The New Breed of worshipers

I remember standing with my guitar in my church one day—all alone—with a microphone in front of me. I was just there worshiping. And as I was singing, a song erupted from inside my heart. "Give me an undivided heart so I can walk in purity—because I desire to see Your face!" I sang it over and over again. It was so simple, so unimpressive. Yet somehow I knew that I had tapped into a level of worship that actually mattered—something that was tapping into what Jesus called "worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24, NIV).

Over the last several years, God has been speaking to me and teaching me about a new breed of worshipers He is raising up, and I feel that now is the time to begin declaring what He has shown me. These are key revelations for anyone that is a worshiper and especially for anyone called to lead worship.

I truly believe that God is looking for something far different in worship than we have been looking for. The more "pro" I become, the more I realize how good we all have become at our version of "worship." We sound better than we ever have and we play and sing better than we ever have. We've mastered the most passionate expressions of praise in the way we lift our hands, lie prostrate on the floor, or dance. Our lighting and set designs capture the attention of every eye toward the front. We know how to create mood and atmosphere. We know how to copy everything that looks like revival. And yet, somehow it just isn't true when we walk out the door, and the level of our walk in the Holy Spirit falls so far short of real revival. As worship pastor at a local church (not just a touring musician), I've gotten to watch the effects of all of our "worship," and so much of it doesn't really even matter. It doesn't matter because it hasn't produced lovers of God or disciples who take up their cross to follow Jesus. We look like we're worshiping, but our lives are just the same as they always have been.

I believe that God is raising up a new breed of worshipers and that there is a new wave of worship that is about to sweep the earth. Jesus prophesied about it when He declared, "a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks" (John 4:23). A time is coming! It began with Jesus, but it's also coming. It's worship that no longer accommodates passive Christianity. This wave of worship is made up of worshipers and songs that force a decision in the hearts of those who hear: "Am I going to love God with my whole heart, my whole life, my all—or not?" This wave of worship is fueled by Holy Spirit and fire. It is passionate for worship that is actually true. And it's offensive, because it prophetically carries the testimony of Jesus—the same Jesus who overturned the tables of money changers in the temple. And now this worship is about to flip the tables in the hearts of humanity.

Part of the reason this new breed of worshipers is so different is that their worship is marked by obedience. They aren't satisfied to just sound like they are worshiping, but they are actively showing their hearts love God by the way they obey His words. They search to please the eyes of God when no one else is looking. After all, God isn't just after songs; the Father is seeking worshipers. They pursue a connection with the God of the Heavens. And once they've met with Him, they declare what they've heard on the earth. They understand that worship "in spirit" cannot be reduced to worship with emotion, but is inseparable from direct encounter with Holy Spirit Himself. And they understand that worship is not merely an expression of our feelings toward God, but a commitment to a lifestyle that is in accordance with someone named Truth and and a commitment to see all things from His perspective.

This new breed of worshipers sings different kinds of songs. They don't just try to write "Christian" songs that rhyme. They are far too busy catching songs that fall straight from Heaven. Like Moses, their ears are inclined toward Heaven and they write the words that they hear coming from the lips of God, because they know God Himself writes songs (Deuteronomy 31:19). They receive songs in their dreams that were written in Heaven first, songs that have power to give life to those who listen (Isaiah 50:4). They are caught up before the throne and write down the songs they hear being sung there (Revelation 4:8).

God is raising up a kind of worshipers that are consumed by zeal for His house, for His honor, more than their personal comfort (John 2:17). They have found that He is the treasure in the field, and their lives are dedicated to buying that field (Matthew 13:44). He is raising up worshipers that have a passion to be the Bride that Jesus has longed for (Matthew 22:2). They echo the cry of the Moravians, "that the Lamb would receive the reward of His suffering!"

This new breed of worshipers understands that God has already moved past our level of worship. What we think is the high water mark is nowhere near the flooding, surging level that the river of God will reach. You see, we're not even scared yet. And in Proverbs, it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. We don't even begin to know what real worship looks like until we're a bit scared. "With Jesus leading the way...the disciples were astonished, and those who followed were afraid" (Mark 10:32). There's a reason that the 24 elders fall on their faces to worship. The living creatures are overwhelmed and cry, "Holy, holy, holy" while many of us haven't moved yet past, "Good, good, good." Don't get me wrong, His goodness is unfathomable. But there is more. God's holiness is good and His goodness is absolutely holy. I will say it again: God has already moved past our current level of worship. We are comfortable to stay where we are at, and He is still moving. And worship is for Him. This new breed of worshipers define the success of their worship by whether or not they are moving where He is moving.

God is raising the bar on what "prophetic worship" means too. His prophetic worship has moved past anything we have seen yet. It encompasses far more than our sound or our spontaneity. We will become the most prophetic when we decide to step into the prophecies that were written about us before we were even born. Jesus was the most prophetic individual on the planet—not because of his foretelling of the future, but because He manifested the desire of heaven on the earth. "Behold, it is written about me in the scroll. I have come to do Your will, oh God" (Hebrews 10:7). Obedience is more prophetic than reading someone's mail. Our worship is most prophetic not when we prophesy, but when we become what God Himself has prophesied. Our worship will be truly prophetic when we step into His prophetic call over our lives. He prophesied that we would be true worshipers (John 4:23). He prophesied a bride who has made herself ready—wearing linen that is bright and clean, linen that came from the righteous acts of the saints who are in love with Jesus (Revelation 19:7-8). He prophesied a group of people who overcome darkness by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and who don't love their own lives even unto death (Revelation 12:11). He prophesied an army of dry bones that are dressed and ready for battle, who live for the harvest instead of personal happiness (Ezekiel 37 and Psalm 110:3).

In 2010, I was leading worship on a ministry trip to Australia that forever changed my life and worship ministry. God came powerfully during a worship time and said very clearly to me, "I'm giving you worship with teeth." I immediately knew what He meant. It isn't worship that waits for the last night of a conference to be powerful—kind of by accident or when people are especially in the mood. No, worship with teeth is worship that sets the agenda of Lion of the tribe of Judah. This new breed of worshipers have worship with teeth. God is raising up a new breed of worshipers who understand that worship isn't just for the sake of other people hearing them. They worship because they know that the entire spirit realm is listening, and all of creation is listening too. Their worship is warfare. They worship until the atmosphere shifts, until this atmosphere is the very atmosphere of worship in heaven. They worship until the Kingdoms of this world become completely surrendered to the Kingdom of Jesus (Revelation 11:15).

In the scriptures, there are two words that we don't use often enough anymore: sanctify and consecrate. Sanctify means "to set apart for a special purpose and only that purpose." Consecrate means "to dedicate someone or something for divine purposes." One of my favorite verses is this one, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you” (Joshua 3:5). And I believe that this is the call that God is issuing across the whole world right now. He's about to do amazing things among us, and He's looking for people who sanctify themselves, for people who are consecrated. He's looking for people to rise up and say, "God, I'm ready to be part of this new breed of worshipers—a true worshiper, the kind that You are seeking. I want to be a worshiper with an Undivided Heart, a worshiper who sings the songs that were written in heaven first, a worshiper with teeth."