Intentional Focus with Mike Graff (Coresound)
Let me ask you: Have you ever felt your focus being pulled from you while leading a worship service? Have you ever had trouble focusing in the middle of worshiping God?
People come into the room several minutes after the worship service has started.
Your B string is slightly out of tune on your guitar when you capo it.
The list could go on and on!
These are mostly-unpreventable circumstances. But, if you're not careful, something disastrous could happen: the entire worship service could pass by while you focus on everything else besides worship.
This isn't a single occurrence, either - this opportunity presents itself every single week.
It must be fought.
But how?
Simply by acknowledging it and taking small steps of action.
God knows us intimately. He knows we’re human and need to be reminded of His faithfulness on a regular basis. (Just think of the Israelites!) All He’s asking us to do is to choose worshiping Him. Saying yes to Him will allow us to say no to other distractions that stand in the way of praising Him and leading His people to do the same.
I also choose to use tools - like ambient pads in the Playback Pad Player - that give our worship service a continuous musical atmosphere and helps me (and all of us) stay in the moment. As a musician, nothing pulls my focus away faster than "dead-air". I use pads to fill the environment and subtly keep me focused on why we've gathered and what we're doing together.
Even if your life doesn't allow for focusing on God to come naturally, simply choose to. Choose tools that help you focus. And be satisfied that, instead of wondering if focus will happen, you’ve made the decision to focus. And that's valuable.
Mike Graff is a worship leader, producer, sound designer, and head of Coresound creating ambient pads, soundbeds, patches, and resources for MultiTracks.com.