What Is Soaking Worship — and Is It Biblical?

By Pastor Duke Taber Jun 4, 2026 0CategoryBible TeachingsTag - Praise And Worship

By Duke Taber

In This Article

If you’ve spent time in charismatic or Pentecostal circles, you’ve probably heard the term. Someone invites you to a “soaking worship” night and you’re not entirely sure what you’re walking into. Or maybe you’ve seen it described online and you’re trying to figure out whether it’s a genuine move of God, a harmless spiritual discipline, or something you should be cautious about. You’re not alone in asking the question, and it’s worth asking carefully.

I’ve been in Spirit-filled ministry long enough to have sat in rooms where soaking was practiced, and long enough to have watched well-meaning believers get swept into experiences that displaced the Word rather than grounded them in it. I’ve also seen people with genuine hunger for God attach themselves to the practice simply because it gave them permission to slow down and be still — something their church culture rarely offered. That history shapes how I approach this topic — not with contempt for anyone who’s found something genuine in extended quiet before God, but with honest pastoral concern about where some expressions of this practice have landed and what Scripture actually says about it.

What Soaking Worship Actually Is

Soaking worship — sometimes called soaking prayer or contemplative worship — is a practice in which participants attempt to rest in God’s presence for extended periods of time, typically accompanied by gentle instrumental or worship music. The goal, as described by its proponents, is simply to stop talking and start receiving. John and Carol Arnott, founding pastors of Catch the Fire Toronto, describe soaking as “intentionally getting into the presence of God by faith, and just being with Him.” One teacher put it this way: “Jesus says ‘Ask and you will receive.’ We’re very good at the asking part — but how about the receiving? Soaking is the listening part of our conversation with Him.”

That description sounds reasonable, and on the surface, it does echo something biblical. The problem is that in many expressions, soaking moves beyond listening into deliberate mental passivity — participants are encouraged to empty their minds and simply wait for a physical sensation or spiritual experience to arrive. In some settings, people lie on the floor for hours during extended worship sets, waiting to receive something from the Spirit. This is where the theological questions begin.

The term itself doesn’t appear in Scripture. Its modern form grew primarily out of the Toronto Blessing revival that began in January 1994 at the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church under pastors John and Carol Arnott. That movement was characterized by dramatic physical manifestations — uncontrollable laughter, weeping, falling, and at times animal-like sounds — which its leaders attributed to the Holy Spirit. Soaking was closely tied to this atmosphere: after receiving prayer, people would lie on the floor and remain there, “soaking” in what they believed they had received. The practice spread internationally and remains common in charismatic and prophetic ministry circles today.

Where the Legitimate Longing Comes From

Here’s what I think is important to say before anything else: the desire behind soaking worship is not spiritually empty. The longing to be still before God, to move beyond the noise of a busy life and simply rest in His presence — that instinct is deeply biblical. It runs through the whole of Scripture.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” — Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)

“My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.” — Psalm 62:5 (NKJV)

David wasn’t anxious before God. He cultivated stillness. He lingered. The posture of waiting on the Lord is a legitimate and recurring theme in the Old and New Testament alike. Isaiah 40:31 promises that those who “wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.” The early church gathered not just to preach but to pray, to seek, to tarry. If soaking worship simply meant “set aside unrushed time to be in God’s presence through worship and prayer,” there would be nothing to critique.

The legitimate desire behind the practice is for something many Christians genuinely lack: unhurried time with God. In a culture where prayer has shrunk to a few minutes of requests and church services are optimized for efficiency, the impulse to slow down and sit before the Lord deserves respect. This is why personal worship and a structured prayer life remain non-negotiable for believers who want to grow. The problem with soaking isn’t the longing. It’s what the practice sometimes instructs people to do with that longing.

The Biblical Concerns

The Problem of Passive Mind-Emptying

The clearest biblical issue with soaking worship — particularly in its formal expressions — is the instruction to empty the mind. Romans 12:2 is unambiguous:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” — Romans 12:2 (NKJV)

Transformation comes through a renewed mind, not an emptied one. The Greek word for “renewing” here (anakainosis) implies active renovation — the mind is being rebuilt, retrained, filled with truth. This is precisely what Paul also describes in Philippians:

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.” — Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)

Biblical meditation is never empty. It is always filled — with truth, with Scripture, with the character of God. The Hebrew word hagah (used in Psalm 1:2 for meditating on the law day and night) carries the meaning of a low murmuring, a mental rehearsing, a filling of the mind with the Word. This is the opposite of the mental vacancy that some soaking practices prescribe.

First Corinthians 14:15 reinforces this: “I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding.” The mind remains engaged, even in spiritual experience. Paul valued praying in the Spirit, but he also insisted the mind was active in the process.

The Risk of Spiritual Vulnerability

When a believer deliberately empties their mind and focuses on receiving a physical or emotional experience, they open themselves to spiritual influences that Scripture warns against. First Peter 5:8 tells us to “be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (NKJV). Sobriety and vigilance require an alert mind — not a passive one.

GotQuestions.org notes that soaking prayer “focuses on obtaining a spiritual experience by seeking out the presence of God through mystical exercises,” making it similar to contemplative spirituality, which has deep roots in Eastern religious meditation. This isn’t a peripheral concern — borrowing postures and techniques from traditions built on a different understanding of God and the self carries genuine risk.

