word of faith

I SPEAK JESUS – Charity Gayle, Here Be Lions

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

Few songs in recent memory have captured the power of living in Christ like “I Speak Jesus.” It is a declaration of victory, a commitment to persevere, and an anthem of faith in God. The most popular recording of “I Speak Jesus” is of Charity Gayle and Steven Musso, but it was originally released by Here Be Lions in 2019, and the songwriters behind this hit are Abby Benton, Carlene Prince, Dustin Smith, Jesse Reeves, Kristen Dutton, and Raina Pratt.

Something about this song really stirs up the heart toward faith, hope, and action, and as a new parent, the line “Jesus for my family” speaks to me in a way I can’t quite describe. But what does it actually mean to speak the name of Jesus? And what does it do? Is “I Speak Jesus” built on the promises of God’s Word, or empty assumptions? Should you sing it this Sunday? Let’s dig in and find out.

Focus

“I Speak Jesus” is about the power of Jesus’ name to transform our lives and our world. It describes the strengths of his name and situations that will be helped by his name.

This song (obviously) mentions Jesus’ name frequently. The verses seem to be sung to the congregation about Jesus and his name, while the choruses are addressed to Jesus and offer him praise and supplication.

Lyric Analysis

The meaning of this song hinges on one ambiguous phrase: “I speak Jesus.” What do we actually mean when we sing these words? I think these words can have several beneficial, healthy, scriptural meanings, and one unhealthy, dangerous meaning.

A REMINDER
Sometimes we speak Jesus’ name as a reminder to ourselves and others that he is with us. The lyrics of verse 1 talk about speaking his name over “every heart and every mind” because of the peace found in his presence (John 14:27). It is easy to forget that God himself is with us. It is easy to forget the hope that we have in Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is easy to seek temporary pleasure and security rather than his eternal Kingdom. Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A WEAPON
Next, we see the name of Jesus as a weapon to fight spiritual battles. The songwriters portray his name as a breaker of addictions, chains, and strongholds. Paul talks about wielding spiritual weapons in this way in 2 Corinthians 10:3-8. The strongholds he mentions are arguments against God, thoughts that don’t honor Christ, and disobedience to Jesus. He fights these battles within his congregations in the authority Christ has given him, or in the name of Jesus. He also rebukes and casts out a demon in the name of Jesus Christ in Acts 16:18.

So we don’t just remind ourselves who Jesus is when we invoke his name, we also remind the powers of darkness that try to enslave and destroy us that Christ has already defeated them, and they must bow before his authority. It’s important to note that using Jesus’ name does not guarantee immediate victory in every spiritual battle. Paul himself struggled with a “thorn in his flesh” that God would not remove despite Paul’s pleading (2 Cor. 12:7-9). Sometimes, God wants to take the attacks of Satan and use them for good rather than prevent them, and we never see the full picture of the spiritual battles we face.

A PRAYER
Sometimes, when we talk about speaking Jesus’ name, we might just mean that we’re praying to him. That is absolutely an appropriate way to face every situation named in this song. The Bible instructs us to bring our requests—especially those that cause us anxiety—to God in prayer (Phil. 4:6). Furthermore, James tells us that praying for one another is powerful and may bring healing (James 5:16).

We often close our prayers with the phrase, “in Jesus’ name, amen.” I suspect this habit reduces Jesus’ name to a stamp that we affix to the end of our prayers, preventing us from considering what it really means to pray or act in Jesus’ name. When I look at the various uses of “in my name” in the New Testament, I don’t get the impression that Jesus means we should simply slap his name onto the end of each prayer, and that that will make God answer it, as is sometimes misunderstood from passages like John 16:23. Rather, doing something in someone’s name means doing it on their behalf, in their authority, as instructed and permitted by that person. I think praying in Jesus’ name means joining the Son of God in the prayers he is already praying to the Father, echoing his promises, obeying his commands, being about his business, making his name known. Those are the kinds of requests God always grants.

A DECLARATION
In the previous section, I mentioned that part of praying and acting in Jesus’ name is making his name known. That’s part of what this song means too. When we speak Jesus’ name into all kinds of situations, we give God glory by trusting in him and thanking him for what he has already done. I think this is what the chorus means when it asks him to burn like a fire. We want his glory to shine forth from our lives and every circumstance.

We also declare our intent when we speak Jesus’ name over something or someone. For instance, when I speak Jesus over my family, I am declaring that I will bring his love, holiness, and influence into our home. If I declare Jesus over a sin struggle, I am surrendering it and expressing my intent to obey him rather than my deceitful desires (Eph. 4:21-23).

