On Sunday we began Better Than Our Best, a message series to learn more about the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives. I don’t know about you, but even after a few days, I’m acutely aware of my need for dependence on the Holy Spirit.
As we walk this 5-week journey together, I wanted to find songs that help us focus on the Holy Spirit, remember to ask for His help, and teach us about His attributes. We often sing songs about and directed toward God and Jesus. But in worshipping the triune God— the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—we gain a deeper appreciation and awe of God’s complexity and greatness.
During this series, we are introducing three new songs that focus on the Holy Spirit:
“You Are My Vision” - Rend Collective
A remake of the Irish hymn “Be Thou My Vision,” I like that Rend Collective maintained the melody and that despite modernizing a few words, the richness of the original lyrics weren’t lost. Phrases like “you are my vision…You are my wisdom…You are my battleshield sword for the fight…” capture some of the attributes of the Holy Spirit we’ll be focusing on in the next several weeks.
“Holy Spirit (Living Breath of God)” - Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
Written by the same authors of another song we sing—“In Christ Alone,” this song is an amazing prayer focused to the Holy Spirit. The lyrics are beautiful and rich - you can read through them here.
“FREEDOM" - Christa Black Gifford, Matthew Sparks & William Matthews
“Freedom” has a fun and catchy tune, but more than that, I connected with the refrain “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (see 2 Corinthians 3:17-18). Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are free, free to experience life empowered by the Spirit as we surrender and stay connected to Him.
As you’re driving to or from work, cleaning your kitchen for the 100th time this week, or just needing to take a minute to be still, listen through these songs. This will help you get a jump start on Sunday, so that when you hear these songs, you can allow your mind to focus more on expressing love and devotion to God rather than being distracted by their newness.
We are being challenged during this series to remember our dependence on the Holy Spirit. I hope these songs help focus our thoughts to Who He is, remind us how much we need Him, and give us new words with which to pray to Him.
Rachel Cowgur
Director of Worship Arts