1) A Worshiper's Heart
2) Freedom
3) Unity
4) Anointing of the Holy Spirit
5) Glorifying God
1) Develop a Worshiper's Heart
God is seeking worshipers, not just artists, musicians, dancers, etc.
John 4:23-24 (Contemporary English Version) "But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshipers are being led by the Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship Him according to the truth."
Developing a worshiper's heart only occurs through time spent with God in prayer, in worship, and studying and applying His Word in our everyday lives.
Worshipers versus Performers:
Performers are typically self-confident (because of their time spent training and developing their skills), and are usually mostly interested in pleasing their audience and receiving all the applause and praise than an excellent performance brings.
Worshipers are confident in God and in the power of His Holy Spirit to work through them and are focused on pleasing God (not man). True worshipers desire that others join with them in praise and worship, but will still worship God boldly even if no one else joins them. Actually, most "true worship" begins in the secret place - the place where you and God meet one on one, the closet so to speak, during your own personal time with the Lord, when no one else is around or observing. True God worshipers now who they are worshiping and knowing "The Truth" brings freedom (from what others think, etc.). "True worshipers" worship from the heart and are not just going through the motions, nor are they just worshiping out of some high emotional experience through music, but rather their worship of the Father is based in knowing Him through the truth of His Word. True worshipers do not just give "lip service" as Jesus referred to in Mark 7:6, but they truly honor God with their hearts (also refer to Isaiah 29:13).
Prayer: Dear Lord, May you be pleased with my heart of worship, in spirit and in truth. May I be sensitive to Your Spirit in worship and respond to your love and grace honestly from my heart. Help me to live a life of surrender and obedience, and not just simply be willing to clap, sing, dance, or raise my hands (etc.) in a corporate worship atmosphere, but when no one else is present, except me and You, Lord. Help me to offer a sacrifice of praise even when I don't feel like praising and worshiping you, simply because you are worthy to be praised. May my daily worship be pleasing to You. I love you Lord.
2) Freedom
Christ died for our freedom from sin, bondage, the fear of man, and the lies of the enemy (Galatians 5:1). We must know who we are in Christ in order to live and walk in freedom. Freedom not to sin, but to serve and honor God with every part of our lives (Galatians 5:13; Romans 6:13). You cannot minister this kind of freedom to others, if you are not experiencing it for yourself. Freedom only comes through knowing Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32). Also, the truth we know that sets us free is the truth we are living by in our daily lives. This is why Jesus said in John 8:31, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples" and then followed with the frequently quoted portion of the next verse (John 8:32), "the truth will set you free". (The word "abide" literally means to remain, continue, dwell, reside, etc.) When we follow and obey Jesus and the truth of scripture, we are abiding in His Word, and then are able to live our daily lives in the freedom Jesus died to give us (Galatians 5:1). You cannot know Jesus apart from knowing His Word, since they are one - Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:1-14).
The Lord and the Spirit are one and the same, and the Lord's Spirit sets us free (1 Corinthians 3:17 CEV). Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom! May you be filled with God's Holy Spirit and experience more of God's presence in your life and more freedom even as an artist.
Prayer: Dear Lord, Help me to crucify my flesh, my will, my desires, and my plans, and use me as Your vessel for your Holy Spirit to flow through. Thank you for reminding me of how much You love me and that you are pleased when I worship freely before you from my heart, unhindered as your beloved child. Free me of every stronghold and the fear of others, so that only your glory is seen, and may your freedom be ministered to others through my offering of worship.
3) Unity
A must! - for the body of Christ as a whole and for any ministry team! God commands blessing where there is unity. The enemy is devisive and his desire is to cause division, confusion, jealousy, envy, offense, and the like to hinder any kind of ministry that proclaims the message of Christ from occurring or from being fruitful. Where there is order, there is unity. (For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. James 3:16)
Psalm 133 (The Message) - How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along! It's like the costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard, flowing down Aaron's beard, flowing down the collar of his priestly robes. I's like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion. Yes, that's where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life.
As an artist, musician dancer, actor, etc., and when serving as part of a ministry team, everyone's part is important! We are all a part of the body of Christ for the purpose exalting our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (read Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 regarding spiritual gifts, however, the parallel applies to our gifts, abilities, and talents as artists working together for a common purpose.) Also, keep in mind that submission to authority and order is important! It's not about you, it's about Jesus and His kingdom. Someone has to lead and others must follow for unity to occur.
