What I am suggesting is that, when we direct our love to God, there is a deference that takes place among the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In other words, when we seek to love One of these, that Person directs our attention to Another within the Trinity. The baton of love is passed among the Three.

There is a text to your life’s song. You don’t have to find it or create it. Instead, it comes to us as a gift from Jesus who speaks truth into our lives, giving us the narrative wherein we find our identity as his disciples.

The Bible refers to Christians as living epistles, or letters. In fact, we are the letter, and the message we bear testifies to Christ. But similarly, what if we saw our own lives and their ups and downs as a psalm? As in, what if we were a song that was being sung to the glory of God?

I’ve heard it said that the first blood of atonement were the drops of blood Jesus shed in prayer. May his Spirit wake us up to the great needs around us and give us zeal, persistence and the singular focus to contend for God’s Spirit to fill our homes, churches, cities, and world. What would it look like to write songs of travailing prayer?

The call and responsibility of a worship songwriter is a lofty one. No matter the genre of music you write, it requires discipline and skill. However, writing songs for your church carries a weight like no other.

While vital, tech harbors the dark obverse of self-importance. As such, it becomes a simple step to move from using our gift to relying on our gift. The result can be a turn inward toward self-reliance, bolstered by pride. Eventually, we can change from a person used by God to a person with god illusions.

Songwriting is heart work. From the Psalms of David to the latest corporate worship album, it’s always the raw honesty in the truth of these recorded moments that keep us coming back. If you are an artist of any kind, you know these moments of honesty are rare, beautiful, and fleeting. But making art is a lot of work.

As we reflect God’s heart, a new level of vulnerability is required as we lead into these days when people are broken, raw, hungry for encounter, and more transparent than ever before. And as always, the Spirit of the Living God is ready to meet them with His living water.

You can have the greatest band or the world’s greatest choir, but if the heart is not engaged in loving and connecting with your Savior—all you have is a great band or great singers—it’s just reduced to music.