Leaders, WTTU Special Public Post
Show #160 | “The Healing Aspects of Worship”
#HealingThroughWorship
Time: 30m video
Healing Through Worship
As a Worship Leader, have you ever considered how leading your congregation in worship is linked to their path of healing? There are many kinds of healing – physical, emotional, spiritual, and God can use worship to touch people’s souls as they connect with Him in worship.As a worship leader, how would you go about choosing songs that would help facilitate a time of confession and healing?
Learn how to lead worship in a way that allows God to use the songs and time in His presence to bring healing to the congregation.
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Show Me Where It Hurts
3 John 1:2 begins with this simple prayer. “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” As a worship leader, that is a significant prayer to have in my arsenal of spiritual weaponry…the simple understanding that leading people to a prosperity of soul will lead directly to prosperity in not only other areas of their lives but in their physical health as well.The word prosper in this passage literally means to have a successful journey. This is a very significant thought when used in relation to the healing of wounds through the process of worshiping God. Healing is a process…a journey!
Because I have come through the healing of very deep emotional wounds in my life, I tend to attract emotionally wounded people. When they hear my story they tend to think ‘If God could heal Dennis Jernigan, then maybe He could heal me, too’. It is one of my responsibilities as a worship leader and minister of reconciliation in the body of Christ to share my story for that very reason…and by the way, we are ALL called to be ministers of reconciliation….and we are all called to worship God with our entire being. Yet, how can we do that unless we open our entire being to the Father in honest confession?
We find Jesus has something to say about honest confession in John 8:32 when He says “…and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” We can quote that verse all day long and never walk in freedom. We only get to freedom when we take the first step truth requires, and that is our own honest confession.
What keeps people from confessing their wounds or their sin? Fear of being shamed causes us to allow pride to keep us from being honest. What will people think if I confess my sin? Fear of more wounding causes us to not get honest about those wounds. Truth brings healing and freedom and the first step toward truth is our own honest confession.
Here’s a great example of what I am talking about. If we go to the doctor with a wound that we know is going to kill us, the first thing the doctor will do is ask us to show him where it hurts. To not do so out of fear of what someone else might think and to walk away from that encounter and die would be foolishness.
Yet we do that all the time in the church! One of my greatest responsibilities in leading worship is to remind people that God is there whether they feel Him or not…that He sees the things we think we hide and He loves us anyway. As I lead people to simply acknowledge the Lord’s presence in spite of how or what they feel, I lead them as a shepherd leading sheep. This begs the question, “Do you know the needs of your flock?”
Choosing Songs for Healing
Whenever I prepare to lead worship, I do not ask the Lord what songs I am to choose. I ask two simple questions. “Father, would you give me a sense of what the flock needs right now?” and “Father, would You allow me to feel towards Your sheep what You feel towards them?”Once I have received HIs leadership and answer to those two questions, I then ask Him which songs will lead the people to the place of having their needs met.
What pastures do they need to feed on today? Where do I lead them to drink today? Where is the place of restoring their souls? How do I present to them Your righteousness in worship? How do I lead them from fear to trust? From despair to hope?
How do I lead them to comfort? How do I help them stop settling for crumbs beneath the table of the King and sit boldly at the feast of His presence? What wounds need binding and anointing with the oil of His presence today?
I select songs that accomplish the answering of such questions. And then I explain briefly why I selected certain songs that day and lead by example as I share honestly from my own needs and how the Lord used the song in my own life.
By lifting up Jesus as the Great Physician and then explaining how to express our hurts and failures to Him in complete abandonment in honest worship, the process of healing begins immediately as people sing the lyrics that cause them to take an honest look at their own needs.
