Simply Worship!
Revival comes with a price. Are you willing to pay the price?
Just want
to take this opportunity to blog about a stay-over workshop I went last Friday
to Saturday, called “Simply Worship”. It was a workshop meant to equip
musicians and lead worshippers in preparation for revival, and I’m really honored
and thankful to be there in the workshop, because the presence of God was so
strong in that place. There was no way I could doubt that He showed up, and I’m
assured once again, that God is crazily extremely awesome!
During the
camp, God brought my focus back to the heart of worship. Before the workshops
began, I was reading the foreword in the booklet, and it stated, “Worship is
not just about technical skills, neither is it a performance. It is not about
us in the first place but about bringing the congregation into the presence of
GOD and deep into the Holy of Hollies.” It really spoke deep into my heart, and
I believe it was the foundation of setting the right attitude before worship. The
heart of worship should just be to please the Father and the Father alone, and at
the same time, bring the congregation deeper in love with Jesus.
The workshops
were really awesome. The technical parts of singing were covered (since I chose
vocals). I learnt how to use models to choose songs, team dynamics, using
various tools like visual aids (I was quite surprised that visual aids could be
used! Haha…) and how to work with my worship team. The spiritual parts of
worship were also covered, like the heart of worship (the fact that the number
of instruments and skill level you are in doesn’t matter, etc.) and the power
of praise. One verse that stood out, which I thought was also the theme verse
for me during the entire workshop was John 4:24, that “We worship God in spirit
and in truth.”
For day 1,
during the sessions where we had to break out into vocals and instrumentals, my
vocalist instructor (who said after the camp that she doesn’t like teaching
HAHA) told us that, besides the song that was indicated for us, we also need to
select another song. Initially I was like thinking to myself, “Huh so many
Christian songs how to choose?” Because I was also too tired, I asked God to
help me select a song. Then, when I was sleeping, I dreamt that I was leading
worship at a white place, and everyone was singing the lyrics of divine
exchange! And for day 2, we broke into our teams and we had to decide our role,
on whether to be the lead or the co-lead. And I took the lead and decided to
trust that the dream is from God.
I will
frankly say that initially, when I was given the role of the lead worshipper, I
was super nervous because I had stage fright, and I needed to ask God to help
me overcome this. I really thank God, that during the practice sessions with my
band, the instructors helped me a lot by giving me practical advices, care for
my band members, and God also assured me to go with His strength. He reminded
me, “Joy, you draw close to My presence first. And as you draw closer to Me, I’ll
use you to draw people nearer to Me – into the Holy of Hollies.” During the
last worship rehearsal of Day 2, when the instructors were not around, I just
decided to whack and not be bothered by my fears anymore, and halfway, when I was
singing, I had a word from the Lord, and when I spoke out a few words, I became
so overwhelmed by His presence and love, and I started crying. I didn’t know
why initially, but later I knew it was the Lord - He was overwhelming me with His love for His people.
Before the
real thing came (later I’ll elaborate), everyone was just worshipping the Lord,
and He visited us! The Pastor shared that he was touched by God while a dude
was praying over him and the both of them roared in the Spirit, and the female
Pastor gave a shout of triumph! It was like a Rodney Howard Browne (RHB)
revival service, and there were breakouts of Holy Spirit manifestations! Everytime when we feel the tangible presence of Jesus, it should bring us back to reveal the character of God, and bring us into deeper revelation and intimacy with Him.
The massive
one that really hit alot of us who were there, and I’m still overwhelmed till now, is the part after I
prayed for a fellow brother-in-Christ (The Lord led me to pray for him). I was invited to join
the circle when a brother and 3 sisters-in Christ, and we were joining hands,
praying. Halfway through, I felt led to pray for the sister whom was beside me
and I was holding her hands, and I felt that the Lord was totally taking over
because I didn’t even need to prepare what words I should say (normally when
the Lord leads me most of the times it’ll be like that), and she began weeping
in the Spirit. Then I felt such a great intensity of heat upon my hands, and
when I didn’t hold their hands anymore, I felt sweat all over my hands mann! The
room was air conditioned, but I felt the fire of the Lord! Holy laughter broke
out thereafter too! I lay down on the floor after a while, and coincidentally a
sister who lay down with me felt the same thing – that we were lying down on
green pastures! Praise the Lord!
And here
comes the REAL thing, when our band had to be on stage and present the 2 songs.
The instructors later decided that we should present only 1 song. Before I went
up the stage, I prayed and told God to take center stage, and I knew that it wasn’t
about me but Him and Him alone. And when I was up the stage, I was singing
halfway and I felt the fire of God on the stage and my hands were trembling
under the power! Now this was the tricky part for me: How do I stop my hands? (Haha)
I managed to stop for a while so that I can show the hand signals, but, after
the whole worship session, one of my band members told me she thought I was
under the power of God and was not doing the free worship hand signal! Haha it’s
super funny, but I really thank God that He gave me a vision, and the words to
speak out to the congregation! (One
thing I learnt too was to structure my sentences and not speak too much hahaha sorry sorry)
Thank God
for those 2 days mann! And I believe these are precious encounters that you and
I can experience with Jesus everyday! All you need to do is to hunger and
desire for more of Him, and God will surely fill you up! Know that, when God
touches you, it’s not for you to get a feeling; we get to know God better
through our encounters with Him!
I learn
that God is a fun God, and He loves to dwell with His people! Thankful for a
God that loves me dearly so much! :D
How much are you willing to desire and hunger? How desperate are you to see revival come? I won’t settle for anything less because I know I can expect more from a Big Daddy God. There must be more than this! Come, Jesus come. In you beautiful timing, come… #seasonforbreakthroughs
My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Ezekiel 37:27 (NIV)
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
Psalm 84:10 (NIV)
John 4:24-God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. We just creating chronos not karios, while chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative nature, So don't treat worship like time that can estimated but as a in that moment of time or you will feel tired. Guess that I'll see you soon in edgeworship ? :)
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks Jonathan... Eh maybe yes maybe no haha as the Lord leads me in His time lol :p
DeleteHello Joy,
ReplyDeleteOur family Bible Study was John:4..
A great concept to learn..
We talked about the fact that God does want us to worship Him is Spirit and in Truth.
Amazing that God led me to your blog this morning and again reminded me not so much where but how we worship Him...
Thanks for sharing..
Blessings,
Virginia
Great to hear that you've been blessed by this. Thank God and God bless ya Virginia! :)
DeleteJoy...sounds like you had a blast! PTL! Songs are emotional, and affect us in a way that spoken words can’t. Worship helps us to respond to God and His people, fill our hearts with joy and gladness, and cause us to lift our hands in praise!
ReplyDeleteBlessings sister!
Denise
Yeah mann thank God it was really off the charts! Really love a Daddy God who loves to dwell and fellowship with His beloved people! :)
DeleteI'm so thankful for musical worship. It sounds like you had a blessed time. Isn't it wonderful that God can be in your worship and in mine at the same time?!!
ReplyDeleteYeah mann! Thank God that He is omnipresent and He loves to dwell in our worship and praises! :D
DeleteAmen and amen, sister! Thank you for this reminder on worship!
ReplyDeleteThank God and good to hear that you've been blessed by this post! God bless ya! :)
DeleteSounds like a wonderful experience. Thank you for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Charlotte