It's March! Tim & Al become audio tour guides for the big London conference this month, listen to new song 'God Of All' by Ben Cantelon. Tim interviews Al exploring the key values of worship, followed by an arm wrestle!
Spontaneous Songs
Ever tried singing a spontaneous song in a time of worship, only to crash and burn?!
I've had some shockers over the years, from singing out 'spontaneous songs' that are so tuneless and irrelevant, that the whole congregation seem to stop worshipping and start staring in astonishment, to trying to get phrases to rhyme only to realize that the word I'm trying to rhyme either only rhymes with very rude words. But for every time things seem to go pear-shaped, there are those sweet times when a phrase or lyric pops into your mind that seems to capture what the Holy Spirit is doing, and is picked up by the congregation and suddenly the whole place explodes, each person responding to God.
After reading the great thread in the forum, I've been thinking through the theory again. We want our worship times to be led by the Holy Spirit: we try and be those who 'worship by the Spirit of God' (Phil 3:3) in everything we do, from the way we choose our songs, to what happens in the times of worship. Our objective is to be a people who don't just make music, or sing to entertain each other, but to be a dynamic, responsive community that are a blank canvas for the Holy Spirit to create and lead worship in us.
There's a little classification of songs that Paul uses twice, which is very helpful for understanding this: 'psalms, hymns and spiritual songs' (eph 5:19, col 3:16), meaning the Psalms (the Old Testament hymnbook), hymns (new songs written for the church) and the 'spiritual song', a song that is led by the Holy Spirit, inspired, released by cooperation with what the Spirit seems to be doing.
Practically, I wonder if there are lots of ways this works in our times of worship, including: making up a totally new song on the spot, or repeating a phrase, scripture together so that people can carry it and worship with the phrase. I find this sometimes works a little bit like giving a word of knowledge: you get a sense as you're leading of something the Spirit is saying to the church, and then you perhaps sing a little phrase off mic first, then if appropriate, on mic so that people can join in. Like all aspects of the prophetic, we need to do this stuff in community, in conversation with our friends ('what did you think was happening this morning?') and we also need to recognize that it's a learning journey. We're going to mess up, but we're not going to give up.
I also don't think we should get too mixed up worrying about whether something is rehearsed or fresh out of the heart, but rather the question is whether the Holy Spirit is leading or not. The most prophetic worship leaders I know lead you into that place of spontaneity because they spend hours cultivating worship on their own, and seeking to be obedient to the Spirit in private before they are in public. I have to admit I find this challenging - I'm so often at my most reliant on God when I'm on a platform doing 'ministry', whereas I should be just as open and hungry for the Spirits leading in the supermarket.
Other times, spontaneous songs can be little ideas that the worship leader has been playing over in their quiet times, but now feels like the right time to drop them into the congregation setting. For worship leaders to rehearse a little phrase or idea or song that God has put on their heart for the meeting, is a good biblical thing. Paul writes, "When you come together, everyone has a hymn..." (1 Cor 14:26). We should expect to bring songs that the Spirit has been laying on our hearts. Sometimes, the most prophetic spontaneous songs can be old gems that someone starts singing in a quiet moment at the back of the room.
The key is that we open wide our gathered times of worship to the in-breaking of the kingdom of God, that we step out in faith a little more, trusting that the Spirit will lead our worship. This will mean times of awkward silence, songs that bomb, but it will also mean a fresh dependance on the Spirit in our worship, and a fresh hunger to see Jesus glorified.
This is just a quick stab at the topic, so please add your nuggets below.
What do others feels?
I couldn't agree with you more. And also with Gav. Spontaneous songs are so much easier when there's no one there to hear them but you and God. It is a great struggle sometimes to even attempt anything in a congregational setting. But hey, I guess it comes with practice...
Great blog Al. I actually have a paper somewhere that outlines the difference between psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs in terms of the differences between and translations from the original New Testament Greek. I'll see if I can dig it out...
Many times in the Pslams we're commanded to sing a new song to the Lord. I also came across two verses in Revelation last night that tell us that we will sing new songs in heaven. How cool!!
