Not too long ago my Pastor spoke to me after a service and said, “I felt you had a song in your heart. The next time the Lord gives you a song during worship, don’t keep it to yourself”. Of course, I immediately freaked out at the idea. Did he really want me to make up a song on the spot? I prayed about it and agreed to be open to it, although I was not optimistic. A few Sundays later, I had challenged a worship singer on my team to help create an environment of vertical worship. We discussed avoiding ‘worship commands’ directed towards the congregation and to focus on the beauty and aspects of God instead. The result was beyond words. We worshipped corporately as we never worshipped before and the Lord put a song in my heart. It was simple, but it was powerful.
The first service brought a song of total praise and amazement. I directed the band to repeat the chorus several times as I sang a new melody and new lyrics over it. The congregation joined in and we repeated a simple line that totally captured the spirit and the heart of the moment. I was shocked that it happened again in the next service, but the heart of the service was different. There was desperation and a great longing for the Lord, so we sang, “I need you God”, and it was raw and real. I thought it was a special service, but it happened again the very next week! The Holy Spirit was telling me the heart of the people in each service and I was able to create a melody that encompassed those feelings- and man, we sang and we worshipped together.
Since then, I’ve learned that those moments are called open melody or spontaneous worship, and my church is not unique. Authentic and new worship is happening all around the world and although we cannot manufacture it, we can foster it in our churches. Here are several principles that I’ve discovered help encourage spontaneous worship:
Purify your heat // when you lead spontaneous worship, you’ll be singing what comes out of your heart so your heart must be pure and focused entirely on God. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak through you and sing what he gives to you.
Be willing and obedient // Stay in tune with the Spirit, and he instructs you to sing or speak a phrase, don’t resist. I’ve found during worship that the ideas that are least like me are the best ideas because they don’t actually come from me; they come from the Holy Spirit.
Prepare the congregation // Start slowly and simply. You can bring the music down and lead a simple melody that repeats. Then incorporate other praise singers and your band to sing from their heart with you. Instruct the congregation; invite them to lift their voice to the Lord, expressing whatever is on their heart. The goal is for everyone to express themselves vocally to the Lord in their own way.
Keep God focused/vertical worship // Focus on connecting with the Lord and bringing him glory first, invite the congregation to join in but don’t command them to by saying phrases like, “clap your hands” or “come on’ I want to hear you singing”. Show them your heart as you open your emotions and speak directly to your Creator. Allow them to see your vulnerability, your expressions, but don’t be so complicated or closed off that they can’t follow along into the experience.
Just keep singing // You can begin by repeating a lyric of the song, then sing different variations of it. You can sing scripture, or simple lyrics of worship such as, “I love you Lord”. The point is, keep singing. Allow yourself to sing what’s on your heart then as you hear the Holy Spirit tell you the next line, sing it, or keep singing the same line until something else comes. There are no set rules, but you have to be willing and open to the experience. Often, I will sing several different lyrics then find myself being drawn to the same line. If that happens I’ll repeat that one line on a simple melody and invite the congregation to sing it with me.
From a practical standpoint it’s important to:
Simplify the chords // During practice, choose a section of the song where you feel the Holy Spirit moving you to focus on or dwell in. Then simplify the chord progressions to allow for more freedom in the melody.
Prepare your team // Tell your team the song(s) that you may incorporate spontaneous worship in and practice it ahead of time. Share your heart with them and explain why spontaneous worship may occur. Plan which instruments will drive the spontaneous worship, for instance, instruct the pianist to begin on the chorus or bridge of a song and then the other band members can jump in, playing the simplified chord progressions. I do this every week.
Give them a signal // Hand signals are important- establish one for spontaneous worship moments. Our team uses four fingers. Or you can simply, pull the mic away and tell the band where to go in the song. Communication is key.
Like I said, there are no set rules for spontaneous worship, but if there is one rule it is that the Holy Spirit must be in charge. The worship leader is simply the vessel in which God uses during spontaneous worship. If this sounds scary to you try it during your own worship time first, then try it during a band practice, then try it in the service. In reality, it’s amazingly simple because you are not driving anything- you are allowing yourself to be used spontaneously, authentically, and powerfully.
Don’t Make David’s Mistakes
I think this is a wonderful article. I have been singing in the Spirit for years, and i have a question: Is it different to do it before a congregation than in your own private time with the Lord? I would imagine it would feel more like prophesying and less like praying: what would you say, having been doing this for a while?
Hi Ronnie,
Thanks! That’s wonderful, it’s such a wonderful experience for everyone involved. I feel spontaneous worship is different when done privately then corporately. When in private, I’m expressing only my feelings towards the Lord. In a cooperate environment, you’re including the emotions of the congregation and interceding for them. So yes, I feel in a way it is like prophesying. In the example I gave of singing, “I need You God”, I was sensing desperation from the congregation and singing those words- not because of my own feelings.
