The Definition of Prophetic Worship
Growing up as an evangelical Christian, there are some words I just never used... prophetic was one of them. Seemed kinda spooky, out there and unattainable. Over the last few years in the Body of Christ, especially as one who falls on the charismatic side of the theological fence I've seen alot of things people called "prophetic".
Getting a Healthy Understanding
Through some searching and hopefully some discernment, I think I have a healthy understanding of what being prophetic really means - especially as it relates to creative expression: to hear the voice of God and translate it into an understandable medium - sometimes a 'word in season' - sometimes a 'thus saith the Lord' - but for the artist, it's hearing the voice of God, sensing His Spirit and yielding to His moving through your unique creative expression. I believe there are things that God wants to communicate in the earth that will never come to fullness without the yielding of creative people - artists who know they are prophetic and desire to release that through the arts.
The Definition of Prophetic Worship
I saw this article online at http://www.theworshiparts.com/worshipartsblog/ and thought I would share here... how simple! :)
"In its basic definition, prophetic worship is speaking, singing or acting under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord which, in turn, shows our complete surrender in worship to Him (God). Prophetic worship is meant to allow God’s reflection to be seen in us so that others may respond and come to know him.
To prophesy [or be prophetic] simply means to speak, sing, write or act under divine inspiration…nabiy’ (1 of four Hebrew Old Testament words) & prophēteuō (Greek) are common original language words found in scripture.
To worship means to bow low, express respect, or lean forward [as to kiss the hand]… shachah (1 of three Hebrew Old Testament words) & proskyneō (1 of eight New Testament Greek words) are common original language words found in scripture.
A further biblical study of the Old and New Testament prophets, as well as those who operate in prophetic giftings, would reveal the controversial nature of the prophetic…. although this is not always so, prophetic people often cause disturbances….Jesus certainly did!
A Way of Life
Prophetic worship is a way to live life so that God’s heart, words and voice are made obvious to those around us."
My heart for The Worship Studio is that we would raise up a generation of artists who, under the influence of the Holy Spirit and able to hear His voice, will respond to Him through their own unique creative expression. Let's not let words scare us or push us apart. A divine, prophetic connection to the creative heart of God is available now for all of us who seek after Him through worship and creative expression!
It sounds like you're describing a bunch of musicians, with this wave of "prophetic worship", enable them to speak direction to an individual...What happens if the prophetic utterances are wrong? Is there accountability? What becomes of the pastor now that we have an army of musicians that can speak directly into peoples lives? And I guess the most important question...how is this biblical? Where is the biblical precedence? Please respond if you have any answers to any of these questions. I've been seeking a biblical answer for what I feel to be an emotionally driven and potentially destructive form of worship. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNo, on the contrary, it's the attitude to which you surrender to Jesus, God Almighty, the Holy Spirit. THIS type of worship can be a quiet walk, a peaceful smile, a joyful laughter from a pure heart. Just break down the fear barriers of the unknown..read the word about how David worshipped the Lord..The prophetic part is God speaking and moving through the very gift He gave you. The Spirit pf God works through all these gifts.Pastors, pastor teachers teach..musicians express through music, song, hymns etc. Sounds like you got someone elses opinion out of the dark..Let your light shine and surrender to Him (God Almighty through Jesus Christ and watch the Spirit work those works of God..believe..
DeleteI think some people would use Ephesians 5:19 as a justification. "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs". Some translations say "songs from the Spirit" To me, this speaks of a free-form, Spirit-led worship.
Deletehi Joey, to be honest with you, i don't think and believe that prophetic worship inspired is by God, i don't see it in the Bible and personally do i think this is a man made think.people make such a big fuzz about music that the word of God not feature. for me it is a problem.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is good to judge everything against the scriptures, I'm afraid you guys sound a bit like Michal in 2 Samuel 6:14-23.
ReplyDeleteThe point here is that the artists are allowing the Holy Spirit to worship through them, not that they are "prophesying". God is REAL and more than merely believing in Him, we can experience Him.
Thanks for sharing that article on your blog Tommey! I got a lot out of it. I have seen God speak to people through prophetic words and worship. At first I was skeptical but when I experienced a person coming up to me and sharing a loving message from God to me. I was blown away! There was no way anyone other than God could have known the struggles in my heart and mind. The fruit can be seen when something draws the body closer to God and to each other. If the opposite is happening probably some type of lie has crept and needs to be dealt with. I always measure everything up to the Bible and will continue to encourage others to do so as I grow in the prophetic. God bless you for your boldness :)
ReplyDeletehi guys we also in prophetic flow in our body and to answer joey's question, REV19v10 says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. so if anybody should prophecy during worship it should be inline with Gods word(Jesus). David also pioneered this way of worship for us that's why there is no instruction for worship in the new testament but in acts 15v16 the apostles speaks of restoring the tabernacle of David, David had worship right that's why it needs to be restored.John4 v23 says we should worship in spirit and in truth,the spirit is about what the spirit is saying and truth is what the word of God says.