AN INVITATION
“I Speak Jesus” also has an evangelistic component. In exhorting one another to “shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streets,” we are encouraging the spread of the Gospel. We want to proclaim the good news of Christ’s death, resurrection, and coming Kingdom so loudly that everyone can hear it.

A MAGIC WORD
What the name of Jesus is not is a magic word. Physically speaking Jesus’ name is not a charm against misfortune or a guarantee that God will answer our prayers the way we want him to. Our temptations to sin, our addictions, our mental health struggles, and our life circumstances do not vanish when we speak the word “Jesus.” We do well to approach Jesus’ name humbly, bringing our requests to him with thanksgiving rather than insisting on our way or demanding things “in his name.”

My primary concern with this song is that there is a large segment of the Church that teaches that through a word of faith, believers can immediately claim their “right” to prosperity, healing, power, and victory. Since this song doesn’t explain what it means to speak the name of Jesus, it lends itself to this erroneous and harmful belief.

Accessibility

“I Speak Jesus” is eminently singable and congregational, especially the chorus. It’s easy to learn, and I find that congregations latch onto it almost immediately.

The words of this song are accessible but easily misapplied. This song focuses an awful lot on Jesus’ name, ascribing various characteristics to his name rather than himself. I don’t think this is necessarily an error, since a name is a representation of the thing itself, not a separate entity, but I do worry that it builds up the name of Jesus as a magic word that guarantees our success and answered prayers.

Music

The simple, almost plaintive first verses are a quiet expression of our need and God’s power. The instrumentation stays very sparse and the vocals are very restrained through the first chorus. Only in verse three do the kick and toms come in to accompany the crescendoing vocals. By chorus two, we hit our stride. We drop back down for the emotional intensity of the bridge which builds dramatically with driving snare and guitars to lead into another big chorus. The recording makes excellent use of antiphony here between the leader and the Gospel choir, but if your church doesn’t normally lead worship in that style, I wouldn’t try to add it for just this song. The song ends quietly on a note of peace and trust.

…or you can fake the congregation out and then build back up for another few bridges! 😂

The rhythms of this song are pretty straightforward, and there aren’t any super crazy chords (unless you do the second ending, in which you’ll need to watch out for some jazzy Gospel additions to the progression). The timing of the chord changes is a little tricky on the choruses, so it’s probably worth taking a minute to get the band on the same page about them.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Maybe.

This is a powerful and deeply moving song. It exalts the power of Jesus and declares his name into all kinds of circumstances. We can and should speak the name of Jesus often and in many different ways! I just hope that we’re teaching our congregations to speak his name reverently in prayer, declaration, and invitation rather than presumptuously as a magic word of faith.

Image by Thomas Schütze from Unsplash

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

REST ON US – Maverick City Music, Brandon Lake, Eniola Abioye

/ Jason Henry / 1 Comment

Maverick City Music has taken the worship world by storm over the last few years, and “Rest on Us” is one of a string of worship hits that have charted on CCLI. The song is a corporate cry for the experience of God’s Spirit and its easy melody and repetitive lyrics carry the listener along on a tide of prayer and longing. But is it the kind of prayer that we want to sing with our congregations? Is it the right kind of longing? Is “Rest on Us” biblical? Let’s see.

Focus

This song is a plea for the presence of God’s Spirit. It asks the Spirit to move, to fill the worshipers, to let Heaven in, and (as indicated by the title) to rest on the worshipers. It declares that the Spirit is all the singer wants.

Lyric Analysis

SONG TITLE

What does it mean for the Holy Spirt to rest on us (or fill us)? This is the central line of the song, so let’s make sure we understand it well before we look at the rest of the lyrics.

The Old Testament doesn’t use this language often, but it tells us that the Spirit rested on the elders of Israel and that they temporarily prophesied as a result (Num. 11:25-26). Isaiah also prophesies about the Messiah in Isaiah 11:2, saying, “the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”

The OT says that the Spirit rushed upon David (1 Sam. 16:13), Saul (10:10), and Samson (Jud. 14:6). In each of these cases, the individual engaged in one or more miracles of prophesy or divinely empowered violence. In Exodus, a man named Bezalel is filled with the Spirit in order to craft the tabernacle and its furnishings (Ex. 31:2-3). Micah is also filled with the Spirit in order to declare Israel’s sin (Mic. 3:8), a typical task for OT prophets. I think these three words are interchangeable in the Old Testament, describing the Spirit acting with and through a human being to accomplish a miraculous purpose and usually to prophesy.