I enjoyed the article and really respect the thoughts expressed in it. I particularly enjoyed the parts about preparation, which leads me to a question:
Does God really do things spontaneously?
The bible says God has had a plan for the world since before He ever created it. Each day, while seemingly random and spontaneous, is actually a manifestation of that plan. Yes, God gave His people the gift of making choices — but He even planned for those. I guess what I’m saying is that if planning is good enough for God, then it’s probably a good practice for us. Thankfully, you’ve outlined such a plan beautifully.
Much of what you have described here is the result of preparation and planning. You’ve prepared yourself. You’ve prepared the congregation. You’ve prepared the band — heck, you’ve even practiced spontaneous worship. Isn’t it possible that what’s really happening is that we’re employing “planned spontaneity”? In other words, it seems spontaneous, but it’s really the result of careful preparation. That practicing in private, training your heart to listen to the Lord’s leading, is actually a very well-conceived plan.
Please understand, I’m not criticizing you. In fact, I’m commending you. Because I think the only way to worship spontaneously is to plan for it and practice it frequently. Otherwise, it would be a train wreck that distracts us and sucks the life out of worship.
The only reason I bring any of this up is that many people think spontaneous worship is a simple matter of “just doing it.” That all you have to do is “go wherever the Lord leads you.” Yes, that happens, but what you’ve described here is the preparation that must occur for it to happen properly.
So thank you for sharing a great plan for spontaneity!
Absolutely! Thank you for your great feedback Bob. That is what I hoped to get across with this article, that you must plan and practice to be prepared for when the Lord asks you to lead spontaneously. “Planned spontaneity” is a great name for it.
I think of it as worshiping in obedience. We have our plan for worship- and if the Holy Spirit leads you to sing a certain phrase that was “unplanned”, you respond with obedience. In turn, we must be prepared to respond to him with obedience and in a way that bring glory to his name- and isn’t a hindrance to the worship experience.
I really appreciate your comment, thank you!
The first thing I always look at in blogs like these, is biblical support. Unfortunately, no passages have been referenced.
Can you point us to instances in scripture where “Prophetic Worship/Spontaneous Worship” is modeled?
Here’s where I personally have found spontaneous worship in scripture, but its not as you’ve described and instructed above:
It’s all about the heart and attitude of worship. You find it as Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Tim. chapter 1, he is a Psalm 45:1 person, he’s boiling over and it seems, any small discussion of the greatness of God’s grace causes him to boil over. Its not cause God placed a mystical song on his heart, its Paul heart response to truth revealed in scripture.
1 Timothy he’s talking about how he was saved. He was a blasphemer, verse 13, he was a persecutor, he was a violent aggressor, he was shown mercy and he says in verse 15 that he was the chief of sinners and he was saved. And he gets down into verse 16 and talks about how he found mercy with God. And then in verse 17 he boils over, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
When you sing the hymns and composed songs, those are simply ways to give expression to that worshiping heart.
And I’m sure that many of the doxologies in the New Testament became songs in the early church as they give expression to the joy that they felt in contemplating the greatness of the salvation God had provided for them.
And you find those stretching throughout all of the New Testament. The end of 2 Timothy chapter 4, “To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” It was just spontaneous. It was like a knee-jerk reaction. When you brought up a salvation truth, Paul reacted in worship…in worship.
Folks don’t worship spontaneously because the worship leader randomly makes up a song on the spot and pseudo-validates the overly simplified song by saying, “God gave him/her a song.”
Folks don’t worship because of what they feel. They truly worship because of what they know and feel.
As for directing worship being something that discourages genuine worship or “vertical worship,” I encourage you to scoure the O.T. and read about the Levite’s and also about Kings who did exactly that: they directed the people and the people, men, women, children, all followed exactly the direction of the one leading worship.
If we’re not directing, we’re not leading worship.
And worship – true genuine worship – is exploded forwarded because of verities revealed in scripture, not simply because of what we feel.
Ask worshippers what they know… Not what they feel.
In response to above. There is a move and flow to the Holy Spirit and the concept of “spontaneous” worship arises from that. John 7:38 says that if we are in Christ out of us will flow rivers of living water. Flow and living. Moving. Spontaneous. Unpredoctable. The Holy Spirit is alive and moving. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says to not quench the spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that we are new creations, or creatures. Once born again we are spirit being that long to connect with our God who is a spirit. Worship is a way to connect [John 4:24].
My understanding and my practice is to flow in unot with the spirit and the congregation. We are one body, and these spontaneous worship moments allow us to hear from God and experience Him in a corporate manner that we may not otherwise. Look at Acts 1:14. They experienced something radical. That’s what I long for and I believe what the folks here are seeking: an experience with the Holy Spirit like none other.