Catalyst - Prophetic Worship Workshop
Intro: Ps 34: 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!(NKJV)
Testimonies of power of prophetic worship
Paint the picture of Tanya @ Wanganui AOG meeting.
Film producer @ Oasis
House of God – Gateway to Heaven
Genesis 28:16-17
Jacob exclaims, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not!”
God must be experienced. In order to experience Him He must be present.
What happened in these testimonies that I’ve shared with you? God was present and people knew it!
“This is the GATEWAY to HEAVEN”
Prophetic worshippers are powershifters! They facilitate the shifting of God’s power through worship. So that people can say “Surely the Lord is in this place and I KNOW IT! Amen!
Gates
Everything that moves from one place to another place has to have a GATE. It has to have a gate, a doorway – a way of getting through from one dimension to another dimension.
Power resides always in its original state – in the invisible realm. Faith is invisible, relationship is invisible – until it has a gate, until it has a connection. Until it has the ability to move from the invisible into the tangible.
God is a God of Power. He is not static but dynamic! He is not a statue He is SPIRIT! He is INVISIBLE and he also has a Kingdom which is INVISIBLE. But to move His power from the invisible to the visible, from heaven to earth He needs a gate, an access point. This is called the HOUSE OF GOD! The House of God is the gate by which the things which are invisible become visible.
Holy Spirit inspired Music shapes the atmosphere
Music has a rare ability to communicate in no other way like it. When the Holy Spirit inspires a symphony of sound – musicians and singers under His leadership can witness a profound impact of God visiting people.
What exactly is Prophetic Worship?
Joel 2:28-29 (NKJV) 28 "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
The word ‘prophesy’ here means ‘to announce, to show, to deliver an oracle from God, to speak as God’s ambassador; to foretell future events’ (Wilsons).
Frank Damazio – The word prophecy in the Hebrew is ‘naba’ which means to ‘flow, boil up or over; bubble or pour forth words, to gush’.
· “It is sharing God’s heart, desires and intent” (Bill Hamon)
So we can say that Prophetic worship is the sharing of God’s heart, desires and intent through the medium of WORSHIP.
Build Altars of Encounter
Many times in Scripture God’s people encountered Him at the altar of worship and other times erected altars as a result of divine encounters.
Law of 1st mention – Noah
Ge 8: 20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.(NKJV)
Noah offers a sacrifice to God – an act of worship of his own free will.
The Lord smelt his offering of worship and responds with an everlasting covenant promising to never flood the earth again.
WORSHIP is and has always designed to be a place of ENCOUNTER with God. God visits true worshippers!
Prophetic worship then arises out of hearts that are CONNECTED in covenant relationship with the LORD GOD. When people are in relationship with the LORD and offer an offering of worship that is pleasing to God, God then responds and wants us to experience His HEART, DESIRES and INTENT. They become powershifters.
The role of the Prophetic worshipper is to offer up a sacrifice of praise, an offering of sweet worship to the KING of KINGs and then watch as God unleashes Himself upon His people. FRESH ENCOUNTERS.
Worship in the NT church is not supposed to be just 3 fast songs and then 2 slow ones before we hand over to the preacher!
Biblical Example:
Dedication of Temple - 2 Chron 5:12-14
§ Musicians and singers were ‘one’
§ Produced ‘one sound’ - complete harmony
§ Praising and thanking God – He must always be the object of our worship!
§ The Glory cloud fell! Role of musicians and singers was completed – touching heaven, changing earth!
§ Were unable to stand at the manifest presence of God.
Spiritual Songs
Ephesians 5:18-20 A spiritual song, is one given whilst in the spirit and aids the heart of God’s people to connect with Him through another means other than only the spoken prophetic word.
