Singing With the Heart

Yesterday I walked to church and I was tired. Not a physical tired mind you. We live less than a quarter of a mile from the High School cafeteria. I battled spiritual fatigue. It is the kind of fatigue you get when you live under a heavy burden. I am living under numerous ones. There is the burden to see Faith Community Church become firmly established. We live under the financial constraints of most new churches. I live under the burden of seeing the church grow. We have stagnated in recent weeks. I also live under the burden of the weight of the need of revival in Paradise and Wise County. In addition, there is the burden of people who fall away or leave the church all together. I cannot say this does not sting. I also have the burdens of getting books published and sold as well as getting the PK Mowing business growing.

As I walked to church yesterday I was a little melancholy. I kept to myself at the back of the cafeteria looking over my notes and wanting to avoid people for the most part before the service began. I took my usual place on the front row with Brenda when the service started. I tried to worship but I felt heavy hearted. That is until the last song. We sang the popular song "I Can Only Imagine."I got lost in the wonder of worship.


Many times people sing with their voice. Yesterday I sang with my heart. Every ounce of my being was poured out to God in worship during that song. In fact after it ended and I was supposed to preach I had us sing it again. I pictured myself before the King Jesus and doing my best to express my love, adoration, and gratitude toward Him. At times both my hands were extended in exaltation of my King. My heart bowed in His presence. I sang at the top of my lungs. I did not care what others thought. Jesus  ministered to my heart during that song and I wanted to give every ounce of worship I could. Ultimately it had to come from the heart more than the lips.


God used that song like a gel pack of energy squirted into the mouth. Afterward I felt alive in my soul. I no longer felt lethargic. God used Eddie and the worship to bring me back to life. My load felt lighter, my energy increased and I looked forward to preaching. I no longer felt fatigued but alive and reinvigorated. All of that took place during the singing of one song. That song made church for me yesterday.

I have attended many worship services. I heard much beautiful music. Many times I felt people merely went through the ritual of worship. The right words were sung from the lips but the heart did not mean them. Many times all the right notes have been hit and the sound is beautiful to the human ear but off key to God who looks on the heart. God wants our hearts.

Yesterday I sang with my heart and as I write this I am singing with my heart again. I am abounding with gratitude. I am writing this on a computer generously given to me by First Baptist Seminole. I am writing this is in my new office where I have already had significant encounters with God in a little over a week. In a few minutes I will go eat lunch with Brenda, my best friend and wife. In just a few days we will get to celebrate baptism again with an adult lady and several children and a teenager. All reasons to worship and to sing with gratitude from the heart.

I sing with my heart as I type every word. This is not a dutiful labor but a labor of love. Writing this blog is an offering to my Lord. It is an act of worship and I offer Him my heart as well as my actions. You can do the same thing wherever you are. Whether it be playing a sport, sitting in class, working in the office or out in the field you can sing with your heart. Every row driven on the tractor can be a song from the heart. Every page of notes taken from the lecture can be a song from the heart. Time spent in exercise can be a song from the heart when done unto the Lord. Laboring in the office on reports can be worship from the heart. Lunch with business associates or friends can be worship from the heart when your focus and heart are turned toward the Lord.

I have been privileged to know many worship ministers. I know they would agree that God desires singing from our hearts more than our lips. Worship does not end when the Sunday morning service ends. Worship happens when we live life. Today let your worship come from the heart. Let your heart match what your lips ascribe as worth to God. Sing with the heart and receive refreshment for your soul.