Let's talk about the cost of oil...

The anointing is costly.

We love to talk about anointing in worship — the sense of God’s presence resting on a song, a team, a leader. But we sometimes forget that oil always comes at a price. In Scripture, oil was crushed from olives through pressing. It was not cheap. It was weighty, precious, holy.

For a worship leader, the cost of oil is not measured in skill alone. It is measured in secret devotion, in holy burden, and in spiritual vulnerability.

1. The Secret Place
Before David ever led a nation in worship, he led sheep in obscurity. The oil was first poured out when no one was watching. For us, the secret place — prayer, Scripture, hidden devotion — is where the crushing becomes consecration. Public anointing cannot survive without private oil.

2. The Holy Burden
Carrying an anointing is carrying a weight. Not the weight of performance, but of intercession. Worship leaders bear the burden of lifting eyes to heaven, of stewarding moments where hearts encounter the living God. That burden should never feel light in the wrong sense — it is holy responsibility.

3. The Spiritual Vulnerability
The anointing doesn’t make us untouchable; it makes us more dependent. The oil rests on clay jars. To carry it is to walk humbly, to stay tender, to guard the heart from pride or apathy. Anointing is always carried with trembling hands.

The cost of oil is the hidden life. It is the unseen labor of prayer. It is the holy burden of intercession. It is the vulnerability of being set apart.

If you long for the anointing, count the cost. But know this: what is costly to us is precious to God. He delights to pour His oil on those who are willing to be crushed for His glory.