Correct Posture

For those of us who spend a long time in an office chair, the absence of correct posture can have a huge impact on the rest of our day. You can stand up after typing away on a report or working on graphics and experience the worst pain in your neck, back, shoulders or any other joint. If your posture hasn’t been correct, the result can be restricted movement and even long-term pain. The same is true if you are working at a construction site or doing any kind of physical labour. The posture you have as you lift can be incredibly important to your physical health.

 

As worship leaders, we are serving a diverse group of people in our congregations. Not only in age or ethnicity, but in varied experiences during their week or even on a morning before a worship service. Much like our physical posture, our spiritual posture needs to be correct as we come to worship. We cannot worship for our congregations, but we can help them to adjust their posture and realign themselves so they can receive what God has in store for them.

 

I was taken through an exercise recently where we broke up the Lord’s Prayer into parts. I have done this before, but the difference for me was that it was focused on making sure our posture was correctly aligned so that I could be right with God to receive the message He had for me through the speaker. It was a profound and powerful experience to use a prayer that I have prayed thousands of times in a new way and brought me an awareness that how I hold myself sometimes can restrict the Holy Spirit’s movement in my life.

 

Recently, I was preparing to lead worship and the passage that the sermon focused on was the woman who had been caught in adultery and brought before the Pharisees for judgement. Not a lot of worship songs came to mind for this topic. I knew the response song would be focused on the compassion of Jesus, but I was stuck on how to serve the congregation through song during that service. I remembered the breaking down of the Lord’s Prayer and I decided to apply that principle to my worship set. I chose songs that highlighted the greatness of God first and then about His love for us. Before the songs, I spoke about our posture before God and invited the congregation to consider this as they sang in worship. I didn’t speak between the songs but transitioned in a way that provided space for everyone to consider their own situation and allow the lyrics to take them on a journey of realignment. I prayed at the end, having put Him in His rightful place in our lives, and asked that we would hear a message from God through the speaker to each person individually.

 

How much have you considered your ability and responsibility to help your congregation correct their posture? We can do it in physical ways by providing opportunity to kneel or stand in worship. However, providing the space and time to allow them to realign their spirit so they can hear from God in an unrestricted manner is even more important.

 

Simon Gough