Copyright © 2011 Caleb Brundidge
Ekstasis Worship - What Is It?
This generation will worship the Lord in ways that will actually take some into His ecstasy. They will find themselves lost in His wonderment, amazed by Him and His miracles, going into places in worship they have never been before. Due to their newly found freedom in Jesus, some of these individuals will be freed from the prison of their souls as they experience this new level of worship – Ekstasis Worship.
Hello, my friends!
Many people have asked me questions about Ekstasis Worship. In this devotional, I will share what it means and how to move into this new level of worship in your own life.
The word ekstasis is a Greek word; in our English, we would say ecstasy.
Ekstasis – Greek word for
trance
moving beyond oneself
finding freedom from the perceived constraint of time and space
being in a state of amazement
being astonished by
being of one mind, beside one’s self – insane
throwing of the mind out of a normal state
Let’s look at a few terms often used when speaking of Ekstasis.
Amazement
a feeling of great surprise or wonder
astonishment, shock, speechlessness, awe, wonder and wonderment
Ecstasy
an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement
Rapture
a feeling of intense pleasure or joy the transporting of believers to heaven at the second coming of Christ; rapture is a way of being transported
I know you may be saying, “What?”
But listen to what we say sometimes. “I want to be raptured with God.” Now feel that … Where are you going? What are you feeling? Are you seeing yourself rising up? Are you feeling intense joy? Are you moving beyond yourself? This is Ekstasis. Ecstasy.
Happiness is one thing; bliss is another, suggesting a state of utter joy and contentment. Ecstasy is even more extreme, describing a trancelike state in which one loses consciousness of one’s surroundings.
Although rapture originally referred to being raised or lifted out of oneself by divine power, nowadays it is used in much the same sense as ecstasy to describe an elevated sensation of bliss. Transport applies to any powerful emotion by which one is carried away (i.e., a transport of delight).
When happiness is carried to an extreme or crosses over into mania, it is called euphoria. Euphoria may outwardly resemble ecstasy or rapture, but upon closer examination, it is usually found to be exaggerated and out of proportion.
Now you have a definition of Ekstasis.
How many times have you felt the intense joy of God? (The Joy of the Lord is my Strength). There is fullness of joy in His presence.
Now, can you imagine this intense emotion of joy? Some emotions, like this one, make us want to move, dance, and jump up and down. Now add music – a beat. Keep thinking about His joy – your strength. Now the joy is more than you can contain! You begin to move outside of your normal state of mind. You are in the presence of the Lord. His Word says to praise Him in the dance. Dance = joy. When we begin to praise Jesus, He comes and inhabits our praise. We can then go places with “Daddy.”
This joy doesn’t have to come from any certain style of music. Worship is not a genre of music. (Throughout history in christianity, worship has been considered by most Christian to be the central act of Christian identity, as the personal act of lifting one’s mind and heart to God.)
I was talking to a friend the other day about the words she wrote for a song. I asked her what kind of music was right for the song. She said to me, “You know, normal worship music.” I then said, “What is normal worship music?” I continued, “I am a black man, and what I call normal is not normal to you, because you and I are from different cultures. Different cultures and races of people have different styles of music.” What I am saying is that it is not the style of music that puts you in the ekstasis of God. It is your relationship with Jesus. Also, worship is not just music. Music is only a part of worship; worship is a lifestyle of adoration of the King of Glory. Worship is a means for us to adore Him.
Let’s look at the words astonishment and amazement. As I was researching the word ekstasis in the Greek lexicon, these two words came up as ekstasis. Here are a couple of Scriptures that in the Greek used the word ekstasis.
Mark 5:42. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.
Luke 5:26. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, we have seen strange things today.
These words, astonishment and amazed, are ekstasis in the Greek, and, as we said earlier, mean: feeling of great surprise or wonder; astonishment, shock, speechlessness, awe, wonder and wonderment.
In these Scriptures, the people were in ekstasis (ecstasy) over a miracle of God. This is one expression of ekstasis. This is the first area of Ekstasis Worship I want to achieve in a worship service.
The next definition of ekstasis is when it is used to describe a trance.
Acts 10:10–11. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.
Acts 11:5. I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was.
Here the word trance is also ekstasis in the Greek. We see ekstasis being used in the definition of moving beyond oneself. Here is, I believe, a state of being in the presence of God. I see this happening as people are praising God in the dance. Psalm 150 says to praise Him in the dance. The psalms say He inhabits the praises of His people. The sheet comes down and He comes and sits in your praise dance.
I have one more characterization of the word ekstasis that I really like. The Greek lexicon gave reference to lutron, which means:
the price for redeeming
ransom paid for slaves and captives, for the ransom of life
to liberate many from misery and the penalty of their sins
In looking at the definition of ekstasis, it also said:
Freedom
Find freedom from the perceived constraint of time and space
I thought about my own life and how God brought me into freedom. Freedom from my own prison of drugs, freedom from homosexuality, WOW! Right now I am going into His ekstasis – freedom from a man-pleasing spirit. Wow! Oh, more of His ecstasy is coming over me now – the freedom to tell the world about His glory. I am in amazement just thinking about His freedom and how He paid for my lutron. It puts me in a state of ecstasy!
