Tag Archive for The Reason We Sing

from Prepare Yourself for Worship

2017-09-22 Devotional with Hymn, Prepare Yourself for Worship No comments

The Reason We Sing

Father, we sing to
praise You,
to give You some meager portion of all
the gratitude and
glory that we owe.

We sing to focus our
minds,
bodies, and
spirits on You
in all Your
beauty and
magnificence.

We sing to
remind ourselves who You are, to
strengthen our faith in You.

We sing to
know You better, to
open ourselves more fully to Your Spirit’s teaching.

We sing to testify to others just how
good,
loving, and
faithful You are.

Father, here in Your presence
Your greatness compels us to sing.
May we let nothing hinder us.
Nothing, Lord.
No distractions.
No petty personal preferences.
No judgmental attitudes toward our brothers and sisters.
No hindrances, Lord.
Our reasons for singing are so much greater than
any reasons to hold back.
Help us sing of You and Your truth with all the
heart,
soul,
spirit, and
physical energy You deserve.

We will sing, Father, because
we sing of YOU!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: The Reason We Sing
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

A Thought about Congregational Singing

2017-07-27 Devotional with Hymn, Hymns No comments

Like everyone else, I have my own preferences for congregational singing.

But the people of God are to come from all
nations,
peoples,
ages,
classes, and
cultures.
If the Church is what Christ died to make her,
she will be beautifully, amazingly diverse.

Congregational singing is communal.
It is inclusive.
It is uniting.
Its goal, its dream, its aspiration is to connect
all that we are as God’s people to
all that He is.

The Church is bigger than me.
It is wonderfully vast and varied.
Father, don’t shrink her congregational song to my size.
Expand my mind and heart to
embrace everyone You embrace.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: The Reason We Sing
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

The Value of Singing

2017-05-01 Congregational Song, Devotional with Hymn, Hymns No comments

I love singing hymns – hymns of many types and styles. Singing is such a beautiful way of expressing the Word that Christ has planted in us. As we sing, we share that Word with each other. We affirm it together. And we lift it in praise to our God and Savior.

Augustine (and later, Martin Luther) said, “He who sings prays twice.” I never understood that statement until I began singing as part of my prayer life. Singing involves the entire being. It starts from the heart and catches up the mind and body as well. When we sing, we embrace God’s Word physically, mentally, and emotionally. Prayer rises from our whole selves.

As we trust the Word that God speaks to us, joy overflows, and singing is one spillway for that joy. Singing is the music of faith. I’ve long felt that if we have the truth, saying it is not enough. The truth longs to come to life. It cries out for full expression. It yearns to sing and dance, to celebrate with life and feeling and physical joy.

Singing does that. Singing sets the truth free.

Singing unites us. Think of what’s happening when we sing together in worship. The Word of God is in our hearts and minds and on our lips. We lift it to God together. We unite with each other and with Him.

Hymns express our beliefs about God–our theology–but they do so in terms that are heartfelt and life-centered. Yes, abstract, factual hymns have been written, but they generally don’t last. The hymns that God’s children love to sing are those that speak their faith with warmth and vitality, in a way that resonates with personal experience.

Hymns are a feast for the body, mind, and spirit. Enjoy them completely! Don’t just listen to hymns. Sing them! The most life-changing songs are not the ones we hear but the ones we sing. As Paul urged the young church in Colosse, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16, NIV).

Sing! Sing to God! Sing from your heart!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: The Reason We Sing
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics