I just want to start out this blog by posting and recommending my favorite songs to worship and encounter God to.  I thought it’d be cool to post this because randomly people ask me who my greatest influences in music/worship are. So check them out – I believe they’ll encourage and empower you to know and experience Jesus in deeper measures as well. These are the 30 most powerful and anointed songs I’ve ever heard and worshiped to (which was really hard to do because I hate picking favorites):

(In no particular order)

1)  Spontaneous Song I – Kim Walker

2)  I Need You More – Kim Walker

3)  Praise the Lord Oh My Soul – Kevin Prosch

4)  Kiss the Son – Kevin Prosch

5)  Sons & Daughters – Jason Upton

6)  Fly – Jason Upton

7)  One Thirst – Jeremy Riddle

8)  Always Faithful (Prophetic Song) – Cory Asbury

9)  Spontaneous (You Make Me Happy) – Jenn Jonhson

10) How He Loves – John Mark McMillan

11) Blow Mighty Breath of God – Chris McClarney

12) Intimacy – Jonathan David Helser

13) Beautiful – Phil Wickham

14) Fill Me Up – United Pursuit Band

15) Our Father – Marcus Meier

16) Fire Fall Down – Hillsong United

17) I See Heaven – Bryan & Katie Torwalt

18) You Made a Way – Matt Gilman

19) You Won’t Relent – Misty Edwards

20) Forever and a Day – Anthony Skinner

21) My Romance - Rick Pino

22) We Prepare the Way – Rick Pino

23) Hope’s Anthem – William Matthews

24) Abba - Jonathan David Helser

25) Jesus, You’re Beautiful – Jon Thurlow

26) I Will Exalt – Amanda Faulk

27) Better is One Day – Matt Redman

28) Worthy, You Are Worthy – Matt Redman

29) One Thing Remains – Brian Johnson

30) Hijacked Into Paradise – Godfrey Birtill

Top 30 Most Powerful Worship Albums:

1)   Here is my Song – Kim Walker

2)   The Medicine – John Mark McMillan

3)   Throne Room Worship – Rick Pino & Kari Jobe

4)   Weapons of Warfare – Rick Pino

5)   Be Lifted High – Bethel Live

6)   Here is Love – Bethel Live

7)   We Cry Out – Jesus Culture

8)   Your Love Never Fails – Jesus Culture

9)   Love Never Fails – Chris McClarney

10) Defender – Chris McClarney

11) Let Me See Your Eyes – Cory Asbury

12) Forever and a Day – Anthony Skinner

13) Key of David – Jason Upton

14) Faith – Jason Upton

15) EP – United Pursuit

16) Live at the Banks House – United Pursuit

17) Facedown – Matt Redman

18) Here on Earth – Bryan & Katie Torwalt

19) Beauty is What Remains – Andrew Ehrenzeller

20) Relentless – Misty Edwards

21) Hope of Heaven – Dave Fitzgerald

22) Hope’s Anthem – William Matthews

23) Love Came Down – Brian Johnson

24) The Reward - Jonathan David Helser

25) Ascend the Hill – Ascend the Hill

26) Look to You – Hillsong

27) United We Stand – Hillsong

28) Reckless Mercy – Kevin Prosch

29) Healing Waters – Klaus Kuehn & Kari Jobe

30) Beautiful You – Rita Springer

With all of that good stuff listed I want to transition into presenting my heart/beliefs on incorporating spontaneous, Spirit-led and prophetic worship into corporate times of praise and worship. It’s not a coincidence that most of the songs and albums that I listed above have a good amount of spontaneous worship moments. If you know me, you know that I strongly believe that spontaneous times of worship are essential to seeing the Spirit move in power in any time of worship. I don’t think that corporate worship should just be a “sing-a-long” time. If you think that corporate worship is just a nice time of singing songs and listening to music, then you’re missing the point altogether. I also don’t believe that we should know exactly what Holy Spirit is going to stir up and do every time we walk into a church service/building. Where is the power and mystery of God moving among His people when we can predict exactly what a public meeting with God will look like – same exact thing week after week? What ever happened to those Acts 2/Pentecost type of worship experiences where we’re just waiting on Holy Spirit to move and He powerfully comes in blowing like a wind and falling like fire and does a new thing (and completely blows us away and overwhelms us)?

