Pressing Into the Moment

On Saturday, I attended a School of Worship at Global Awakening.  Steve Swanson was the instructor for the course.  Even though I've been involved in worship ministry for a number of years it is always good to keep learning and go to places where you can glean new spiritual ideas and practical skills.  Steve was a great instructor and a very talented and capable worship musician/leader.  The worship on Saturday was wonderful and contained some music that was fresh and new to me.  I deeply enjoyed the class time.  There are 4 more sessions that would be very worthwhile for any worship team to attend.  If you are looking for a 'chock-full of practical worship musician skills kind of session' coupled with a powerful presence of the Lord, Steve's sessions are one's to attend.  

The website is http://www.globalawakening.com - Look under 'global', 'conferences', 'school of worship 2 November'.  

While the instruction was very top notch and worship times were very beautiful and skillfully led, the best moment for me was a very short word of instruction from Steve.  Steve said to listen well for the still, small voice or the small picture, from the Lord, and then to press into it.  It really hit me this was certainly very key to prophetic songs and worship leading.  Sometimes the Lord speaks very strongly but often it is a whisper that we must listen for and pursue.  Once you start pursuing it, the words and picture fill in with the details as you follow the Lord's leading.  For a worship leader or musician, it is often following the whisper in a step of faith to speak, sing, or play prophetically.  

Songwriters move in the same way.  I usually get just a glimpse of an idea for a song.  I have to lean into it or even fall completely immersed into it, in order to write the song.  Even then, sometimes, I don't completely understand what I just wrote.  Like a pastor developing a message or teaching, I have to chase the idea.  Some of those paths and ideas dead-end and stop.  When I follow the right paths, the road continuously opens up into new ideas and avenues of musical and lyrical thoughts and themes.  A song is born and an expression of worship to the Lord springs to life from inside of me.

Even before Saturday, the Lord whispered the same thing to me.  On Thursday, a song came in almost an instant when I pressed into the presence of God during a time of prayer and worship.  Early Saturday morning, when I woke up, the Lord said the expression of my song was 'a moment unfolding'.  Everytime I sing it and find myself in the Lord's presence, the moment will unfold a little more.  It all starts with the moment of engagement with the Lord and blooms from there.  My song sounds a little silly as it talks about being under my tent.  The tent in the song is my prayer shawl I purchased in Jerusalem.  My favorite place of His presence at the moment is under my prayer shawl.  It is not something from my own traditions - you won't find many EUB's or Methodists with prayer shawls.  You won't find it in our current church.  The Lord asked me to pray to Him this way and so I do, and I find a beautiful presence and warmth there.  Silly to some, wonderful to me.  So the song to be ever unfolding is this:

Holy Spirit, Your Way

c2008 Mark Grosz

I am under my tent.

Your holy fire draws near.

The veil of heaven's opened,

By Your blood I am made pure.

I am under Your wings.

Your holy fire is here.

The veil of heaven's opened,

By Your blood I am made pure.

Holy Spirit, Your way.

Holy Spirit, Your way,

Holy Spirit have Your way.

  

Press into the word the Lord whispers to you, my friends, and see how incredibly full and rich even one word from the Lord is!  Taste and see that the Lord is good! Let the whisper and the word of the Lord unfold and beautifully bloom in and from  you.

Blessings,

Mark