See all of the posts in this series here.

In the last post in this series, I gave some context for the worship movement that Satan is raising up as we approach the end of the age. At the same time, Jesus is raising up a worship movement that will far eclipse the impact and depth of Satan’s, ultimately birthing a new age and the kingdom of God on the earth at the second coming of Christ.

The great conflict at the end of the age will be between two houses of prayer, or two global worship movements. The Holy Spirit is raising up the most powerful prayer and worship movement in history that will be the first line of “defense” against the Antichrist’s worship movement. The emphasis we are beginning to see in the body of Christ today on prayer and worship is not the latest fad in the church that people are jumping on to. Jesus will not come back to earth in a vacuum, but only in context to a people in deep unity with His heart calling Him back. Perhaps one of the most important prophetic statements about the church’s identity and function before the return of Christ is in Revelation 22:17:

“And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!””
(Rev 22:17 NKJV)

John tells us that the church at the end of the age, having an understanding of her identity as the bride of Christ, will be in unity with the Holy Spirit in prayer and worship calling Jesus to come to earth. Jesus told us to pray that His kingdom would come to the earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). He will literally answer that prayer by returning to the earth to establish the kingdom and government of God on the earth in its fullness. Revelation 20 speaks of this 1,000 year period where Jesus will rule from Jerusalem, and the kingdom of God will be openly manifest worldwide affecting every sphere of life. (Isa. 2:1-4, Isa. 9:6-9, Isa. 11:1-16, Isa. 60-62, Isa. 65:17-25, Ps. 2, Ps. 110, Matthew 5:5, Matthew 6:10, Matthew 17:11, Matthew 19:28, Matthew 28:19, Acts 1:6, Acts 3:21)

Without question, the Lord will use worship and music as one of the primary ways to bring in the great harvest of souls and usher in His kingdom. The songs of Jesus’ worship movement will be in complete opposition to the message being promoted by the false worship movement. Holy Spirit anointed music will cause people to desire meekness, holiness, and to rid themselves of compromise. The knowledge of God will be exalted and the glory of man will be humbled. It will be much more than some good worship music that gives a few goose bumps. The lyrics and the music will carry weight that causes hearts to tremble, fear the Lord, and fully put their hope in Him. They will carry power to heal, deliver, and set men free of demons.

The Lord ultimately desires partnership with His people, so the anointing on music that is coming is not just for the sake of having some powerful revival meetings. The Lord will flow through prophetic singers and musicians to draw many to Himself and to prepare the way for the return of Jesus to the earth.

David is probably one of the clearest biblical examples of an anointed musician passionate and hungry for God. He had an anointing on his music to drive demonic oppression away.

“And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”
So Saul said to his servants, “Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”
Then one of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the Lord is with him.”
Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.”
(1Sam 16:15-23 NKJV)

Right now the Lord is raising up thousands of musicians and singers with a heart like David’s – without concern of the size of their ministry or the number of albums they sold but primarily focused on the size of their heart and the pursuit of full obedience to the Lord. Those are the musicians and singers that the Lord is looking for. Even though man looks at the outward, the Lord looks at the heart.

Elisha requested a musician to play when he was asked to prophesy to the king of Israel, and God’s power was manifested because of the musician.

15 “Now bring me a musician." Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. (2 Kings 3:15)

Quite possibly one of my favorite passages about the power of worship and music at the end of the age is in Psalm 149.

6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth…7 to execute vengeance on the nations…9 To execute on them the written judgment-- This honor have all His saints. (Ps. 149:6-9)

The psalmist prophesied that God’s end-time judgments will be released by the songs of the redeemed. Not just the few good singers that have albums or the skilled musician will have the honor of partnership with the Lord in releasing justice on the earth. Singing corporately to release God’s justice, no matter how off-key or how bad one may think it is to themselves, is the honor that all of the saints have.

Worship leaders, singers, and musicians are at the “tip of the arrow” of the end-time worship movement. They have been given a mandate and a charge from the Lord to help lead the people of God into corporate worship and praise that will ultimately call Jesus back to the earth and end Satan’s lease on the earth. As I mentioned in one of the previous posts in this series, Satan’s rage against worship leaders, singers, and musicians must be taken seriously.

There is so much more I want to talk about relating to where things are going with the true prayer and worship movement, but I will save them for some later posts. But do we have any idea as the body of Christ as to where this is going and how crazy this is going to get? Sunday morning worship takes on an entirely different meaning with the big picture in view!

In the next post in this series, I’ll give some of my thoughts on all kinds of music today and why it’s critical for believers to use much discernment in what they allow into their ears.