I am a student leader at a college ministry.  We start our Bible Study with a time of worship every week.  However, sometimes people are distracted during this time, eager to keep talking to each other or bothered by a lot of stuff going on in their heads (like tomorrow’s test or the argument they just had with a friend).  At times, we've even found music to be a distraction from truly worshiping.

(Guilermo Ares - Washington University, MO)

SOLUTION
Sometimes we need to teach or even remind people that worship is not merely singing.  Worship is also about giving honor to God; praising Him from our hearts.  This means that when we worship we honestly tell God what we feel through the music we create.  In other words, the music we create is meaningless unless we are using it as a medium to engage with God. 

Mathew 6:7 says “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” When we worship, as with prayer, what ever we say or do must come from our hearts and be meaningful. God is not pleased by mindless babbling, but by our sincere expressions.

In order to be effective worship leaders we must realize that the reason that people fail to engage with God during times of communal worship is not always because they don't understand what they are "supposed to do" during times of worship - but many times it is because they need to be invited.  As worship leaders, people who have been blessed with God with the ability to easiliy engage with Him through musical arts, it is our responsibility to lead others to do the same. 
 

There are a million and one ways to invite people into worship.  Here are a few Guillermo did with his group of students at Washington University:

• Reading the lyrics of a song and having the group meditate on them 
• Give an interpretation of what the lyrics mean to them
• Invite people to listen and meditate occasionally without singing

Answer provided by Guillermo Ares / Edited by Jon Wang
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