Prophetic worship

Prophetic worship is a new movement in Christian music, characterised by spontaneity. It can generally be seen as a part of modern Charismatic and Pentecostal worship services, and is frequently identified with revival movements. Often seen as bringing a new dimension to traditional worship, it claims to contain something of the spirit realm.

Supporters explain the main forms as follows. “The prophetic is a lot more than prediction. In fact, most of the time, prophetic ministry isn't predictive at all. The Greek root, prophemi, means simply ‘to speak forth.’” Hence prophetic worship is primarily a speaking (or singing) forth of “new songs, words and heavenly melodies.” [Pablo Perez] “In prophetic worship, we speak to one another as well as to the Lord. Sometimes the words declare what God is doing among the people in that moment. Often, prophetic song imparts blessing in some area of our lives.”R. Loren Sandford, "Prophetic Worship", Morris Publishing, 1999, ISBN 0739202138]

Prophetic worship takes on a number of different forms, the first of which is free worship. This often takes place after a known song has been sung in a worship service and involves singing words and phrases to the ending chords of that song. Often a two chord progression is used with the lyrics being variations of words sung within the previous song. It is a free and spontaneous construction of music.

This can often lead into another form (the most iconic) of prophetic worship, also known as a spiritual song or song of the Lord, in which a person receives a prophetically inspired song that has never been sung before. This type of prophetic worship “captures a sound that is creatively fresh and unique. The songs are conceived out of times of divine encounter with God.” [" [http://www.secretplaceministries.org/pages/genre/prophetic-worship-music-songs.html The Secret Place] "] .

These songs are completely spontaneous, with the singer rarely knowing what they will sing until they sing it. “A spiritual song is not a song we have sung before or that we all know. God Himself dictates the spiritual song in the moment, in the flow of our worship… What results from this process is sometimes a solo song, something sung for the congregation to hear and absorb.”

Prophetic worship can also refer to freely singing scriptures to music. Singers spontaneously take turns singing words, or phrases that have been prayed out or that are based on the Bible, weaving in and out of each other. “The prophetic word or song will usually line up with the preaching of the Word, and confirm it.” ["Songs of the Spirit", 1998.]

In all mentioned forms of prophetic worship, a common trait is that a particular phrase will be developed which is then sung over and over. “The resulting song is one the congregation is called to sing together with the team. The phrasing for such a thing must be brief and easily learned so the people can follow.”

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