strike for sure, but the main thing is to worship the King for all He’s worth, and serve on the stage out of a deep desire to see others know how wonderful He is too.
Let the river flow my friend!
…been there, done that. Sometimes it’s pretty tough. I think your folks know your heart and see that you’re leading and worshiping at the same time as one who is genuine.
The sad part is that if people truly “thought” about some of the words and themes they are singing, more would do the same!
[Harold: like the rules!]
Blessings on all y’all!