HEART OF WORSHIP “When The Music Fades, And All Is Stripped Away”

^{“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.” (John 4:23)}

^{The Heart of Worship is our heart, delighting in Jesus and expressing praise to Him for the true things the Scriptures teach us about who He is and what He has accomplished for us. It/s, “all about” Jesus, not us. It involves us, but we’re at the periphery. He’s at the center. He’s the focus.}

^{Have you ever been through a season of time in your walk with the Lord where you were feeling distant and far away from Him?}

^{Maybe, even sensing a dryness in your soul, not knowing how to overcome this?}

_{Be of good cheer! you’re not the first Believer who has, in the past or presently encountering this experience.}

^{I discovered a true story of an entire church that found itself in this same situation.}

^{It was in the 1990s at one of the churches in Watford, England; a town 15 miles northwest of central London.}

^{It’ was in this church, called ‘Soul Survivor’ , that Matt Redman led worship services from 1994 to 2002.}

^{It would be here in Watford England where Matt Redman was led by the Holy Spirit to write the Christian Worship song, Heart Of Worship.}

^{There is a great story behind the song Soul Survivor Church when it began its ministry in 1993 and was at the forefront of modern worship.}

^{The church was fresh and alive, and had innovative weekend services, worship arts production and active usage of multimedia all incorporated to make the church relevant to people’s lives.}

^{But even with all of this, somehow over time congregation members turned from active worship participants to silent attendees .}

^{Something amidst the music and fervor was missing and the heart of worship and praise was running amiss. The presence of the Holy Spirit missing..}

^{It was at this moment that the pastor of Soul Survivor Church, being convicted by the Holy Spirit took drastic action.}

^{Pastor Mike Pilavachi proceeded to remove everything from the worship services. No microphones, no drums, no guitars or amplified sound systems were left.}

^{You have to imagine how this looked for the congregation at Soul Survivor Church.}

^{Their initial reaction? I gotta believe they couldn’t at first, while sitting in their chairs in temporary silence with Bibles in their hands, they didn’t know what to do.}

^{But I have to believe that they had much more than powerful sound systems and eye-catching multimedia.}

^{Thanks to the presence of the Holy Spirit, He restored their voices and hearts; in fact, as soon as their voices were lifted together to God, as soon as their hearts were united in prayer,…….the silence disappeared and the season of apathy was destroyed.}

^{Step by step the equipment was returned. But since returning the equipment, it has never played a more important role than people’s voices.}

^{It was during this season that Worship leader for Soul Survivor, Matt Redman was given a gift from the Holy Spirit, and was anointed, enabled and equipped to write the song, Heart of Worship during these unusual and difficult times.}

^{When Matt was inspired by the Holy Spirit, He remembered writing the song quickly; without any intention of it becoming an international anthem.}

^{Instead, the song was a simple reflection of what was going on around him, and what his response would become.}

^{It has been said that when Redman originally shared the lyrics from the song Heart of Worship with Senior Pastor Pilavachi, that the pastor suggested some edits and the result is the song we all know. Heart of Worship}

^{“When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come
Longing just to bring, something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart}

^{[Pre-Chorus]
I’ll bring You more than a song for a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within. through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart}

^{[Chorus]
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus}

^{[Verse 2]
King of endless worth, no one could express
How much you deserve
Though I’m weak and poor, all I have is Yours
Every single breath!}

^{I’ll bring You more than a song for a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within. through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart}

^{[Chorus]
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.”}

^{The Heart of Worship is about self-reproach and reconsideration not only in matters of worship but also in our own lives.}

^{We live in an extremely fast flow of daily routine, and I don’t know about you, but I often get distracted from very most important things. In fact, sometimes we forget about the main person in our lives, the center passion in our hearts — Jesus. May we let these words serve as a reminder for us on how not to go astray when the music fades and the only thing that has been left to us is our heart, our heart of worship and most important, the daily reading and study of the Word of God; reading our Bibles.}

^{“Even in the toughest moments I’ve known that God is good}

^{For me, the songs that Matt Redman has written out of places of pain are often the ones that have most connected with everyday believers, like myself. You can hardly not go to a church where . Heart Of Worship, Blessed Be Your Name and ‘You Never Let Go’ are included on the worship set before the congregation. I remember when I got saved, there were three things on my priority lists; Reading my Bible daily, Going to church, and worshipping the Lord in song and voice. God used Matt Redman’s songs to help me to keep focused on Jesus, not what was going on around me, outside of my relationship with Jesus.}

^{“Even in the toughest moments I’ve known that God is good}

^{There were a lot’s of painful situations as a baby Christian and even more so as a mature Christian, and all in all, the Lord has supplied all my needs, healings, comfort, a beautiful God fearing bride.}

^{In my research for this post, I discovered why God used Matt to influence me in my love for music, but also through deep lyrics that reached out to me and brought great comfort when I needed it.}

^{In my research i discovered that pain and sufferings were a very real part of Matt’s life. Pain and suffering produced a song after Matt’s wife Beth, experienced a series of miscarriages. The songwriter also lost his father to suicide as a young boy, so I’m somewhat taken aback by the simplicity of his answer to the question of suffering. After acknowledging the mystery of “God, why would you let this happen?” he adds that he sometimes feels it is “like a simple equation. Look at all the blessings in my life – look how God has pulled me through. That good stuff far outweighs the questions and the doubts.”}

^{Matt Redman was interviewed by Wycliff Bible Translators on why reading the Bible daily is so important. Here is an excerpt from that interview.}

^{What difference does the Bible make in your life?}

^{“I think for me the word I would use is stability. The Word of God is so establishing. I think every day, either personally, or on the international news level, you’re faced with realities that are painful, discouraging, and de-establishing. But, the Word of God is something so stable, it will endure forever. There’s never a day you can’t go to the Word of God and get sustenance and a new perspective. With all life’s ups and downs, there are days when nothing else has brought any stability for me except the Word of God.”}

^{Is there a verse or passage that has been significant for you and why?}

_{“There’s one verse in Zephaniah 3:17 – ‘The Lord your God is with you… He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.’}

_{That never fails to astound me. It’s a phenomenal thought that, while we sing our songs of worship in God’s direction, God is actually singing a song in our direction as well. That is such an uplifting thought.}

^{How do you think your relationship with Jesus might be different if you didn’t have the Bible in your language?}

^{“There’s a verse in Acts 17:23 where Paul discovers an altar with an inscription to ‘an unknown God’. But we are in the complete opposite situation, we can know God – all because of the Bible.}

^{We don’t just have hints, whispers, or clues about God, in the Bible we have full-on descriptions. This is who I am. This is what I’m like. This is how much I love you. These are some of the reasons I deserve to be worshipped. Here’s some of the plans I have for you. It’s amazing. We are so blessed to have the Bible}.”

^{Even in the toughest moments I’ve known that God is good}