[ctt template=”6″ link=”7Pl1I” via=”no” ] “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” (3 John 1:2)[/ctt]
Our Walk with God is On a Two-Way Street
More often than not, after I sense the hearts of the people are ready, I remind them that relationship with God is a two-way street. Not only do we express our needs to Him in song, but He expresses His love for us…in song! Zephaniah 3:17 tells us He rejoices over us with singing. Psalm 32:7 tells us that He surrounds us with songs of deliverance…and this is where the rubber meets the road for me as a worship leader.I remind them that Jesus asks us to be honest with Him in our wounding. To do so brings about cleansing and healing and steps toward the Light of His love. I quell fear by reminding them of God’s love for them in that while we were yet sinners, Christ still died for us.
I crush shame by explaining the difference between guilt and shame. Guilt is the understanding that I have done something wrong. Shame is the belief that I AM something wrong. Jesus dealt with our guilt on the cross. He bears our shame in the same way.
To say we are something wrong is to tell God He made a mistake when He made us. You are no mistake or you would not be here…because my God makes no mistakes. No matter how far we have fallen, His love can reach that far.
To give people the chance to receive this love in a practical manner right smack dab in the middle of worship, I remind them that worship is an expression of relationship between Father and child. We have just talked/sung to Him. Now it is time for us tor receive a song of deliverance from Him.
Often, I ask people to sit at this point of worship, but remind them to remain in a worshipful attitude because we are about to do something special. Something holy. Because I have already sensed the needs of the flock I am leading, I simply ask them to be honest with one another…and give them the opportunity to be the body to one another.
At times, I sense many are going through grief, so I will ask those who are grieving the loss of a loved one to stand so I can sing over them a song of deliverance God has given me. A song of deliverance is generally a song from Father’s point of view that speaks to the need I am addressing in the body.
I encourage the body to gather around those who stood and encourage them to lay hands on those standing and to pray quietly while I sing over their needs. Because I have been honest with my own story and needs, others feel free to be honest about theirs. People will get honest when they feel they are safe too do so.
Before I sing, I always remind those standing to disregard me and to hear Father’s heart for them. They know why they are standing…and God knows. That’s a great starting place for healing!
If we never give people the opportunity to receive healing for their wounds, we never see full release of worship. My belief is that if I lead people to healing and freedom, they WILL worship openly and freely.
I have had times when I asked those who were contemplating taking their own lives to stand. On one such occasion I was shocked to look up and find over 50 people standing in honest confession.
Other needs I have sung over include the parents of prodigal children; the sexually abused; those going through a divorce; those who feel they were not wanted; those struggling with depression; those facing financial crises; You name it and I have probably received a song of deliverance for it!
[ctt template=”6″ link=”7Pl1I” via=”no” ]”You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” (Psa 32:7 NIV)[/ctt]
Healing Is A Process
Worship leaders, remember this: healing is a process. To help you better understand how to lead your people via worship through the process of healing, consider reading my book Renewing Your Mind – Identity and the Matter of Choice.Do not be afraid to lead your people to honest confession. I guarantee this from having led worship for 37 years now: Lead people to healing and freedom and worship will be the natural response. Get to know the needs of your flock and lead them accordingly.
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
James 5:16 NASB
Dennis Jernigan
@DennisJernigan @BranonDempsey @worshiptt @WorshipTTU
Having penned songs that are sung in churches and worship gatherings over the entire world like, You Are My All In All, Thank You, Who Can Satisfy My Soul (There Is A Fountain), I Belong to Jesus, We Will Worship the Lamb of Glory, and many others, Dennis Jernigan is a worship leader, song receiver, and author, but more importantly, he is a husband and father. Married for 33 years to Melinda, they have nine children and make their home in Muskogee, Oklahoma where they are now welcoming grandchildren. Having been walking in freedom from his former homosexual identity since November 7, 1981, Jernigan takes great joy in sharing the grace and love of God with any who desire freedom in their own lives. Known for his worship songs, his gift for singing God’s heart over hurting people, as well as his ability to lead people into a deeper, freeing awareness of Father’s love in their lives, DJ spends a great deal of time encouraging others to embrace their true identity in Christ.Want to watch MORE Worship Team Training Videos?
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