You see – I believe that the most powerful and Spirit filled worship comes from a place of making room for Holy Spirit to have His way. Let’s not get too used to doing worship “our way”. He wants it His way. This type of worship is rooted in yielding to His ways, which are higher than ours (see Isaiah 55.8). Sometimes we just need to realize that God has a whole lot more in mind than our typical hour and a half nice and comfy church service. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not condemning anyone. I am however strongly exhorting God’s people to expect greater encounters, measures and manifestations of power when they all gather together in unity and eager expectation, passionately worshiping and with an awareness of God’s Presence. I’m not even saying that some church traditions and structure is bad, all I’m saying is that we need to let the River of God freely flow and allow His Wind (Spirit) to blow us into new places in worship/experience and sometimes that means doing things differently than we have previously done them. Yes, I believe that He is able to use any amount of time to accomplish His will, whether is be one hour or five, but I think we, the Church in America, need to yield more to Holy Spirit. What happens in most worship services? Typically, one fast peppy praise song up front to “warm the people up” and “break the ice,” another faster pace song and then maybe a medium paced song to transition and then the slower more intimate/deep/contemplative songs at the end, usually lasting an average of 30 minutes. I believe the problem is that we don’t have enough time to process the words we’re singing from our heads to our hearts/spirit and step deeper into intimacy with Jesus – that’s exactly why some people in the Church approach corporate worship as just a concert or time of music rather than a powerful corporate encounter with Jesus. I believe there are times in corporate worship where it’s essential to sit in reverence just soaking in the majesty, beauty and holiness of God. There are also times when the Holy Spirit is moving so powerfully within hearts through a song that it’s absolutely necessary for the song to continue past it’s designated “time limit” so that God can accomplish all that He wills in that moment.

With all of that said, I do believe that spontaneous worship should play a role in our corporate worship times. In fact, it is very Biblical to see spontaneous/unrehearsed times of worship break out. Lets take a look at 2 identical passages of scripture: take your pick, either Ephesians 5.19 or Colossians 3.16. In both passages Paul exhorts the believers/churches to sing “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord in your heart.” Here are three simple definitions for each of the types of corporate worship listed: 1) singing psalms – a psalm is simply a song of Scripture; 2) hymns – no this doesn’t just mean old Charles Wesley hymns (as wonderful as they are). Think about it, in the days of Paul their understanding of hymns wasn’t as we traditionally understand them today. In the original context, a hymn is simply a man-made song of praise of worship;  Lastly, 3) spiritual songs – a spiritual song is a spontaneous song inspired by and full of the Spirit. Paul clearly says that spiritual songs are a part of worship in the Church. In the Ephesians 5 passage, I believe that Paul strategically delivers that exhortation after He commands the people to “be filled with the Spirit” in verse 18. There’s a reason the verses are connected to each other. I believe that it’s because when you’re filled with the Spirit (radically aware of God’s powerful Presence) you can worship most freely and all of the different aspects of worship will manifest adequately. Spontaneous worship is also Biblical, because it is synonymous with the Old Testament phrase “singing a new song to the Lord,” which is found in Scripture more than twenty times.  Singing a new song is simply declaring a “fresh” or “original” song that flows out of your heart during times of worship. It doesn’t have to be complicated or super-theological – sometimes the simpler the better. It could simply be exactly what you’re feeling about Jesus that very moment. It’s incredibly powerful. I love singing songs that others have been inspired to write to the Lord but there’s something powerful and unique about singing a song that’s never been written or rehearsed to the Lord in the moment. I believe it releases a certain part of your heart to Jesus, very similar to what David mentioned in Psalm 42.7 when he talked about “deep crying out to deep”, which refers to us worshiping from the depths of who we are and connecting to the depths of God.

