By Stephen Bennett

These are the greatest days in history to be alive and creative; to fill the earth with wonderful God inspired music sounds, films, theatre, paintings, dance, and every other creative idiom.

Tsunami’s, earthquakes, suicide bombings, wars, and university killings could leave you disheartened in this world, however, this isn’t a time to give up hope. Continue strong in your creative gifts and keep believing that God will elevate you to see the fullness of your dreams in your art. 

There is now an emerging army of creative young people who have a radical, passionate faith in God – their testimony of Jesus is hot, and they carry the spirit of prophecy in their art.

In the areas of music they are filling stadiums, large and small auditoriums in cities and nations all over the planet – playing awesome new sounds to God the creator of music, giving him absolute glory and releasing His power.

In the eighties it was a dream, 10-15 years ago this was not the norm, but now it is all accelerating in greater measure. There is a quickening and an elevation of men and women toward God in this hour. Now is the time for artists to rise.

There is a spiritual power that can reside in music that has the ability to shift and change people. This power is prophetic in spirit and can change the atmosphere even over cities and nations. This power is the tangible presence of the Spirit of God in all His glory.

The band U2, who are well known for their Christian faith, have a definite spiritual presence in their music that has touched the world for nearly 3 decades, and they openly acknowledge God’s influence in their lives. If you watched the Elevation concert live from Boston there is a marked shift halfway through the concert where Bono takes the audience into another dimension.

At the end they worship God, and encourage the audience to be elevated toward God in heaven. This experience is real, and many Christians enter into this every week all over the world at various levels of connecting with God.

Music ultimately has a divine power and purpose – these are the days to fully discover what that means as we are yet to see the full release of God’s power and glory through music and the arts. There is great hope for you when you get to know and serve God with your life, and the talents He has put inside of you. Offer your art to God and see what awesome things can happen in your life.

Spirit of Prophecy

“Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” Revelation 19:10.

Our worship of Jesus in the testimony we hold in daily life, and the spirit of prophecy, are intrinsically linked. Prophetic music is not a new category or can ever be, because the very nature of the arts, music, and general creative expression, embodies the prophetic spirit, which is in us by the Holy Spirit. We were created to create, like our art director, Lord Jesus – The Creator, The Divine Artist!

The term prophetic music is heard of a lot more now than it was five or ten years ago, but for some people it is still a bit of a mystery. This subject is very broad; and the term cannot be summed up as a neat music category alongside every other box created for music genres.

To prophesy or being prophetic is a gift from God to the Church – it is part of God’s nature. It has a divine role to play in the restoration of the Lord’s purposes in the earth. The Church should be the greatest and most powerful exponent of that which is prophetic. Prophetic music and creative expression can also be found anywhere, even in the world by people you may not consider Christian or saved!

God prophesied and testified of Himself in the stars of the universe and through His wonderful creation. Michaelangelo lay on his back in the Sistine Chapel 500 years ago and through his art is speaking and prophesying of God still today.

Thousands of songs have prophesied and been spoken from the heart of God; many are being articulated in the earth now more than anytime in history, carrying the spirit of prophecy.

There are many of you who are being quickened by the Holy Spirit to understand the prophetic nature of music. Some of you have been travelling that road for some time.

Others are frustrated because they feel it stirring inside but can’t find a platform for it. Others see it crushed or quenched, or simply just don’t have a clue. Many are keeping what should be unleashed prophetically into this world, in a box of tradition, or are just not positioned in the right place with enough resource.

Christ, the Prophetic Seed

In Christ, the seed of all that is prophetic is in you; the more you mature in Jesus in your life, you become more like Him in your nature and character. The testimony of Him increases in you, as does the spirit of prophecy, which is part of the nature of God. God wants to speak – to prophesy through you!

The Lord says to pursue and desire to prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:1). 

You may be discouraged today, however, keep the spirit of prophecy alive, by worshipping the Lord and staying close to him.

“Praise is the power of heaven, stay filled with the Holy Spirit by singing to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs’ (Ephesians 5:18-19).

“Trust in him and he will bring to pass the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37).

Prophecy in the Church

In the established Church, the spirit of prophecy is expressed and released in greater or lesser degrees in music, depending on the understanding and revelation in that house. However the Church being one Body, is supposed to be prophetic in nature and spirit. A prophetic move in music can often be ahead of its time, and can also be ignored, controlled, or even killed by religion, either old or contemporary.

History has shown us that a new thing can sometimes end up in Egypt first before its fullness comes to the Church. Just consider music and its influence in the world over the last 50 years!

If God can use the Pharaoh of Egypt thousands of years ago for His purposes, or even an ass speaking words instead of braying (Numbers 22:29-33), His Holy Spirit can use any communicative gift he chooses in the world that He has given to all men to use!

Artists are often Prophetic

A prophet or prophetic person is one who is moved by the Spirit of God, interpreting and being a mouthpiece for the Lord; declaring or proclaiming what he or she has received by inspiration. They are often foretellers of truth concerning future events, or things that relate to the cause and kingdom of God. 

Prophetic music like vocal prophesying in a church meeting has the power to instruct, comfort, encourage, envision, rebuke, convict, challenge, stir, spiritually shift forward, and stimulate those who hear.

Among many other things, prophets are also poets, songwriters, singers, musician’s, and visual and creative artists of all disciplines. There is a prophetic anointing in these days that God is releasing on the whole Body of Christ.

Increasingly prophetic, powerful inspired music and worship will be released more from God’s people (the Church) than has ever been before. We will also see this prophetic release broadly in the arts including, films, fine artists, television production, and many other creative areas.

Power of Arts affects Nations

Many times in the bible, particularly in the Old Testament, the power of music, song, and the arts played a great role in building and preparing the House of God, that eventually affected whole nations and peoples. 

In society music and the arts has, and still does have, great ruling and governing influence in fashioning our world and predicting and presenting how it will be. With the acceleration, momentum, and spiritual shifts that are happening in the Church today, the prophet musician coming alongside apostolic leadership and flowing in the apostolic anointing will bring forth a governing influential music unlike we have ever seen before.

This paradigm shift will apply to all arts and we will see a flood of some of the greatest creativity we have ever seen. So be encouraged artisan’s, the best is yet to come as you trust God and keep walking in faith with Him regardless of what is happening in your lives.

(Extracts from books by Stephen Bennett – The Divine Artist. See also: The Word is Your Art / Prophet Musician / The Power of Apostolic Music / 13x CD Teaching series School of Apostolic Prophetic Singers and Musicians / DVD Series Prophet Musician http://www.awesomecitymusic.com )

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Originally from England, Stephen Bennett and his Australian wife Rebecca in the early nineties founded Awesome City Music Ministries based in Sydney, Australia. Stephen’s gifting spans various creative fields as a prophet singer, songwriter, musician, worship leader, recording artist, author, poet, and as a creator, presenter, producer of Christian television, film, and documentary programs. Stephen’s creative ministry mentors to a wide community of musicians,singers and artists around the world and he is a creative prophetic and apostolic voice to the Church.