Father in Heaven

I've been listening to a series of sermons by Tim Keller on the Lord's prayer, and one of his messages especially touched me. "Father in heaven..." Keller really drove home the difference between the kind of prayer that Jesus was advocating and the kind of prayer that was predominant in his day and age (and is arguably predominant today as well).

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)

If we come to prayer anxiously, it is because we don't realize it is our Father we are speaking to, and when we come to prayer with a set a of demands, it is because we think we're speaking to a business partner rather than a friend. The ability to call on God as Father completely transforms our approach to him. We need not assert ourselves (doing so is really ridiculous when you realize that God is not obligated in any way to us), but we can have an incredible confidence that God hears our prayers with a caring heart. Dad pays attention to the concerns of his kids.

The main scriptures I pulled from were Matthew 6:7-13 and 1 John 3:1.

(hope you enjoy the new instrument...)
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Verse 1: (A F#m D E)
Father in heaven, O what a name
I am invited to call You each day
What wondrous love You lavish on us
That You would call us daughter and son

Refrain:
E/G# A E/G# A
Give us today our daily bread
E/G# A E
Forgive us all our trespasses
E/G# A E/G# A
And lead us not into temptation
E/G# A E
Heavenly Father, deliver us

Verse 2: (A F#m D E)
Heavenly Father, hallowed be
Your name forever from sea to sea
As in the heavens, Your kingdom come
Here on the earth now, Your will be done

(Refrain)

Ending:
E/G# A E/G# A E/G# A E
Yours is the king- dom, the pow- er, and glory
E/G# A E/G# A E/G# A E
Now and forev- er and ev- er, Amen

Unto Us (Wonderful Counselor)

I wrote this song a number of months ago now, but as will become evident when you read the lyrics... it's more of a seasonal song than the others I have written up to this point.

As we're in the advent season, I thought this was the appropriate time to introduce the song to my church, and we've sung it the past few weeks for our morning worship. It tied in especially well with a message one of my pastors preached two Sundays ago, "When Hope Gets Stumped".

This song came out of a time when I was reading the book of Isaiah, and was moved specifically by the messianic prophecies in chapter 9 and 11.

(...I included a little seasonal musical touch to the recording... hope you like it)

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Verse: A D E F#m7 / A D Esus E
Wonderful Counselor, I love your name O Jesus
Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Your name alone can save us

Pre-chorus: D F#m7 E / A D F#m7 E
From the stump of Jesse's house
A root will come to reign

Chorus: A E Bm7 D
Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given
And the government will be on His shoulders
He will reign on David's throne, He will usher in his kingdom
And establish it with justice forever

More Than Watchmen (Psalm 130)

I wrote this song a few weeks ago, also in response to one of my pastors' request for "hope songs" for us to sing in worship on Sunday mornings (He's doing a sermon series on hope). Most songs take at least a week or a few days of coming back to it a number of times for me to finish them, but this was one of the rare ones that came rather quickly, probably because the theme of hope resonates so strongly with me, and because Psalm 130 has been one of my favorite Psalms for years. I have been especially moved by its description of waiting on the Lord:

I wait for the Lord

More than watchmen wait for morning,

More than watchmen wait for morning.

I heard a story yesterday about a navy chaplain who was visiting soldiers who were standing guard through the night on the frontlines of a battlefield. He described the incredible tension, as a moving camel in the distance seemed so certainly to look like an enemy soldier, and a twinkle of light would set the whole camp on alarm. In the final hours of night, everyone was desperate to see the morning light, longing for the clarity of vision it would bring. These words from Psalm 130 became all the more real to the chaplain after this experience.

I have written below about how the Christian is always, in this life, waiting. For every answered prayer, there are many unanswered ones. And the ultimate fulfillment for what we can best desire will always remain unfulfilled until Christ returns. But we can still wait with confidence, believing that the morning will come and that the God who is in the business of making things new, will finally, one day, make all things new in Christ.