Spontaneous actions are courageous. I often try to be spontaneous in writing, which usually makes it fresh and sparkling. Many times though, you go back and read it in an hour or a day, and it can be embarrassing. That's random and frivolous ! Not what I meant at all ! And when you've already thrown it out there, it can indeed be embarrassing. Refining too much can smother exuberance though, so there is a trade off.
Worship is a real time activity. Stepping out in faith and trusting in the Spirit is not only the method, it is the goal. This is the heart of worship. Sometimes being spontaneous it just won't work out, and as Al states, at times "we're going to mess up, but we're not going to give up". Even planned events can bomb, so we should not be discouraged when spontaneous actions are not embraced. When our hearts and minds are open and lead by the Spirit, our actions should be also. This ties in to a similar theme on Tim Hughes' blog, and recent talk at HTB. It is worth a listen. It is about having real and dynamic encounter with the Holy Spirit. It is about being 'alive' in Christ. That exhilaration really shines through Paul's writing. For worship leaders, it is offering to be the catalyst for the Holy Spirit to ignite that spark in us.
I've really enjoyed reading these comments today, i'm sat here waiting on God for a play list for our mid week prayer meeting, and was checking out some scriptures, and remembered a friend telling me about this website, so here i am.
i remember only too well (unfortunately) all the times i tried maybe a little too hard to create a certain mood in the congregation, and it didn't go according to plan at all! including spontaneous worship. sometimes i felt so sure i was on the right track of how the meeting would go, and within the 2nd song realized i was way off, and the rest of the play list was not in the right vain neither, but i found that if i first worshiped God myself, and if my heart was genuine, the people would soon follow. The most important lesson i learnt is not to try and manufacture you're ideal worship setting, just seek God for the right songs and leave it in his hands to do the rest - the spontaneous just then flows in the right places! i do agree though, that using spontneous worship in private as part of our daily time with God, turns on that part of your spirit so that you feel it and just do it, and God sees your heart and chooses to bless us and then we can be a blessing.
great post.
in my experience spontaneous songs are not technically that 'spontaneous' - i find the holy spirit tends to be stirring things in my heart days or weeks before the moment when they come out. In my times with God or my thinking about God there will be lines/phrases/scripture verses/themes that relate to what God has been saying. Then in a moment of worship leading I'll get a sense that the Spirit wants me to share one of those things... so i do. The melodies I come up with at the time aren't always the best. But that don't really matter. If it is what God is doing then I need to go with it and give it my best shot no matter how it 'turns out'...
as the Lord told Joshua when you are leading the people 'Be strong and very courageous'
dg
So glad we are talking about this because I think we may have begun to get too comfortable with 'full songs' in our worship sets. Maybe because we have been so spoilt for choice recently - which is admittedly a nice problem to have, because the quality of songwriting in the church over the last few years has been incredible!
BUT we should never be overly-reliant on waiting for the 'new great song' for our favored worship leader. Not when there are songs waiting to be birthed out right there amongst our people. We are to be conductors of the spirit, sensitive enough to usher-in whatever is going on in the midst of the people we are in.
Sometimes the best thing in the most intimate moments during worship is to let out that 'yes, lord' or the cry of praise - 'hallelujah!' - that is burning through your soul. Or those words that the Spirit is whispering over you, that promise of God that comes to mind. It's a real challenge and stretch to train overselves to stop the 'flow' we've trained ourselves INTO, put down or stop our instruments and dig deep. Just WAIT.
I try to do this whenever I lead and some day's it's awkward and I'm nervous, uncomfortable, worried I'm making a huge mistake. But mostly, when timed right, it helps to bring an authentic element to the gathering and we can know that God truly is present in that place.
hey everyone thanks for the comments... wise wise wise people.
Practice Spontaneity! beautifully ironic but it works for me!
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i agree al,
we need to take more risks in this area. by we i mean me! its hard if your church is not familiar with this kind of thing tho. i guess thats where slow progress of stepping out will help move them into this rather than taking things too fast for them.
God bless,
gav.