3 POWERFUL STEPS TO AN ANOINTED MUSIC MINISTRY
Written by- Pastor Yomi Isaac
There’s a biblical phrase that comes to mind every time I
think about being in a state of great anticipation or excitement that I find
hard to contain. It’s found in Jeremiah 20:9 where he spoke the often quoted
phrase “just like fire, shut up in my bones”. But Jeremiah wasn’t excited or
happy when he said it. He was actually talking about all of the bad things that
happen to him when he speaks about God, and how that even though he desires to
avoid speaking of God to avoid those things, he finds that he simply can’t hold
it in.
For me, I think about that phrase after a great rehearsal
where we’ve really worked hard, perfected the song and are excited to present
it to our congregation. Over the years I’ve often compared the process of
learning a new song to that of a minister’s preparation to bring the message on
Sunday morning. When our hearts and minds are in the right place, the two are
very similar. Music ministry, after all, is the message and the word of God in
song; or it should be if we’re choosing the right song and focusing on the
message as our main motivation for choosing them.
That being the case, a choir or praise team should go
through a similar process a minister goes through when preparing to deliver his
message. A minister consecrates himself. Prays that God use him as a vessel to
deliver a word to His people. A minister has a study somewhere, where he goes
to prepare for his message. He digs into it,
searches the scripture for understanding, gets that message into his
spirit.
In the process of doing so the message begins to resonate with him on a
personal level. God begins to speak to him and give him things that he knows
will be a blessing to the congregation.Then he organizes and formulates his
thoughts so that he can deliver them effectively to the congregation. He knows
he must be prepared or he won’t be able to deliver the message effectively. By
the time Sunday rolls around a minister is often burning with anticipation to
deliver that message because he knows how much it’s going to bless the people
of God.
When we’re approaching music ministry correctly we should be
experiencing something similar. I said to my sanctuary choir once that when we
come to rehearsal what we’re doing is not unlike what the minister does when he
goes into his study. The sanctuary choir stand, practice room or wherever it is
that we rehearse, becomes our “study”. The process of learning and perfecting
the song(s) is our way of preparing our message to be delivered to God’s
people. When we get up on Sunday morning, that stage or that choir stand
becomes the pulpit or podium from which we deliver that message to the
congregation.
Often the difference in an anointed music ministry and a
ministry that simply fills a spot on the program is the attitude and mindset
that ministry takes toward every song and every rehearsal. Some of us are still
missing the whole “MINISTRY” part of music ministry. Many of us are choosing
songs because they’re popular, or contemporary, or older, or have a great beat.
So we often miss the fact that some songs just don’t say much lyrically.
Other times we’re so focused on “the words” and “the parts”
that we miss the message. I think that’s a challenge for many music ministries
(both choirs and praise teams) because we don’t fully understand that every
song really is a mini-sermon. We don’t get the importance of understanding and
connecting to it spiritually in some way, and we don’t fully understand or
appreciate the importance of preparation to the effective delivery of that
message.
Prime example;
There was a song once that the choir really liked but I
didn’t feel we “got it”. There was no fire or enthusiasm at rehearsal. And even
though it was a very simple song- the kind we learn in 10 minutes at any given
rehearsal- we struggled, stumbled and really never got to that level of
excitement and fire that we often reach with a new song at rehearsal. Sure
enough, the first time we did it, it absolutely tanked. We missed marks,
guessed and fumbled our way through it and it went over like a rock.
At the next rehearsal we went over it again and it was much
of the same thing. So I said to them, “look guys, we’re either connecting with
this song spiritually or we’re not. We either get it or we don’t, and if we
can’t find a spiritual connection with this song then we need to scrap it.
There’s no way a song this simple should be giving us this much trouble. Not
every song is for us to do, and we don’t always understand why. But we have to
do songs we can connect with spiritually so we can minister.”
So I told them at rehearsal that we’d try it one more time
and if we don’t get it, we’re scrapping the song. Right after my little speech
we went over the song again and the difference was amazing. There was
excitement and energy at rehearsal. Whether it was my little speech or the
thought of losing the song is still a mystery. But suddenly everyone was
engaged, enthusiastic and on fire. And that next Sunday, you could feel the
anticipation.
The message we missed was finally burning in our spirits,
like fire. We couldn’t wait to deliver that message to our
congregation-PROPERLY this time- from a different place than when we did
before. We did, and it went over great. But it proved to me that it was there
all along, and we had simply been missing something in the process of
preparation. Sometimes it’s the wrong song. Sometimes it’s the right song at
the wrong time for US. Often though, it’s our own mindset that keeps us from
going to that next level.
So in summary, I believe if we want a powerful, anointed
ministry that you’re excited to deliver week after week- one that burns in you
like fire the way Jeremiah’s message burned in him, you must:
1. Choose songs for the message.
Listen closely and critically to the lyrical content of
songs and make sure they actually have a real message. Don’t neglect the
importance of a strong musical arrangement though. Even a good message when
coupled with an awful arrangement can fall flat. Just make sure though, that
the arrangement alone is not the reason you’re choosing the song. Forget about
how current or how old a song is. It is irrelevant if the message is powerful.
Don’t sing a song just because it’s new. Don’t avoid a song just because it’s
old.
2. Consecrate and Connect Spiritually.
We must approach rehearsal and ministry prayerfully.
3. Change the way you see and approach rehearsals
Many choirs and praise teams don’t show much enthusiasm at
choir rehearsal because for many of us we’re dragging ourselves there after
long days at work. We’re tired. And honestly, we just don’t see it as much more
than “rehearsal”. This is absolutely a mindset/attitude issue.
Our results change dramatically when our attitude and
mindset towards rehearsal changes from “rehearsal” to “preparation to minister
to God’s people”.
When you begin to see rehearsal as preparation to deliver a
word from God to His people, it takes on a different meaning. The work of
perfecting a song can be something you dread or something you enjoy and see as
a necessary part of effective, anointed ministry. It can be one more thing you
have to drag yourself to, or it can be a spiritual and emotional lift that gets
you through the week. The difference lies in how you choose to see it.
There is nothing like being at a rehearsal where you’re
excited, energized and spiritually ignited by the songs you’re rehearsing.
That’s when you know you “get it”. But that’s a choice, and something we must
decide to do if we want to have a ministry that is anointed and a message that
burns in us like fire.
We continue is this series of a Successful Music Ministry
the next time. However, you can email me to get more materials and teachings on
the Music ministry, a classroom experience that will shoot you up to the level
God expects .
FOR FURTHER ENQUIRY
Pastor Yomi Isaac is a Lead Pastor at New Impact Christian
Center,Coordinating Pastor for New Impact Ministry, Nigeria,a seasoned Music Ministry
Teacher,Faculty member at the International Music & Movie Academy(IMMA)
& Panam College of Music(PCOM). He is the Founder of Preachers House Music,
a Worship Minister,Recording Artiste,Revivalist, Creative Writer and Life
Coach.
CONTACT:
Email- pastorisaacmissions@gmail.com
Facebook- Pst. Yomi Ojo-Isaac
Instagram- Ps Yomi Isaac
Twitter- @PastorIsaac11
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