Podcasts / Devotionals, Songwriting
Sing Your Prayers (Show #7)
#SingYourPrayers (Video Below)
#WorshipDevotional God is serious about our words in songs and our words in worship. Have you ever thought about how songs can take on a new meaning?
Have you ever thought of how God can take a melody, by writing a song upon your heart all to sing from your lips as a prayer unto His name? We step into our services of worship, we hear the band playing the familiar tunes and we take our familiar places. We can grow numb to the music that we hear week-in and week-out.
We know the melody, the words of verse and chorus sections and know all the music by heart. Question: when was the last time that you really focused on the words of the song? Not the melody, not the music, just only the words?
St. Augustine of Hippo said: “He who sings prays twice.” We find this importance in the verses of the oldest, yet freshest book of them all: The Psalms. This portion of the Scriptures is the most original writing for songs in worship. Listen to the heart of David as he gives what is called a “Poetic Psalm,” because it expresses the value of living life by the instructions of God preserved in the Old Testament. In Psalm 119, God is celebrated as the gracious provider for all blessings and life.
It goes like this: 171 “May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. 172 May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. 173 May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. 174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight. 175 Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me. 176 I have strayed like a lost sheep.
Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.” – Psalm 119:171-176 You can hear the heart of David in this prayer. His lips overflow with praise in thanking God for his decrees. His commands are so treasured that David sings of His word. He makes a request for protection, forgiveness and redemption. If you were to set this text to melody and music, it would literally be a sung prayer to God. It’s honesty and biblical expression can move the heart of the worshiper.
Personally, my heart is moved to prayer by the lyrics of a good biblical song. The song itself becomes a tool or a vehicle of worship to God. Just as we have seen from Scripture, we can agree with the writer. When a good song expresses sound theology, it is easy to agree and recite the words back to God. [ctt template=”10″ link=”bJbhO” via=”no” ]Songs take on a richer meaning when we are able to identify with them.[/ctt] Worship takes on a deeper meaning to God because of the authentic expression of our heart, mind and spirit.
Remember, no matter the style of music we select, or song we sing, God wants our hearts and our words because he desires to hear His children pray. Thus the model Jesus gave in Matthew 6, beginning with the words: “Our Father…” (Matt. 6.9) [ctt template=”10″ link=”qyOQV” via=”no” ]Worship is neither traditional nor contemporary.[/ctt] Don’t know what to sing, or words to pray?
Search the Scriptures. Hear the melody God is putting in your heart. Make it your prayer, make it your song to God. What you will find is that those melodies originally came from Him. His desire is to hear you sing them back to Him.
Reflection: Next time when you are in private or public worship, take the lyrics of a song and find their biblical base. Here are some questions to consider in helping you determine a song’s worth as a worship tool: How is God addressed in the song?
What kinds of words are chosen to describe God? What are the words saying that move your heart to worship? Do the lyrics motivate you to agree, echo and respond to God in prayer and in song? Finally, think of the bigger impact of what it means to pray and sing back to God in biblical sincerity.
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