Experiences Over Scripture

One of the most consistent criticisms of soaking worship is that it elevates personal experience above the objective Word of God. Premier Christianity noted that in formal Toronto-influenced soaking settings, there was typically no expectation that a Bible passage would anchor the session. The experience itself became the point. This is the same problem that caused the Vineyard Movement to sever ties with the Toronto Airport church in 1995 — experiences were being held in higher authority than Scripture, even within an already charismatic context.

This matters enormously. The meaning of worship in the Bible is always tethered to truth. Jesus told the woman at the well that genuine worshippers worship “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24) — both together, not one at the expense of the other. A worship practice that systematically removes the truth-anchor in favor of raw experience has already deviated from Jesus’ own definition.

What Scripture Actually Offers in Place of This

This is where I want to be careful not to simply tear something down without pointing toward what is real and good.

The longing behind soaking worship — to know God deeply, to rest in His presence, to receive rather than just ask — is answered in Scripture through practices that don’t require passive mind-emptying.

Worship through Scripture. Mary of Bethany, whom Jesus praised as having “chosen that good part” (Luke 10:42), sat at His feet and listened to His word. Her stillness was active reception of truth, not vacancy. This is the model for contemplative posture in Scripture — still body, engaged mind, attentive heart.

Extended prayer and waiting. The early church in Acts 1:14 “continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” before Pentecost. They waited, but they waited actively — in prayer, in community, in expectation grounded in a specific promise from Jesus. Waiting on God in Scripture is never directionless.

Meditation on the Word. Psalm 1:2 describes the blessed person as one who “meditates on His law day and night” (NKJV). This is slow, attentive, repeated engagement with the written Word — exactly the kind of unhurried time with God that soaking claims to offer, but with the Word as the content rather than silence or sensation.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.” — Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)

Worship as a lifestyle. Romans 12:1 calls us to present our bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (NKJV). Worship, in the fullest biblical sense, is not a spiritual technique for receiving experiences — it is the orientation of an entire life toward God. Types of biblical worship are many and varied, but they all share this: they are directed toward God, not toward an experience of God.

Can Anything in Soaking Be Redeemed?

This is a fair question, and I think the honest answer is: yes, selectively.

Extended worship without rushing to the next thing? Biblical. Creating space for silence before God after praying or reading? Healthy. Allowing worship music to create an atmosphere for prayer and reflection? Nothing wrong with that — music’s role in worship is well-established in both Testaments.

What is not biblical is instructing people to empty their minds, to seek a physical sensation as evidence of God’s presence, or to prioritize the experience over the Word. The Holy Spirit in worship is real and active — but He is also described in Scripture as a Spirit of truth who leads us into all truth (John 16:13), not away from it.

The believer who wants more of God does not need a mystical technique. They need what God has already provided.

“His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” — 2 Peter 1:3 (NKJV)

Everything you need for depth with God is already given through Christ, through the Word, through the Spirit who lives in you. The types of prayer in the Bible are rich and varied — adoration, intercession, lament, thanksgiving — and none of them require you to suspend your mind to access God’s presence.

A Pastoral Word to Those Who’ve Practiced It

If soaking worship has been part of your spiritual life and you’ve genuinely experienced God in those moments, I don’t want to dismiss that. God is gracious, and He meets people where they are. But I would ask you to weigh your experiences against the Word rather than the other way around. Ask yourself: Am I being drawn deeper into Scripture and a more Christ-centered life? Or am I increasingly dependent on a feeling?

The test Paul gives in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 is still the standard: “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (NKJV). Apply it honestly.

The Holy Spirit’s role in prayer is to intercede, to illuminate, to convict and comfort — and He does all of this through the Word and with the engaged mind. You don’t have to choose between depth and discernment. The richest spiritual lives I’ve observed have been marked by both.

What to Pursue Instead

If this article has raised concerns about practices you’ve been involved in, here’s what I’d encourage:

Spend extended time in Scripture — not just reading, but sitting with a passage, letting it go deep. This is structured Bible study at its most personal.
Build a consistent, varied prayer life that moves through adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession.
Include unhurried worship in your personal time with God — but let the Word anchor it.
Test every spiritual experience against Scripture and against the fruit it produces in your life (Matthew 7:16–20).
If you’re uncertain about a practice in your church context, bring your questions to a pastor you trust and work through them together.

The deepest experiences with God that Scripture records — Moses at the burning bush, Isaiah in the temple, John on Patmos — were not produced by technique. They came as God initiated, and every one of them resulted in the person knowing God more truly, not just more intensely. Isaiah didn’t walk out of the throne room addicted to the feeling. He walked out with a commission: “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8, NKJV). Genuine encounters with God always move outward — they produce obedience, mission, transformation. An experience that turns you increasingly inward, chasing the sensation again and again, is worth examining carefully.

That is what we want. That is what the Word promises. Not an endless search for spiritual highs, but the steady, deepening reality of knowing the living God through His Word, His Spirit, and the community of believers He has placed you in.

If you’re looking for a place to begin building that kind of depth, working through a structured study on worship or spending focused time in praise and thanksgiving will do more for your spiritual life than any amount of passive floor-lying. The riches are there, waiting — in the text, in prayer, in the gathered church.

Resources

Duke Taber

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