ReplyDeletehere is the ANSWER(My wife knew this,arnt they great)
CHRONICLES 25 Moreover David and the captains of the army separated for the service some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals.
thank you and God bless you joey.
agree with the scripture, is not what we think we do, but what we feel is true and the holy spirit ,inspire it bringing illumination and revelation while he is inspiring to talk or sing.
DeleteI must say I dislike that nowdays everything is "prophetic" _________ (fill in the blank). I am a worship leader myself, and I find that in order for worship to be effective I must be lead by the HS at all times! so if allowing the HS to lead you in worship is "prophetic" worship, then I guess I've been doing it since I was 9 y-o. Brothers and sisters, let's not confuse artistic expression with prophetic anything. My talent is God inspired, therefore all notes I play or my voice emits are full of the HS. I have close friends that operate under prophetic anointing while leading worship, and they say music helps tune in to God's voice. worship is design to exalt God, prophecy is part of the sings for people.
ReplyDeletecorrect me if I'm wrong, but it seems like whoever started this terminology didn't think it through.
btw, I myself also operate in prophetic anointing every now and then, but I'm not a prophet. God uses whoever, whenever, for whatever He wants. Praise God! God Bless!
If you are singing worship to the Lord who are you prophesying to? If you singing praises to The Lord, who are you prophesying to? If you are singing praises about The Lord is that prophesy or evangelism?
DeleteWhile I believe doing what God asks and being the person He desires us to be is worship even in a truer sense than singing to Him or about Him I don't believe a song sung to God or about God can be both prophetic and worship. Worship is from man to God or man roman about God. Prophecy is from God to man!
Below is a the definition of worship from the Greek which most of the New Testaments are translated from today.
g4394. προφητεία prophēteia; from 4396 (“prophecy”); prediction (scriptural or other): — prophecy, prophesying. AV (19) - prophecy 16, prophesying 3;
I.prophecy
A.a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God,reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp. by foretelling future events
B.Used in the NT of the utterance of prophecy, the divine mind, to which the prophetic faculty is due
2.of the endowment and speech of the Christian teachers called prophets
3.the gifts and utterances of these prophets, esp. of the predictions of the works of which, set apart to teach the gospel, will accomplish for the kingdom of Christ
My apologies I wrote definition of worship where I meant definition of prophecy and word roman was not supposed to be there
DeleteThe worship is something in your spirit expressed unto God as He recieves it..If you and I both worship the Lord it will be different because we are different even if we operate in the same gift of his spirit..but paul teaches greater is the gift of love..right..so don't make more of prophetic anything..our whole life is prophetic ..God knew us long before anyone else and saved us the His son long before we were born..but its up to you to love your Father.He loved us first it brings us unto repentance...don't be afraid of His Holy Spirit..He is Here to Comfort, guide, teach us the truth he bares witness of it...He is God..
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with "prophetic worship" as I have seen it expressed in local churches in my area. During Sunday services, the worship leader begins singing "prophetically" or as I heard one person describe it - and forgive me if it sounds disrespectful - not intended - the worship leader begins singing what is supposed to be a "new song" making the words up as he/she goes along. This has become so "popular" so desirous in some local churches that whole blocks of time will go by during service with the worship leader singing prophetically. This is not prophesying to anyone or speaking but basically making words up into a new song or in more than 90% of the time - a new phrase or a set of new phrases strung together. Here's my problem or the difficulty I am having: when I look at more than half of the congregation, they are tuned out, just standing there - since they don't know the words, they are unable to join in. Since these are new words, the words cannot be put up on the screen to help those who don't know it and in some instances - one worship leader is doing this and the other members of the worship team are also just standing around sometimes trying to look like they are in it or worshipping quietly to themselves. I have a problem as it seems to leave more than half those present behind. And the newcomers/visitors just stand there out of politeness facing forward not singing at all. Some people use this time to sing their own songs to God as individuals but when this happens this way I feel that except for the Word or Message, we may all have just stayed home and worshiped prophetically, home, alone, on our own, which is where I am beginning to believe this form of worship belongs. On the other hand, I have seen worship leaders take us in straight into God's very presence as we sing a known chorus or a new song with the words provided on the screen, through some repetition, and we all start worshiping and we go to that deep secret place together - then the leader may sing "prophetically" with new words and at that point it does not matter because we are already there and we sing our own private words to God, each person singing his/her own words but still in unity, as we are all doing it at the same time. I am really struggling with this and whether I should say something to the church leadership about it as I feel somewhat strongly that this just does not feel like unity or worship. It feels like I am looking on someone else's worship that probably should have been private. I have described extensively what I have seen happen, hoping that someone will address my concerns and maybe pull me on board with the whole prophetic worship thing, or let me know what your thoughts are. Thanks for reading all this! :)
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