“ Spirit Move ,” for example , it opens up with a spontaneous moment , and there is scripture throughout . A lot of where that came from is just the cry of my heart , recognizing the times when I ’ ve needed the Lord to come through . Whether it has been a circumstance in my life that surpassed what I could do in my own efforts , or just the hunger of , “ God , I would always rather do this with You than alone . I ’ d always rather have Your presence with me , hear Your opinion , and shape my life around that than just try and figure it out on my own .” Proverbs 3:5-6 comes to mind , where it talks about not leaning on our own understanding , but trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts .
Bill Johnson once said , “ You know there ’ s something wrong with children when they ’ re not hungry . It ’ s an indicator that they ’ re sick , or something in their system isn ’ t what it should be . Their natural state is to want to eat .” Spiritually , we ’ re made the same way . There ’ s something wrong with us if we don ’ t want to feast , or if we ’ re not hungry . We need to come back to God and ask , “ Lord , how do I get my hunger back ?”
Bill always says , “ You start eating to become hungry .” You feast on God ’ s faithfulness , and in community , and in talking about Him and hearing other peoples ’ testimonies , and on His Word .
I think it becomes a daily shaping of our lives that is more about overflow than it is about spontaneous . It ’ s recognizing a hunger , a desire , and a need for God . When that is in the room you can easily put language to it because you are working at keeping yourself in that place of hunger and dependency , day in and day out . You ’ re not just desiring for God to come be your savior , but to have a friendship with Him and a communion with Him .
[ Steffany ] I think that ’ s the biggest thing I ’ m trying to get to – staying connected . Not finding my connection once I get to that place of leading worship . There ’ s no shame or judgment in any of this , because I ’ ve been in lots of different places in my worship leading . When I was younger , I would come in and not be sure of what I was looking for or where we were going . We would sing until we found something . That still happens sometimes , but the hope is that we don ’ t wait until we are there to get connected . We ’ ve stayed connected and we come in continuing the open conversation . That becomes how you so easily tap into the presence of God during worship .
It really is simple , and it ’ s supposed to be . When you try too hard , it feels awkward for everyone in the room . I ’ ve been there . We ’ ve all been there , where we tried to push something and make it happen . That ’ s just a part of learning , a part of growing in maturity , wisdom , and favor with God and with man . It ’ s about learning that your power is in your position , not your push . Like young worship leaders who learn that they don ’ t have to scream to be powerful . You learn that when you ’ re already connected , you don ’ t need to shout when you ’ re already that close . There ’ s a moment for shouting , and there ’ s a moment for just breathing . And neither are more or less powerful than the other .
[ Amanda ] I love the word ‘ practical ’ because it truly is about practice . When you learn an instrument , you practice , and you fail . It takes years and years to learn how to return to the well . With spiritual practice , we tend to exalt the scripture about going from “ glory to glory ” and we don ’ t know what to do with that tiny little word in the middle – “ to ”. We spend a lot
14 June 2018 WorshipMusician . com