If you’ve led worship for any amount of time, you’ve been in this situation: You step up to the mic. “Hello everyone and welcome to church! We have a lot to be thankful for today so let’s celebrate.”

You head into the newest worship song. You’re about to sing the second verse and you look into the congregation. Looking back at you are a group of people who look like they can’t wait for you to get off the stage. You’ve moved from your role as worship leader to performer.

So what's the problem? One problem could be that THE PEOPLE YOU'RE LEADING AREN'T READY TO WORSHIP.

Think about what your week looks like before a worship gathering: you had worship band practice that week, you coordinated with your pastor and know the theme of the week's message, you prepared something to say in between songs, you got to church early on Sunday morning and did a run through of the set. - Needless to say, by the time the service starts YOU ARE READY TO LEAD WORSHIP!

Now think about what the average person's week looks like before a worship gathering: they worked 50 hours that week, they're worried about how they're going to pay rent for the month, they got in a fight with their spouse on the way to church. - The normal member of your congregation feels like this to some degree when they come to church on Sunday morning. Needless to say, you are ready to worship but they aren't! So what can you do to help?

Actually LEAD them in worship.

1 | Pray for them - make prayer for the people of your church a daily occurrence. When we pray for the people of our church, we become more aware of their needs. As we build a better understanding of where the people of our church are in their life we're able to lead them better

2 | Remove the barriers - to remove barriers, we have to identify them. So get to know the people of your church. Maybe you found out that someone’s loved one just passed away, or they just broke up with their boyfriend, or they just lost their job. Whatever it may be, it is our responsibility along with the Holy Spirit to help navigate that person around the barrier. In the end, we need to help shift their focus from the problems of their life to the promises of God.

3| Communicate God's truth - The situations and circumstances in people’s lives are constantly changing. They need to be reminded that some things stay the same. The last step is to declare God’s truth. People need to be reminded that there is grace for their mistakes. People need to be reminded that God’s love for them hasn’t faded. People need to be reminded of the present and future hope they have in Jesus.

If your church isn't singing, take its pulse. Get to know them. Are they ready to worship? Are there barriers in the way?