If it sounds like I’m trying to put some emphasis on worship, I am. The purpose of worship is, after all, for all of God’s people to engage in action for Him.
Drums are some of the oldest instruments of praise and worship. They’ve been used in processions for centuries, yet today, even in a worship setting, drummers are placing the spotlight on themselves. So how can we as drummers/leaders/worshippers put all that emphasis back onto God? We have to be bold in our leadership to make choices that service facilitating worship.
Lets’ start with practice. Practice should be an extension of our worship. I never thought about praying before I practiced at home before 6 months ago. I would just sit down, listen to the track, break down my parts, and memorize it. I recently attended a leadership conference that really convicted me to get better at pushing myself to the next level for God and allowing God to open my heart even further. I’ll expand on this moment in the future, but it opened my eyes to the possibility of making my worship for Him much more engaging.
So now my worship begins before my individual practice time. The next step on my journey is thinking about the song itself. I attend a church that has 3 different music styles and any one of us musicians could be thrown into one of these venues. So my attention then turns to what is appropriate for the service. I’ll often learn a song from front to back to the best of my ability for the sake of being prepared to play it just “like the record” and then dissect it into parts that can be interchangeable for other parts at the discretion of the worship leader. I find that by piecing it out into sections, the song itself can become much more fluid for any event whether its ending it quickly or vamping for time.
So now I’m already worshipping, practicing, and ready for actually leading worship. All I have to do is let go. Once I am up on stage or in front of a group of worshippers, I try to let my practice and my worship that I’ve done beforehand take me that much closer to Him. Sticks break or drop, cymbals are missed, and sometimes I get lost in a moment, but I wouldn’t trade a perfect performance any day over true, outpouring worship.
All the best,
Michael
