Listen
Listen to one of my favourite spontaneous worship moments captured on a recording. It is from a live worship album (a bit dated now) led by Kent Henry called Awesome in This Place. The set begins with a prayer, then into the song “There is None Like You”. The excerpt below starts in the second song “In the Presence of a Holy God” and then moves into spontaneous singing, followed by a scripture reading.
Introduction
In January 1977, a prophetic song was born in the heart of a young man named Dave Moody. It was on a Wednesday afternoon as Dave was waiting on the Lord, singing to Jesus at the piano when a new song – melody, chords and words – came to his spirit.
Moody said “When I received the song, it drew me to the Lord. I felt excited, burdened, and stirred, yet I knew I had something from the Lord to give. I sensed quickly that it was to be shared. It wasn’t for me only. All week, I felt fire in my bones until Sunday, waiting to share this prophetic song. It stirred in my spirit until I shared it at the next service.”
That Sunday morning, Dave Moody led worship. The service began as normal. When the time was appropriate, Dave began to sing the chorus of the song through a few times. However, there seemed to be little response to the song. Dave said “I thought it had flopped. I was closing the song when the assistant pastor encouraged me to keep it going.”
Suddenly, like a wave of the Spirit of God, the song impacted all of the worshipping congregation. It seemed that everyone was on their knees declaring Jesus as King.
Eight or nine hundred people were kneeling at their seats and in the aisles with hands lifted. It was the prophetic song that brought this response. People had a revelation of Jesus as King as a result of this song from the Lord.
That day, the song “All Hail King Jesus” was born (the 1977 classic, not the Jeremy Riddle version). The song began to spread from church to church (before the days of Spotify) and eventually to other countries as missionaries and leaders took the song overseas.
The song “All Hail King Jesus” was a pivotal point in the praise and worship landscape. Until then, there were many songs that spoke of what Jesus had done for His people, but “All Hail King Jesus” sparked a new prophetic flow of songs which declared who Jesus is, pointing His power and His majesty.
“All Hail King Jesus” was so influential in the worldwide church that it became the title track of the first in a long series of albums released by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music, a record label which produced live worship recordings that would shape the emerging praise and worship movement for decades to come.
Here is the song, in case you were interested in what it sounded like as released on that album.
There’s something very powerful about the new song in its prophetic dimension. It was new not only in the sense of words and melody, it was new because it prompted a change in paradigms and perspectives.
Singing the Spontaneous Song
Psalm 22:3 says:
But You are holy, you inhabit [are enthroned] on the praises of Israel.
The word for “praise” is tehillah, which means a song or hymn of praise, but it also connotes a heartfelt song sung spontaneously to the Lord.
Interestingly, it says that God inhabits or is enthroned on such praise.
Ephesians 5:18-20 says:
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Greek word for “spiritual songs” is ode pneumatikos or “songs which are of the breath of God” or “songs inspired by the Holy Spirit”. This also connotes songs that are sung spontaneously as we come before God with gratitude.
I like receiving cards from my close friends. If you are like me, you rip open the envelope; open up the card; and your eyes immediately scan for the handwriting. Only later will you (maybe) read the pre-printed text composed by some Hallmark employee. Why? For one thing, who knows how many other people are receiving the same generic printed greeting. More importantly, the handwritten part means the most because it is the part which most expresses the writer’s heart.
In the same way, the new song is the song that God desires the most.
Why? Because it’s an expression of your own heart, in your own words. There is nothing wrong with pre-written songs. God was especially blessed when Darlene Zschech or Brandon Lake or Steffany Gretzinger or Dave Moody first wrote their songs to the Lord. He is still blessed when you sing those pre-written songs to Him. However, we can give to God so-called Hallmark greetings churned out by songwriters, or we can write our own message of praise and appreciation to God.
Importantly, the message may be heartfelt, but it needn’t necessarily be elegant or tightly composed.
In this way, a prophetic song emanates from God and is directed to people.
The prophetic song therefore is an illustration of Zephaniah 3:17:
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
God sings over His people through the prophetic song to bring comfort and encouragement.
Lets look at Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 again. The Ephesians passage states that we must first be filled with the Spirit. Then we can speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Colossians teaches that before we admonish one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, we must let the Word of God dwell richly in us. The bottom line is that before we can minister in the spiritual song, we must be both full of the Word and full of the Spirit, i.e. full of Spirit and Truth!
It is interesting that one of the words for “song” in the Old Testament is massa. In 1 Chron 15:22 where it describes Kenaiah as the ‘instructor of song’, that word massa means “prophetic song“; “carrying tribute“; “lifting up of burdens“.
We have seen in our plenary session that massa is also the word for “prophecy” or “prophetic burden”. When we release a new song out of a prophetic burden, we are carrying our tribute or offering to God. But we are also lifting up burdens off of our souls and of the souls of the people to whom we are ministering.
Let’s Try It!
Spontaneous singing can be practised. The more we take the step of faith and do it, the easier it becomes.
Bob Kauflin suggests a few ways we can practise:
- Sing prayers, using a familiar melody or one we make up;
- Sing Scripture (e.g Ps 23, 63, 84, 95,100, 117, 131 and 145).
- Sing a line from Scripture then respond to it in song.
- Sing your own words and melody over a simple chord pattern.
- Repeat the last lines of a song.
- Play a new, simple progression in the same key.
EXERCISE 1: SPONTANEOUS WORDS
Using Psalm 63:1-5 as an inspiration, write a prayer or verses of praise to God, expanding on the lines or themes you find in that passage.
EXERCISE 2: SING OVER A CHORD PROGRESSION
Ingredients: vocabulary – confidence – affection.
Sing the chorus of “Goodness of God”.
All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God
Repeat the last few lines. As the music continues to flow into a chord progression, if you are comfortable, begin to sing a spontaneous song. If you are not comfortable using words, sing “aaaaahs”.
The Worship Revolution 