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Worship has always gone hand in hand with music. Since the beginning of time, beats and rhythmic chants were used as a form of prayer. Samuel spoke of David dancing in the presence of the Lord. In the chapter of Exodus, Miriam played her tambourine and danced to celebrate the freedom of the Israelites as the Egyptians that pursued them drowned.

As Christianity spread and was adopted by different communities all over the world, so did its music and its methods. Hymns were made, and Christians the world over evolved their choirs from singing Gregorian to Gospel. Contemporary worship music took on the popular tunes of pop and rock. Starting from the Jesus Movement of the late Sixties, spiritual revival also influenced the music scene. Rock and roll, which suffered the stigma in some Christian communities of spreading a bad influence and rebellion, was made the tune of praise.

The guitar in particular is one of the primary instruments of this genre, popular because of its humble, folksy sound. As an instrument based more on chords than notes, the guitar has been likened to the sound of a Christian choir -- no note ever really alone. It's also popular because it's easy to use - it's the kind of instrument one can carry around, pick up out of the case and you're good to go.

In many ways, worship guitar lessons are taught in much the same way as regular guitar lessons. You accustom your fingers to move into different configurations for chords and notes. And since a lot of Christian worship music utilizes chords and chord patterns, practicing doing chords will give you a good foundation for building up your skill in the guitar.

Your early worship guitar lessons will also be comprised of learning to read chord notations, tuning your guitar properly, and drills on switching chords and strumming techniques. From there, you can move on to more advanced material: substitute chords, sliding, plucking individual strings, and reading tablature (which will let you learn how to position your fingers for plucking). Quite soon, you'll have an extensive repertoire of worship songs, and experience the joy of worshipping through music.

Of course, there may be stumbling blocks along the way of your worship guitar lessons. Learning to play the guitar, or any instrument, for that matter, requires you to persevere with lots and lots of practice. But as long as you genuinely enjoy what you do, the process of learning isn't so much of a chore. Playing Christian music on a guitar is a great way to express your faith, and in many ways is one of the deepest, most meaningful prayer experiences you'll ever have.