One of the greatest challenges for leaders of any type is to stay fresh, avoiding the pitfalls of burning out on the job. Because worship leaders operate on multiple levels, employing natural and spiritual leadership principles, the potential for burnout is much greater. Local church worship leaders must be great musicians, great politicians, great administrators, and great worshipers simultaneously. This is no small task and not one for the faint of heart!

All of us want to become better worshippers and in turn lead our congregations to a higher level of worship. Here are a few thoughts gleaned from 20 years of leading worship in dozens of denominations, cultures and languages.

Paul Baloche discusses how often you can introduce new songs.

Paul Baloche - Performance vs worship leading.

Paul Baloche - Praying during worship.

So many elements compete for our attention while leading worship. How do we stay focused on God?

We live in a noisy world. From the time the radio alarm clock wakes us up, to the conclusion of the network newscast, our lives are filled with sound. On our way to work or to pick up groceries, we listen to the radio, tape, or CD. While in high school our oldest son, Chris, claimed that he couldn’t really concentrate on his studies unless he was in front of the TV or was listening to music. Things have changed since I had high school homework! Even at night – while our three grown children were still living at home – Gayle and I would often go to bed with “trance”, “break-beat”, and “house” music emanating through our bedroom walls from our oldest son’s computer music compositions.

Though it's true of the Biblical references of Ps. 66:18 and Js 4:8, God will hear us with a contrite spirit as we draw near to Him; sometimes we need to be reminded that God is not removed from our daily and worship life. He is closer than we realize.

What does it look like for God's Kingdom to come in every area of your life? Take a look with Dennis Jernigan. You may never lead worship the same way again...

Mark shares some very practical steps that you can follow to improve your ability to lead worship.  It starts with finding a great mentor to follow after, then it becomes a part of your personal walk, and then you begin to add on to that foundation all the great worship songs, musical skills, and band leading dynamics.  All of that put together, resting on a solid foundation of a life of integrity, will make you a rock-solid worship leader.