Different Moods of Worship
High Praise - Jubilant, triumphant procession of worship, at times loud and raucous
Warfare - intense wave of music that helps us to engage the devil in the spiritual realm
Worship - Simple adoration of God
Sweet worship - warm, inviting presence of God that says, ‘Come Closer’
David – the Sweet Psalmist of Israel (2 Sam.23:1)
§ Sweet = pleasant, delightful, sweet, lovely, agreeable, sweetly sounding – musical
David’s Tabernacle – God’s Model of Prophetic Worship for Today
Acts 15:13-17 cf Amos 9:11,12
What was this tabernacle:
§ 2 Chron 1.4 pitched a tent for the Ark of the Covenant
§ 2 Sam 6:17 set the ark in the midst of this tent.
§ Established as a 24 hr place of worship and singing.
§ Prophecy above declares it will be a place where the Gentiles will come and seek the Lord and call on his name.
Prophetic Worship Team - 1 Chron 25:1-8
§ Music was to help inspire David’s Army v1
§ Musicians were set apart in order to serve this ministry v1
§ Specific role was to ‘prophesy’ on their instruments v1
§ Were submitted under their anointed Leader - David v2
§ Ministry included praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord v3
§ Were under supervision – a submissive heart is crucial to this powerful ministry v6
§ Were instructed in the songs of the Lord v7
§ 288 were involved. Why unity was so important – too easy to get out of hand!
§ Students and Teachers worked alongside each other v8
§ Lots were cast for their turn – had to be ready and prepared at any time v8
Tips for Prophetic Worship Ministry
Question: Does prophetic worship happen as a result of high skill levels as a musician & singer or your personal relationship with God?
BOTH – not either or BUT both.
§ Desire the Prophetic anointing:
1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. NIV
To ‘eagerly desire’ means to ‘be zealous for, to covet, be jealous over’!
We cannot be passive towards the gifts of the Holy Spirit and expect them to work through us. We must give ourselves to the Holy Spirit and be strongly desirous for Him to work through gifts in our lives. A casual or apathetic attitude towards the gifts of the Holy Spirit won’t ‘cut it’ with God. When we see the importance and relevance of the gifts, especially in Christian Ministry, then we must go after them, especially prophesy.
§ Learn to worship God at home on your own. Psalms 91:1 (NKJV) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
§ Make home an atmosphere of worship (Anointed music tapes, CDs). Prov 23:7 As a man thinks in his heart so is he. You end up becoming a product of what you surround yourself with.
§ Learn to live a SET APART lifestyle. If you want God to work and move through your life learn to CURB behaviours in your life that work against being an instrument for God to use.
e.g. staying up to 3am Sunday morning when you have to be at rehearsal at 8am. Watching unhealthy TV or DVD’s that dull your spiritual senses – set some boundaries in your life.
unhealthy relationships that rob you of the joy of the Lord. Whenever you hang out with that person you become critical or put down or rebellious in your attitudes! Chop it – it’s not worth holding onto!
Proverbs 13:20 (NKJV) He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
§ Learn to interpret what God is doing at the moment - listen. Key exercise: Power of Observation. Acts 3:3-5 (NKJV) 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Use your eyes in meetings. Look out on the meeting, observe with your natural eyes and ask the Lord what He is wanting to do. Practical exercise: Go into the Mall and sit in a busy place. Look with your natural eyes at people and then ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to your spiritual eyes what He is thinking or feeling about that person. Seek gift of discerning of spirits.
§ What mood is the Holy Spirit in? High Praise, Warfare, Sweet worship? Seek to flow with what God is already doing in the meeting. Practice chord progressions as a music team that invite a certain mood and response from the people.
§ Learn to flow on your instruments, and work with the Holy Spirit. Jamming together and singing spiritual songs to the Lord is vital to your development as a prophetic musician singer.
§ What does God seem to be doing in the BIG PICTURE of the meeting? I personally believe there is an anointing in every meeting where God’s people gather and we need to plug into that anointing and release it upon the meeting. Luke 5:17-25 The power of the Lord was present to heal them. This anointing was present but it didn’t mean it was automatic. It took faith by God’s people and release by Jesus caused the man to walk away completely healed.
§ Never be dictated to by the fear of man (what will other people think of me if I step out and minister?) Proverbs 29:25 (NKJV) The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.