By Roy Allen Sanford, Jr.

I’ll never forget how nervous I was the first time I played with the praise team at church. I could barely remember the songs we played. I was petrified that I might make eye contact with someone and lose my train of thought. The lights felt like sun rays of death. And it seemed like I everyone was staring right at me.

When I first started playing I had the misconception that my job was to play music, boy was I wrong. Sure we lead the music, after all, we are the praise team and that is our job right, to play music. That is exactly what I thought too before I join the praise team.

Certainly making music is our job, but do you know what is even more important than making a joyful sound? Leading worship! We all have to remember it is about Jesus! If your motivation is not worship, you can play the most flawless piece of music and it won’t make one bit of difference in one single life. Play for Jesus and the worst performed song can be the one that changes the world!   

I’ll share a short story with you. I recently played a special where I played the fiddle intro, interlude and sang an old bluegrass tune. I am defiantly not a professional, but the Lord was pulling at me to perform this piece, on the heels of a friend asking me to play a number.  I messed up bad. I am not just talking about missing a note. I am talking about missing half a bar and losing time bad. I had to do it twice because we have two services so you can imagine how it hit me the second service. I messed it up even worse in the second service!

The next week I had several people stop me and tell me what a great job I did! Did they listen to what I was playing? Really? I was blown away. It was pointed out to me that after I performed the week before people were kneeling in front of the stage praying. God was on the move, and it was nothing I had done! All I did was was say yes when the Holy Spirit said “Go”. It was all God and I was just along for the ride.

The reality is as the praise team we are not music makers. We are chosen to be worship leaders. In order to lead worship, prayer and motivation must be first. Then and only then will God be given the glory.