What to say when you're not singing
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.”
Psalm 95:1
It’s the thing that can be the most awkward or challenging. But it can also be the thing that really lifts the atmosphere and helps people connect during times of worship…
What is that thing?
It’s what you’re saying while you’re not singing.
Many times it’s the most overlooked part of worship leading. You practice the songs, learn the words, learn the chords, learn the roadmap of the song, make your whole songlist…but do you ever take time to think about what you’re gonna say in between songs? Do you take time to think of the overall journey and the transitions from song to song?
The opening call to worship, praying before a song, praying during a song, calling people to lift their hands or raise a shout, introducing a new song…etc
Worship leading isn’t just singing songs, it’s leadership!
I can tell how much someone has developed in leadership by what they do when they’re not singing. It doesn’t mean every worship leader has to become a preacher on the platform, but it is important to develop the ability to lead people when you’re not singing. (In fact, most preachers would rather you not preach!)
I like to say a key to effective ministry is to: Keep an ear open to heaven and pulse on the people. The bridge between those two is leadership.
In this article, I am going to share 3 keys on how to lead while you’re not singing.
1. Calls to worship/exhortation
Here’s a list of examples of calls to worship:
Intro and welcome to the service
Call to action (“sing it out”, “lift up a shout!”, “clap your hands”, etc.)
Setting up the next song (especially if it’s new)
Inspiration/revelation (giving the “why”)
Landing a worship set
To break each of those down—
Intro and welcome to service:
Open the service with zeal. Leaders always demonstrate zeal. Lead by example. (Romans 12:8 ESV: “..the one who leads, with zeal…”)
Set the temperature! Thermometers tell you what the current temperature is; thermostats set the temperature. Set it!
Pray! Be the bridge between heaven and earth. When you pray, you help people open their hearts to God and direct their attention to Him.
Call to action
A brief survey of Psalms would see a lot of calls to action like, “shout unto God!”, “praise His name with dancing”, or “Come let us worship and bow down.” Do the same! People need leadership. People need permission sometimes to let loose. Your bold call to action gives them the permission they need to let loose.
Worship leaders who never say anything create gaps that people don’t always jump over. (Unless there is already a culture of worship developed…which most likely got developed because someone said something). Your simple calls to action are like bridges that help people cross over into a full expression of praise (and reach the ones who are newer to the culture.)
Setting up the next song
Sometimes a brief word on the upcoming song helps people to engage more because they know what’s coming. Similarly, your maps app on your phone gives you the upcoming direction so you can be ready for it.
This especially helps when you have a new song that hasn’t been played before.
Also, a prayer in the theme of the next song helps to set people’s hearts in that direction.
Inspiration/revelation
A brief nugget of revelation can be super helpful to fuel singing. For example, during an Easter service, I shared Psalm 16:10-11 which was a prophecy that God wouldn’t leave Jesus in the grave. I shared that if God didn’t leave Him there, He’s not gonna leave you there either! Then we went back into “Glorious Day” and declared the gospel!
That kind of revelation sets up the song in a way that just singing it through wouldn’t have done. It lifts the moment and helps people to see God and praise Him accordingly.
A brief inspiration also gives context. For example, my friend's daughter was dealing with an autoimmune disorder and she needed healing. The worship team that Sunday was singing the song “House of Miracles.” That song carries an anointing for miracles. I asked our pastor if we could pray for her during that time. I went up and gave the brief story of how the girl needed healing, we prayed, and then the team went back into that song—now with a new context. It gave us a fresh way to sing the song and release the power of God. (At the time of this writing, that little girl’s health is slowly getting better!). Context matters when you’re singing a song, and you’re brief word of inspiration can pave the way for a fresh way to sing the song.
Landing a worship set
Depending on your church culture, landing the set can be an art in itself. I usually like to bring it up, help pull people out of the depths, so that they can be present enough to go to the meet and greet (if there is one); or be present for the preaching!
I do this through a declarative prayer, cymbal swells, and most often a shout.
How do I know what to actually say?
Jesus said in John 5:19, “Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”
The question really is, what is God doing? What’s on His heart? Lead with that.
Another clue is the actual songs you’re singing. What revelation are the songs bringing?
When do I say these things?
A few places are when you start a set, in between songs, or vamping on the intro of a song. I recommend to not go silent—keep a pad or keys going, as to not get awkward. The dead silence isn’t bad, it can just be distracting because it’s not common.
2. Don’t always feel the need to say something
All that to say, sometimes the right thing is to say nothing!
You want to do what’s appropriate to the moment. I find that I like to talk more in the beginning of a set, and as people enter in more, I talk less and pray more (I’ll explain more on prayer below).
This also depends on the culture of the church you’re leading at. If there are more new people, then you’re gonna want to be more vocal in your leadership. If there are people who understand how to enter in, then more talking will actually stifle people and be more of a distraction than a help. You’ll probably want to keep the talking to a minimum (unless you’re prophesying).
Remember your goal is to lead people to worship God. Part of that is knowing what kind of people you’re leading.
Jesus said true worship is in Spirit and in truth. So to get people to enter into true worship, you’ve got to get them past their heads and into their spirits. The more you talk, the more you keep people in their heads. Aside from singing, prayer or prophecy are the worship leader's tools to get people out of their heads and into their hearts.
This is why the more people enter into worship, I talk less and pray more.
3. Prayer
Why is prayer (or prophecy) so effective in worship leading?
It keeps people vertical. It keeps people focused upwardly on God.
Talking gets people focused on you, but praying gets people focused on God.
Prayer casts vision. You can actually say the same thing you wanted to say horizontally, but make it a prayer and make it vertical. Cast vision with your prayers. “Lord, I thank You that Your presence is in this place because two or three are gathered in Your name. We will rejoice in your presence! We will sing and shout!”
Lead people by praying and declaring. Two things are happening—1, you’re keeping people vertically focused, and 2, you’re setting the directive on the atmosphere.
“Jesus, thank You that today is a day of healing. You healed the blind, the lame, and the deaf when You walked the earth, and we thank You that You are the same yesterday, today, and forever! You’re the same God and You're in our midst! Lord, release Your healing power!”
I recommend that anyone in worship ministry learn to lead prayer meetings or at least take part in them. Essentially, worship leaders are prayer leaders. As St. Augustine said, “One who sings, prays twice.” You’ll learn an essential worship-leading skill when you learn how to lead others in prayer.
Let’s land with this scripture:
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12-14 NIV)
Remember, the way you say it is just as important as what you say. We talked a lot about what to say, but remember how to say it: with kindness…and all those other virtues listed above.
Wow, this is a lot of content, and depending on where you’re at on your worship-leading journey, it can be overwhelming. But take it one step at a time!
I recommend you take at least 2 of the things highlighted to you in this article and start working on implementing them. You’ve got this!
Question: What was highlighted to you? Is there anything you would add to this?