Romans 15:5-6 - May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Dear Lord, Give us a spirit of unity for Your glory and Kingdom purpose to go forth. We bind the spirit of the enemy and the spirit of envy, jealousy, division, and confusion, and pride, and loose the spirit of love, power, peace and the joy and freedom of worshiping You. May our hearts, minds, and spirits be in one accord as we seek to serve, honor, and glorify You alone! May You alone, Jesus, be lifted up in our hearts and in our expressive, visual display of praise and worship and through our ministry to others. May Your presence and Your Spirit be experienced and Your majesty be on display. Not to us, O Lord, but to Your name be glory! (Psalm 115:1)
4) Anointing of the Holy Spirit
There is nothing in us that can help or minister to anyone else except the Spirit of God flowing through us. The Spirit of God flows freely through vessels that are pure (not perfect) and consecrated (set apart - sold out with undivided hearts, Jesus is first place, first love, etc.). Apart from the Lord and His Spirit working in and through us, we can do nothing.* However, the anointing of God's Spirit can break strongholds and bondages and change lives (Isaiah 10:27).
Remember, the consecration of our hearts is a must if we desire to be used to bring the glory of God's presence to others through the arts (or any ministry).
*In John 15:5 - Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit; for without me, you can do nothing." If we are abiding in Christ, we will have an anointing to minister in the area He has called us to. In order for this occur, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30) In other words, we must be more full of the Spirit of God than of ourselves (being prideful versus humble, etc.), and of fleshly, selfish desires. (James 4:6 - God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Remember, true humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but rather thinking of ourselves less often.)
Psalm 24:3-4 - Who may ascend to the hill of the Lord? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol or sworn deceitfully (also refer to Psalm 15).
(Also Isaiah 61; Acts 16:25-26)
Anoint - means to rub, smear, conscecrate; to dedicate in service to God. See Exodus 29-31 – regarding the anointing of the priests, the utensils within the tabernacle, and the anointed, gifted, and skilled artisans who were chosen by God to create the tabernacle, its furnishings, the priests garments, the anointing oil, etc. – as believers, we have been chosen and called out of darkness into light to be His royal priesthood in 1 Peter 2:9. As anointed artists who are sold out with undivided hearts (consecrated and set apart for God’s use), we can be used to create an atmosphere where God’s presence is experienced.
Prayer: Dear Lord, Without You, I can do nothing. I ask for your anointing on my life and my service to be used to help others to come to know and experience You, receive Your salvation, love, mercy, forgiveness, grace and freedom. Holy Spirit, cleanse me of anything that is not pleasing to You and fill me with the overflowing presence of Your Spirit. Forgive me for putting anyone or anything above my love for You and Your Word. Thank You, Lord, for using my life for Your glory and Your purpose.
5) Glorifying God
This is what our lives should be about! It's not about us or what we want or desire, but how God desires to use us for His purposes and His glory! If we are truly artists who love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30), our desire individually and working as part of a group or ministry team should be to glorify and exalt God alone above all else! As worshiping artists, it's not about our gifts or our talents, about being seen or recognized, but rather it is about us offering our bodies as a living sacrifice daily and every part of who He made us to be honor and glorify Him alone! No flesh should glory in God's presence (1 Corinthians 1:29). (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Isaiah 42:8; John 12:32)
Breaking it down a bit relating to ministering through dance, when we are creating choreography, it's not about trying to wow those who will be observing with amazing dance skills, pirouettes, jumps, leaps, etc., but it is rather more about communicating truth, the message of the song, and helping to lead others into more freedom in their praise and worship of God through encountering the presence of God. This does not mean that we cannot use amazing dance skills, pirouettes, jumps, etc., but we need to be led by the Holy Spirit in developing choreography, and especially if it is a worship song. We need to offer excellence to God too, and, therefore, no one should be attempting skills they cannot easily execute in a spirit of worship and excellence simultaneously. Sometimes, just a gentle movement of an arm slowly raised can be more powerful than any other movement. Bottom line, we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and allow the choreography to come from Him and not our flesh. A way to do this, is to allow some time just to worship freely through dance to the song you are creating the choreography too, pray, wait, and ask God to show you what He desires and what will truly glorify and honor Him.
Artists express visually what so many are feeling in their emotions, but are not able to put words or movements or expression to - when they see it expressed through movement with clarity from hearts who are in tune with the Holy Spirit, they say "yes" - or, in other words, the visually expressive movement adds clearer meaning to the music and the lyrics of the song. The dance or choreography should never distract or bring recognition only to the dance or dancers, but instead should enhance and enable others to sense God's presence in a more powerful way, or to understand even deeper the message of the song being danced to. As worship dancers, it is very important to have spent more time soaking in the presence of God and in His word as we have spent in the dance studio. Then, our dance and our choreography will just be an overflow of His Spirit alive within us.
Revelation 4:11 - "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created." (Romans 11:36; Colossians 1:16)
1 Peter 2:9-12 - "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us."
Prayer: Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth. (Psalm 115:1)
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