How is it possible to miss the creator of all that is? Yet, at times we lose sight of him. Effective worship leading will encourage the down-hearted and will give hope to the despondent when God is made the focus. Nothing will cheer the heart more than meditation on the fact that “the Lord is my Shepherd”. What can give hope, healing and rest better than connecting with the one who made us?

When a worship leader is sensitive to the family of God, he will be led of the Holy Spirit and will be tender to others. He will be thoughtful, honest, and strong. He will challenge with wisdom. Love will motivate him. This same person knows God's commandment, “that the one who loves God should love his brother also”. (I John 4:21)

The heart of a worshiper sees the cup half-full, not half empty. He will be optimistic because he knows his God. Leading others effectively is directly attributed to the depth of connection with God. (Psalm 100:3) Musical skills alone will not make for effective worship leading. True peace and rest is found in the walk that we have with God.

A performer cannot lead others in worship. Only a worshiper can! He will model for others trust and devotion to God. He will be intuitive and discerning of the ways to build a lifestyle of worship in others.

In recent years, we have renamed the “song leader”. We now call him or her the "worship leader". This can be a mistake. Although it can be true that he is a “worship leader”, it could also be true that he may just be a song leader who leads Christians in singing songs.

We can also look at it this way; an effective song leader can and should be a leader in worship. In fact, let's revise the name once again. How about we just say effective worship leading is done by a “lead worshiper”!