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Verse 1: Bm7 G D A

Out of the depths I call to You

Listen to my plea

Out of the depths I cry the name of Jesus

Battered by my circumstance

Broken at Your feet

But voice enough to sigh the name of Jesus

Pre-Chorus: Em7 D/F# G A

Where else would I go

You're my only hope

Chorus: Bm7 G D A

More than watchmen wait for morning

I will wait for You, my God

In Your promise I will glory

All my hope is in Your love

Verse 2:

If you kept a record of

All our sinful ways

Who, O Lord, could stand to face Your glory

But full of mercy, rich in love

You have come to save

So in my weary bones I whisper, "worthy"

Bridge: Bm7 A/C# G Bm7 A

My soul waits for the break of day

You will surely come as the rising sun

Bm7 A/C# G A

My soul longs for the coming dawn

You will surely come to us

Faithful One

I wrote this song a few weeks ago in response to a request from my pastor. He sent me a list of scriptures, revolving around the them of hope, which he'll be preaching on for the next few months, and he asked me to start writing songs! This one came originally from Psalm 147:11. As I thought about the verse, I wanted to write a song that was full of praise for the riches of God's love, his faithful, unfailing love. We can have such confidence in his love, knowing that He who was, who is and who is to come, is love, and will always look on us with love.

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(the recording is in E, but I frequently play it in D when leading this song at church)

Chorus: D G D A (x2) Bm7 G D A Em7 G A

Faithful One

We will hope in Your unfailing love

From the rising to the setting sun

We will hope in Jesus' name

You have never failed us

Verse: D Em7 G A

Rich in Compassion, lavish in love

Hope of the nations, beautiful God

Full of new mercy day after day

You come to save me, Lamb who was slain

Bridge: Bm7 A/C# G

And for eternity we'll sing this song

Our God is love, Our God is love

The One who was and is and is to come

Our God is love, Our God is love

Em7 A

Our God is love Our God is love

Ending: Em7 G (x3) Em7 G A D...

You have never failed us

You have never failed us

You will never fail us

You will never fail us

We Are Waiting (2)

I know I already did a blog post for this song, but I was helping with worship at a conference this weekend, and this song sort of came to the forefront because it tied in so well with the theme that emerged: waiting on God. (Plus, I got a new mic recently and felt like re-recording it).

I was reminded this weekend that waiting is such a crucial aspect of the believer's identity. We wait in confidence because we know that He who did not spare his only Son but gave Him up willingly, will not withhold anything good from His children (Romans 8:31-32). And we wait with a strong hope because of the coming Kingdom, where we will know Love personified in all His fullness.

P.S. I kind of went to town on this recording... I couldn't help myself... but I hope I'm not setting a precedent... I would still like this to be a place where I can throw up (very) rough recordings of songs I'm writing...

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Verse: (C Dm7 F Gsus)
Pre-chorus: (F C Gsus)
Chorus & Bridge: (F C Gsus Dm7)

All My Life (At the Cross)

I wrote this song about a few months ago, around the same time as "This World Has Nothing for Me". Both songs are centered around the theme of losing all things for the Lord, being crucified with Christ, but this song sprang more out of a meditation on the first part of Galatians 6:14, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ..."

And I stole a line from a great old hymn... I'll let you figure out which one.

(I've also included the chords for this one, in case you care to play along)

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(C F G C Am G F C)
All my life I will live
At the cross
At the place you loved me
With all my strength
I will boast in the cross
For the way you loved me there

(Am G F C)
And I am crucified with Christ
And I have found new life
At the cross at the place you loved me

(F Am G C F Am G)
Riches I will heed not, nor man's empty praise
You will be my first love now and always
I will ever praise you, see your hands and feet
You have won my love for eternity

Jonah

I wrote this song probably four years ago now. I had a crisis of faith toward the end of my junior year of college, after which the Lord got me by myself for a little while. I felt like Jonah in the belly of the big fish. Anyway, I think I'll let the lyrics speak for themselves.

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I am Jonah and I am sailing on the sea
And you sent a storm because you wanted me
So throw me over, come and throw me overboard
I have a long awaited appointment with the Lord

I am Jonah in the belly of the deep
But it is in this place I can hear you clearly
And although its dark and cold, this I have come to know
It is my only hope

'Cause you had to get me into the secret place
You had to draw me out and get us face to face
You have my attention, and I know it's been a while
But I am all ears now

I am Jonah, and it has been three days
I've been waiting and praying here with no escape
Are you about to spit me out, 'cause Lord, I could use another hour
Just to be here with you

One thing I ask and I would seek
To meet you Jesus here in the deep
In lowly places my heart is weary
But you are near me, Lord