I have always believed in the power of prayer. Ever since I could comprehend that I can talk to God through prayer – I have prayed. As a seven-year-old boy I thought of God as a genie. Someone who would grant me my every wish and all I had to do was pray and ask Him for it, right? Wrong. That is not how prayer works, I eventually learnt that my selfish desires are not the kinds of things I should be trusting God for.
(Psalm 119 vs 36, one of my favorite verses that keeps me in check. “Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain.”)
My prayer life was founded on one thing – God can do absolutely anything. As I grew up, I began to see God heal, restore, provide, relieve, and move in my life and the people all around me. Every time I saw His hand work, my faith would grow stronger.
Church often gets compartmentalized… You have the intercessors, the preachers, the singers, the greeters… the list goes on. Whilst I think some people are better suited or aptly gifted in certain areas – there are somethings that are fundamental and somethings that go hand in hand with each other.
I believe that worship and intercession (or prayer) is one example of this. As a worship leader my role is to point people towards Jesus. To lead people to the feet of Jesus and allow Him to move in people’s hearts. Often, people struggle to connect with God. In that moment, I can play my best music or shout my best worship leader cheers but if someone is distracted – nothing I can do will help. My best option is to pray and trust that the Holy Spirit will break through those things that prevent people from connecting with Him.
Time and time again I have seen this happen: the worship seems like it is hitting the roof and just noise really and then we take a step back and pray. Right then, God opens the floodgates and people are in awe of who He is.
Why am I saying all of this?
I was recently reminded of the power of prayer in my own worship journey and ministry. I was recording a lockdown style worship set and for the life of me – I could just not get things to go right. Retake after retake after retake… eventually I took a break. When I returned, I prayed first. Once my attention was right, everything else went so much smoother. I enjoyed the set and worshiped while recording. It was amazing.
A few days after that, I thought about the fact that so many of us are doing church at home right now. We find ourselves needing to be our own worship leaders and well, the distractions and temptations are fighting for our attention even more so. The Holy Spirit reminded me that I can pray. I can intercede for those who are struggling to connect with Him and have faith that He will bring His presence into those spaces. A few hours after our church service went live, we received a testimony of someone praising God for His faithfulness in worship. She recited almost verbatim my entire prayer. I was blown away.
If you are struggling to connect with Jesus, pray. Ask Him to remove the distractions and allow Him into your life. It is worth it!
Much love,
Hayden Hayl’
A Worship Diary 