Those who write and sing music rarely know the echo their song has not only in history but in the life of those who listen. The echo often impacts decades in those who are listening and signing with you.
This past evening I had some errands so I spent some time driving alone. My return home was later than most phone calls or texts I could make, so it provided some quiet time with the Lord. In my prayer, I began to pray through a few old songs. There are a few songs that echo from over three decades ago. These songs echo a cry of my Spirit that brings me back to my earliest days of Spiritual formation. These songs echo more than a melody or rhymes. These songs molded my earliest pursuit of God but they still can echo those same passions and cries today. So thank you to those who write songs that echo for decades prayers that mold hearts.
Those who write and sing music rarely know the echo their song has not only in history but in the life of those who listen. The echo often impacts decades in those who are listening and signing with you.
This past evening I had some errands so I spent some time driving alone. My return home was later than most phone calls or texts I could make, so it provided some quiet time with the Lord. In my prayer, I began to pray through a few old songs. There are a few songs that echo from over three decades ago. These songs echo a cry of my Spirit that brings me back to my earliest days of Spiritual formation. These songs echo more than a melody or rhymes. These songs molded my earliest pursuit of God but they still can echo those same passions and cries today. So thank you to those who write songs that echo for decades prayers that mold hearts.
These two songs are wonderful and powerful and maybe they will echo in your heart.
These two songs are wonderful and powerful and maybe they will echo in your heart.
The first is “Daystar”
I remember this song from around the time I was ten years old. At the time I did not know who Micheal English or the Gather’s were. As far as I was concerned (and I still am today) the best tenor I knew sang this song so much that I think he must have got tired of singing it. I remember one occasion of him singing it at an Alabama Church State Convention. He is my older cousin Patrick Sutton who I thought had the best voice I knew of and could sing this song like nobody else. He may have gotten tired of singing it but it created an echo of this song in my Spirit that became a prayer I have prayed, cried, and repented through it many times over what has to be three decades.
Here are the lines that echo deep in my soul.
“Lead me, Lord, I’ll follow. Anywhere you open up the door” “Lord I want to be your witness, you can take what’s wrong and make it right” “Daystar shine down on me, let your love shine through me in the night”
Tonight they echoed in my Spirit as they did in my early days of sensing the call into ministry as a teen. My spirit cries out, use me, Lord, any way you want so that your love flows through me. For one of the second-best singers of this echoing song, here is the original of it: https://youtu.be/TTK-Ei4qAe4
The second is “Yes Lord Yes.”
My memories of this song go through many nights in the chapel at Camp Boothe and the choir singing at Green Pond. As well I remember it at my home church in Hamilton. In those times Brother Jimmy Clanton, one of the single greatest examples of Jesus, would lead this song so many times with such passion and sincerity.
These are the key lines that continue to echo in my soul and rise up in times of prayer.
“Yes Lord Yes” “I will say yes Lord yes to your will and to your way” “I will trust you and obey”
I remember one night standing on the left side of the altar at Camp Boothe with tears running down my face trying to sing those lines. While I do not remember the timing of it to my calling, I do remember it was a foundational moment that echoes in my Spirit today.
There are many variations of this song but this one seems to be as close as I could find to my memories. https://youtu.be/2ISvZkMHBQk
I am certain you have songs that echo in your spirit and were key to your spiritual formation. I encourage you to think, pray, and continue to sing them. They have a way to anchor you, remind you, and bring your heart to the center. So let those songs continue to echo in you.
