How to get out of a rut spiritually when leading worship every week

Alex |

Hey, friend, here is a short bonus episode for you this week that comes right from within the worship Ministry training Academy. Inside of the Academy, we have a questions section where students can submit their own personalized questions based on their unique challenges and the unique situation that they’re facing in that moment, and they can get personalized responses from me and some of the other coaches via video. And so the episode you’re about to hear is my response to one of the Academy students’ personalized question, and I hope it helps you. And if you would like to be in the Academy and get that personalized coaching and guidance and wisdom and support and encouragement, you can try the Academy for just $1 for the first 15 days and check everything out. All of our courses, all of our resources, all of our docs, and a great, supportive community, plus these personalized responses to your questions. So check it out, worship Ministrytraining. Com. Sign up for your $1 trial. Also, before we get into this episode, I started a second podcast. Yes, you heard me right. I have a second podcast. If you search 1 Minute worship tips in your podcast app of choice, you will find a brand new podcast from me with one minute worship tips, daily worship tips for a whole year.

Alex |

You will get practical advice in less than a minute every single day of the year. So go ahead, search for One Minute worship Tips podcast in your podcast app of choice and subscribe and enjoy those 1 Minute Tips every single day for the rest of the year. Now let’s get into our question and response episode. Hey, Lauren, thanks for the question and thanks for the authenticity and the vulnerability and the humility to ask a question like this. I know it’s hard sometimes to admit that I don’t really feel God when I’m leading worship anymore. What’s going on? What’s wrong with me? What happened? I just want to encourage you, like I encouraged you in text format, that you are not abnormal. This is something that every single worship leader faces. All of us. Everyone in the academy, I’m sure, could relate to you because we all go through these seasons where we’re on stage, we know what to do, we know the mechanics of it, we know how to lead our band, we know what to say from the stage, we know how to pray, but it’s just like going through the motions. And this is a normal part of being a human is it’s easy to learn how to do something and then stop thinking about what you’re doing.

Alex |

And for example, driving to your house, if you drive to your house over and over on the same road, some days you get in the car and you don’t even think about how to get home, and all of a sudden you’re at home and you’re like, Wait, I was listening to a podcast and talking to my friend, and I made it home somehow. Well, it’s because your brain has a rut that it creates that makes you not have to think about the things you habitually do. Well, if you’re habitually leading worship, it’s easy to also let your brain just take over and you go on autopilot and you do the thing, and then you get off stage and you’re like, I didn’t even connect with God at all today. And so I just want to tell you again, you are normal for going through this. You are normal for feeling these things. And the fact that you don’t want to feel these things is a great sign. I did an entire live training in the academy that I will link underneath this video called How to Keep Yourself Spiritually Fresh when you’re leading worship week after week after week.

Alex |

So watch that if you haven’t already. And I’ll post it right below this video. But just some things that come to my mind, some evaluation questions or diagnostic questions for you to consider. Number one, is there any area of sin or compromise in your life? Is there any area of sin or compromise in your life? Because if you have an area of sin, I don’t know if it’s… I’m just going to throw things out there that are probably not true. Alcohol or substance abuse or sexual imagery online or being physical with a boyfriend or anything. Anything that you are doing habitually that you know is wrong, if there is anything like that at all in your life, that will cause separation and will cause a distance from you and the Lord. I’m not saying there is anything there, but just ask the question and really be honest about if there is anything there and see what the Lord shows you. So that would be one area to diagnose. The second area is what is your area of focus? So if you wake up and the first thing you do is check Instagram or read your favorite blog or watch your favorite YouTube person or whatever, and maybe the area of focus for you.

Alex |

I think you’re in the gym space and you do workouts and stuff. Maybe it’s all about health and fitness and beauty and all that. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But if that is your number one thing that you’re consuming, mentally, bandwidth wise, attention wise, if that’s your number one focus, then you will diminish your love for the Lord. You’ll diminish your appetite for the Lord. Just really look at your amount of consumption regarding things in the world versus God’s word and being in prayer, because honestly, it sounds so stupid, but reading your Bible and praying and doing that more and more increases your appetite for God. It increases your connection to God. And you’ll get on stage and you’ll have things that come out of you naturally, as opposed to you’ve been filling up withworldly things, so there’s nothing godly to come out of you when you’re on stage. So, yeah, what we put in will come out. Jesus said, Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So what’s in your heart? What are you filling your heart with? So that’s another diagnostic area that I would look at. Another thing I would say is to get out of your comfort zone and to stretch yourself because when we are not taking steps of faith, then we do not see God coming through.

Alex |

So if we’re not putting ourselves outside of our comfort zone, then we never have to rely on God for anything. And this may be as simple as going and doing evangelism at a park. And that might sound so scary to you. I know I hate that stuff personally, but that sounds wrong to say I hate it. But you know what I mean? I’m uncomfortable with it as well. And so I would say go do that. Go do evangelism at a park or go on a mission trip, because when you take steps of faith and stretch yourself outside of your comfort zone, you have to rely on God. And then you see God do things that blow your mind. And then when you get on stage to worship, you’re remembering this fresh encounter you had with God. And so if your life has become a rut and a routine of just comfortableness, then you’re not really relying on God. And then there’s no fresh encounters that are prompting you to overflow and worship to God. And then the last thing I’ll say, and then again, I’ll encourage you to watch the live training video I did on this topic.

Alex |

The last thing I’ll say is sometimes it helps to be in relationship with people who are hurting. And what I mean by that is, for example, for me, I often sit at our front office desk. I’m pastor on duty, and I get to talk with really broken people over the phone, or they come in from the street, and I get to hear this horrible story about how their life is a train wreck, and I get to just see what it looks like to be on the front lines. And then when I get up to lead worship, I’m carrying those people in my heart and I’m leading and singing these songs and I’m putting the truth of the songs on that person’s story and it means more. So maybe it’s not my own story, but it’s like I’m able to apply God’s Word to those stories and then those words mean more to me and I’m able to worship God and pray for those people in the moment of leading worship. So that would be something that you should try is just to start reaching out to people who are hurting. And a lot of this, like I said, goes out to being outside of your comfort zone.

Alex |

So I hope these four things help you. And feel free to ask a follow up question if there was anything unclear or anything else you need, but definitely check out that live training video that I will post right now. God bless you, sister. In fact, while I just pray for you. God, thank you for Lauren, and I just pray, God, that you would ignite the hunger that she had and that she would not just be in a rut, Lord, but that she would just be hungry for you and close to you and intimate with you. And that if there’s any area in her life that you need to change, Lord, I pray that you would change it and that you would show her, Lord, just how much you love her. And that as she gets on stage in the next couple of weeks, that the worship would be pure and come out of an overflow of a real communion with you. I pray in Jesus name, Amen. God bless you, sister. All right. I hope this response helped you and encouraged you. And again, if you want to get your own questions answered by me and some of our other coaches, go to worshipministrytraining.

Alex |

Com, sign up for your $1 15 trial. I would love to see you inside of the academy and meet you. I actually love getting to know the students in the academy. God bless you guys. I’ll see you in the next episode and keep serving the Lord faithfully.