There’s something undeniably electric about spontaneous worship—the kind that transcends the scripted, the planned and the polished. It’s raw, unfiltered communion with God, where lyrics spill out unrehearsed and melodies stretch beyond what was written.
And if anyone knows about the power of spontaneous worship, it’s Housefires. The Atlanta-based worship collective has become synonymous with creating space for the Holy Spirit to move freely, crafting moments that feel as intimate as a living room gathering and as powerful as a stadium revival.
We sat down with two members of the group, Jonathan Jay (JJ) and Nick Day, to unpack what spontaneous worship really is, how they navigate the Holy Spirit’s movement in live worship, and what it takes to create the kind of music that invites people into the presence of God.
Editor’s note: This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Why do you guys like to collaborate so much?
Nick Day: I love to collaborate because it’s just a blessing to see somebody else’s gift attached to yours. And when you have two different gifts and two different anointings attached to each other, it just becomes like a double portion of blessing. And, you know, even me on that record, it was just insane to see all the different gifts and talents come into the same room and really do what it do, you know.
That’s why I collaborate, because I think God loves to see the giftings He’s put in other people come together and make something beautiful.
JJ: I think for me, collaboration is something that is at the heart of what we as Christians do. I think it’s right. There’s like this partnering that God does with us and our faith. When He wants to do something in the world, He partners with people. There are stories throughout the Bible of that. I think what a beautiful display to partner with others.
One of the saddest things that I experienced when I started doing music seriously was that we really didn’t collaborate. Like, artists just kind of did their own thing. And I just always felt like there was something more that can be gained by trying to do things together. And honestly, I feel like it’s the fullest picture of the kingdom. So, there’s something really beautiful that happens when people come together and do something in the spirit of collaboration. I feel like God is glorified and honored in a way that He otherwise wouldn’t be. So, yeah.
It’s always interesting to hear about the planning that goes into some of these worship albums, especially live ones, because there is also so much spontaneity in a lot of the songs. How do you navigate when you feel that spontaneous worship coming on?
Nick Day: Preparation is just knowing what the mission is for the night. You know, something I love about Housefires and Maverick is that it’s always been a group that created space for the Lord to do whatever He wanted to do outside of what was written for the song. And so I think the private intimacy that we have with Jesus really correlates well in sessions where we just start to exhort.
When you build that history with God and you’re comfortable talking to Him, it’s like if me and my wife are talking in public, you know, I’m comfortable to talk to her in public. I’m comfortable to display affection with her in public. Not nothing crazy, but, like, you know, it’s the same when it comes to this. When you’re comfortable in your relationship with God and you’re comfortable having conversations with Him and giving Him adoration, that doesn’t just, you know—and you do that in the private place—it translates over really well, especially when you come together with a group of artists who are like-minded in that.
And so, like, for me, especially on this Housefires chapel session, you know, coming into the room and everybody’s like, “Ke’Launte is like that.” You know, if you let him go, he’ll go for an hour and a half, and everything will just be straight oil, you know? And so, I was like that already, but, you know, coming around people like that, you know, it just strengthens that and makes you feel more comfortable to have those conversations with God in public. And I think people are really blessed from that when you leave the script, you leave what was written, and you just start to exhort and talk to God and sing what He’s telling you to sing. And so, yeah, I think it’s really cool to have moments like that where you just go off script and it’s just authentic, whatever’s coming to your heart in the moment.
JJ: I think one of the biggest misconceptions about spontaneous worship is that it’s not connected to what’s happening in the room or what God’s saying. And I think a lot of times when you talk to worship leaders who do the spontaneous really well, what they’ll actually tell you is that as they were singing the song—the planned song with the lyrics everybody else was singing—they felt like they had a sense of what God was maybe doing in the room.
When they sing spontaneously, it’s connected to what’s happening—or supposed to be, at least at the highest level. It’s connected to what they feel like God is doing and what’s happening in the room at that very moment. So, I think one of the cool things about spontaneous worship is that it’s really sort of an expression of the ongoing expression, right? It’s the added word to what is already being spoken and sung. And I think sometimes the cool pieces about it are that there are even greater levels of breakthrough and greater levels of revelation for people to experience through the worship leader just being sensitive to what God’s doing in the room and in that moment.
How do you navigate having private moments with God on stage while still leading worship publicly?
Nick Day: I think it comes down to what’s the mission in the room. You know, as worship leaders and as worshipers, we’re conduits of the Holy Spirit. And so being aware of what’s happening in the room—like, never losing focus on what God wants to do in the room—is really important. Ultimately, those people came because they wanted to have a connection with God in a special way through music and ministry.
It is very easy to get caught up in a moment, and you just start singing and you’re worshiping God in a personal, very personal way. But, you know, I think it’s really important to have good stewardship of the room. Whether there are 10 people in there or 20,000 people in there, I’ve watched the leaders of this group do that really well. And so even I’m currently just continuing to learn that—steward what’s going on in the room. Don’t forget about all the other people who are here who need to connect with God, not just you in the moment. Because it’s possible to do both: have a connection with God in the moment and also lead people into that same holy moment.
What are some ways you foster community or connection with people listening to your music?
JJ: We’re really intentional about the way things are recorded. One of the things that I want people to feel when they walk away from experiencing the content—whether it’s through video or through song—is like, I want you to feel like you were in the room with us, right? I want you to feel like you were literally there. And if you’re listening to it, I also want you to feel like, “I want to be there. I want to experience what this is.”
So, we try to capture it practically in ways that really foster that. But also, I think it’s the way that we choose the songs and the leaders that we choose. I mean, there’s an extreme trust—especially when you’re talking about the spontaneous and letting people minister after they’ve led a song. There’s an extreme trust that we leverage towards even artists that come and feature on these albums, right, to use their gift in a way that brings people and invites people in.
One of the coolest things about Housefires, and I love the way you said that earlier about the community piece, is you feel like it’s not this big production thing that’s got all these crazy things that are so distracting and amazing. It’s just very simple. It’s like a piano, a guitar, voices, and people who are so hungry to just worship the Lord.
I think there’s something really disarming and inviting about that. It’s something we all feel in us that sometimes gets lost in other things. But it’s just something about watching and engaging with the content, music, albums, and videos that makes you go, “I just want to sit here for a minute and do this with them.” I love that.
Even though we’re all across the world in different time zones and places, there’s something we can enjoy and experience together—whether it be through Spotify, YouTube, or whatever. There’s something really beautiful and inviting about that.