Now, I have heard several people talk about how spontaneous, prophetic worship and singing spiritual/new songs is too hard to do in a corporate setting or too distracting. I have definitely seen times when this is true, but I’ve also had some of the most powerful experiences in worship services where spontaneous, Spirit-led worship is very present and flows easily. Honestly, it depends on where the people are in their intimacy with God. If you don’t know how to enter in on your own the other six days of the week, then you’re probably going to have problems in a worship service, too. The truth is that you shouldn’t be fully dependent on any man to direct you in worship (I’m not saying worship leaders are unnecessary, just that you ultimately are the one who’s responsible for encountering Jesus in corporate and private worship). So if there are times when the worship leader goes off into something spontaneous and you can’t keep up, I’d recommend not trying to “keep up” at all in regards to singing or forcing something to happen – instead, just try soaking and resting in the atmosphere and reality of who Jesus is and what He’s doing in the room at the moment.  There are moments of corporate spontaneous worship where not everyone will be singing the same thing. There are also times where Holy Spirit will give the worship leader a spontaneous chorus for everyone to sing and dwell on. There are also times when God will speak prophetically through the worship and he/she will sing what they hear Holy Spirit saying and communicating to the people. However, it is true that, there are times when spontaneous worship is fitting and other times when it will distract and lead others in the wrong direction – I can’t tell you when the exact right or wrong times are. That’s when your discernment and wisdom from the Holy Spirit come into play. The most important thing is to just be open to ALL that God is doing and wanting to do in the service and how you can co-labor/partner with Him and ushering in the power of His Presence. Does that mean that every song we lead/sing should last 20 minutes, or else God’s not on it? NO!

If you want to grow in leading worship that incorporates more spontaneous, prophetic and Spirit-led worship, then I would first recommend that you practice living that out in your own secret-place encounters with Jesus. That’s where everything begins and flows from. Just start by focusing all that you are on Him and His goodness and love (His character). If you play an instrument, then find a place in your house or outside where it’s just you and Him. Start playing whatever chords you feel like and sing what’s on and in your heart for Jesus. If that is too general, then try singing specifically about what you’ve felt that day specifically for God or just focus on what Jesus has been actively doing in your life. Then respond with simple praise. You can also try focusing on what Holy Spirit is stirring in you and saying to you at the moment, then respond by interacting with Him in return with songs just for Him (just like a conversation).  You can also look at it as if you’re singing your prayers directly to Jesus (which He loves!), this has helped a lot of people step into spontaneous worship!  If you don’t own a musical instrument or know how to play one, it’s still alright! Just turn on your favorite worship tunes and start going deeper with Jesus in the same ways I listed above. If you’re feeling bold, you can just hum or sing a cappella (without any music) in spontaneous worship to Jesus.  Also, try turning to your favorite Scripture passages and singing those word for word to the Lord.

 Not only am I writing this from theological study, but also more importantly, from experience. With that said, a good majority of my songs have been birthed out of spontaneous times of worship with Jesus, whether in the secret place or corporately.  There are random times throughout my busy schedule when a song just flows out of me as I realize the relentless and powerful presence of God stirring and working inside of me. I can truly say that when you actively worship Jesus all the time (spontaneously throughout your day at any given moment), you’ll always have a song to sing because He’s always doing something. He’s always revealing more and more of His goodness and glory. The most anointed songs are rightful responses to who He is, what He’s done and what He’s doing. Spontaneous worship will be natural as you walk this life in an acute awareness of the nearness of God and the unlimited access that you have to experience His goodness, perfect love and unending grace.

 Lastly – just a note for worship leaders: The truth is, what will ultimately empower you to lead powerful times of worship in the Spirit is just simply abiding in Jesus 24/7. If you’re not grounded in intimate experience with Jesus than it doesn’t matter how seemingly crazy/radical/spontaneous/cutting edge or prophetic your worship leading is. Bottom line is that everything we do in ministry should be rooted and overflowing out of the resting, abiding secret, intimate place with Jesus. Try that first and then you’ll see powerful things happen when you lead worship corporately.