the night as his friend’ s house, and his friend woke up at four o’ clock in the morning to hear Leonard practicing away and just shredding on his guitar. So the friend went downstairs to ask Leonard,“ Dude! What are you doing?” Leonard said,“ I’ m practicing,” and the friend said,“ Leonard, you’ re a phenomenal guitar player. You don’ t need to practice, let alone at four in the morning. Why are you practicing?” And Leonard said,“ I never want to run into a moment where I can’ t play something that I feel the Lord wants me to play.”
When I heard that, it really hit me. But that’ s all that it really is on stage. Maybe we’ re in a spontaneous moment and I begin to hear a little melody in my head. It’ s about being able to play out that inspiration through your instrument. That’ s should be a pretty normal practice for any musician, Christian or not. But I believe that inspiration comes from the Lord, and comes because of a heart posture within myself of wanting to know what He’ s doing in the room, or seeing what He’ s doing in the room and wanting to contribute to that with my instrument. Some might call it improvisation, but it’ s just listening for that little melody in my head that feels moving, and then doing my best to play that sound in my head out through my guitar. Sometimes it’ s right and amazing, and sometimes maybe it’ s not the right thing in the moment. But I think that all of it is okay. It’ s more about just going for it and following that inspiration.
[ WM ] Before we shift gears back to guitar, let’ s talk about shouldering an anointing. What does that mean to you and how do you get to and stay in that place so that you’ re ready to respond to what God asks in a given moment?
[ Michael ] I don’ t know if it’ s something that I feel like I step in and out of. I think that heart posture is something that I’ m working on and actively pursuing to stay in that place. I don’ t want to be driving in my car and have that be less spiritual than when I’ m on stage. Maybe it’ s more simple than spiritual answers sometimes beg to be. My job, on that stage, is to serve the worship leader and to serve the congregation. Sometimes that means playing the exact parts that are on an album, and other times it might mean improvising, playing spontaneously, and following my own heart and head with what I feel the Lord is inspiring in me or doing in the room. Honestly and practically, that’ s all it is. There isn’ t an exact way to measure or say,“ This is what the Lord was doing, and you met about eighty-seven percent of that.” There’ s no scale to measure that by. It’ s just about having a heart posture to serve the Lord in anything that you’ re doing. When you’ re on stage, playing music, it could be a number of different things. It’ s an effort, on our part, to be sensitive to what the Lord is doing, and when we feel like He wants us to do something, to be faithful to it and to respond how you feel and believe He wants us to. I think the Lord honors that and He shows up, whether we did everything the
32 June 2018 WorshipMusician. com