Heart of Worship

*More Than a Song*Matt Redman blessed my week on Wednesday night as he sang numerous songs on the Highlands stage. One song I absolutely love to hear him sing is, Heart of Worship.

You know the one I’m talking about or maybe you don’t, but the lyrics are so powerful.

 I’ll bring You more than a song,for a song in itselfis not what You have requiredYou search much deeper withinthrough the way things appear,You're looking into my heart.

 I’m coming back to the heart of WorshipAnd it’s all about You, it’s all about You JesusI’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made itWhen it’s all about You, it’s all about You Jesus

The funny thing about this song is both my brother and I used to like it, but we didn’t love it the way we do now. We thought it was a good song with a good message, but we were unaware of the heart behind it. Then we heard the story about why the song was written and it took root in our own hearts. I’ve heard many people tell it, so I don’t know who to credit. I guess I’ll credit God.

I’ve heard that the pastor at Matt’s church in Watford, England believed the church had become spectators in faith and not on fire followers as I discussed in last week’s blog. They had dynamic services and amazing worship and even set a trend for many other churches, but the pastor believed they were sort of losing their way. They were losing sight of why we have church in the first place.

So this brilliant pastor did something bold; something crazy; something radical. He decided the church would go on a self discovery of what worship really meant. They would have no music, no sounds, no power points, and no instruments. Just simply human voices and human hearts finding their way back to Jesus.

After some moments of silent confusion and awkwardness, something beautiful began to happen in the church and in the people. Matt’s own heart change came out in the form of the song above, The Heart of Worship. They realized that worship is not about putting on a show, having flashy lights, the best instruments or outdoing other people. It is about Jesus. Period. And this wasn’t to say instruments are a bad thing. The church eventually reintroduced them. My family loves them. The point is—where is your heart? You may not be on stage or in the band, but you hold just as much weight when you encounter God through worship.

I had a completely different blog ready this week, but God directed me to write this one. It’s simple yes, but it is life changing if you let it be. I think somebody, maybe me, needs to hear this one. That single phrase stuck with me.

I’ll bring you more than a song….

I’ll bring you more than writing. More than sports. More than my career. More than dreams. More than my requests. More than just Sundays. More than my goals, my interests and my identity. I’ll bring you more than my relationships. More than my hurt. More than the past. More than the future. More than my fear. More than me.

 I’ll bring you everything.

We all sing a song; whether literally or not. We have talents and abilities and places in our life that God never even touches. God is looking into our hearts. He is searching much deeper. Is it all about Jesus?

Please listen to the song this week. Have a real worship moment with God. Please search yourself and be honest. Not for me. For you. Offer God more than a song.

Come back to the heart of worship. Following and Loving Jesus is absolutely, way more than singing a song.

-Only Hope