The New Testament uses all three words in Acts 2:2-4, when a sound like rushing wind fills the room, tongues of fire rest on the believers’ heads, and the Spirit fills them. It also says that the Spirit rests on Jesus in the form of a dove at his baptism (Matt. 3:16) and that those who are mistreated for the name of Jesus have the Spirit resting on them (1 Pet. 4:14). The NT more often refers to the Spirit filling a believer. This happens to John the Baptist and both his parents (Luke 1:15, 41, 67), the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:4), Saul/Paul (9:17), Paul and Barnabas (13:50-14:1), and is commanded of believers in Ephesians 5:18. In every one of these cases, those who are filled with the Spirit speak the words of God afterward, whether through prophesy, tongues, proclaiming the Gospel, or singing.

To sum up! When we ask God’s Spirit to rest on us or fill us, we are not just asking for a feeling or experience. We are offering ourselves up as vessels so that God can speak and act through us. Being filled with God’s Spirit means I am committed to speaking God’s words.

VERSE 1
“As the Spirit was moving over the waters // Spirit, come move over us”
When did the Spirit move over the waters, and do we want Him to move over us in a similar fashion? This is a reference to Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit of God is hovering over the face of the waters. These waters are the unformed chaos of the pre-creation world, and God is about to fill them with light and then create the whole world out of this inhospitable blank slate. This is actually my favorite line in the song, though I suspect many listeners miss it. I think this line is a way of submitting to the transformative and creative power of God’s Spirit, offering our chaos and our unformed lives up to God as a canvas for Him to create something beautiful that suits his purpose and his pleasure.

CHORUS
“You’re here and I know You are moving // I’m here and I know You will fill me”
Asking the Holy Spirit to come down is perhaps unnecessary, but not harmful. Yes, the Spirit is already here; God is omnipresent (Jer. 23:24, Col. 1:17). In asking for the Spirit to come down, we are asking for his presence to be made evident in some way, not saying that he isn’t already present. This also applies to the later line “when you fill the room.” It’s referring to the visible or felt activity of the Spirit, not his actual presence versus his absence.

The next line, which says the Spirit will “make my heart pound” when he moves, is not my favorite. It could mean that the singer gets excited (heart pounding) when he or she sees evidence of the Spirit’s activity. That’s fine and good. I’m concerned that most people will take a simpler and less helpful approach to this line. Either A) If the Spirit is moving in your life, he will cause a palpable physical response. If your heart isn’t pounding, the Spirit isn’t moving. or B) “You make my heart pound” sounds like very romantic language, so we think our relationship with the Spirit is like a romantic relationship. “Jesus is my boyfriend songs” are problematic not just because they make worshipers uncomfortable, but because the individual Christian is not the Bride of Christ; the Church is (Eph. 5:31-32, Rev. 19:7-8).

This song refers continually to the Spirit moving. This isn’t a phrase that I can find in Scripture anywhere, but I don’t think it’s inherently problematic. Movement is activity. So if you believe the Spirit does anything today—from raising the dead to quietly prompting the heart of the believer—then you believe the Spirit moves. However, it’s very nonspecific. So each individual who hears or sings this song will import their understanding of what constitutes a movement of the Holy Spirit.

What does it mean for the Holy Spirit to fill us? See the above note on the song title.

VERSE 2:

This verse specifically references Pentecost, when there was a rushing sound of wind and tongues of fire rested on the believers (Acts 2:1-4). What’s not clear is which aspect of Pentecost the singer is asking the Holy Spirit to duplicate. If it’s the literal fire, wind, and tongues-speaking, I think this line is misguided. If it’s the manifest presence and activity of God that lead to proclamation of the Gospel and a turning of many hearts toward Jesus because of the Spirit’s ministry through the church, then yes, let’s pray for that! (I recently reviewed “The Dove,” another Holy Spirit song, which references Pentecost differently, and I think more helpfully!)

The gates come from Psalm 24:7, where they are opened to welcome in the King of Glory. This song refers to letting heaven in instead of God, but I think it’s clear from the context that this is a way of welcoming God’s presence so that he can make our world more and more like heaven, establishing his Kingdom in and through us.

BRIDGE:

“You’re all we want,” is a frequent refrain in worship songs. It’s not a statement of fact (we all want lots of things besides God). It’s an aspirational prayer. In singing “You’re all we want,” we are training our hearts to long for God like the deer longs for water in Psalm 42:1.

Accessibility

Clarity and context are big problems for this song. The Spirit’s activity is described through different biblical word-pictures, and an emotional response is articulated in modern language. What’s missing is any concrete explanation of what the Spirit is doing or what exactly we are asking him to do. This deprives the song of meaning for those who don’t know what the Spirit is doing in the referenced passages. And it leaves open a big hole into which anyone could insert their own poor understanding of what the Spirit’s ministry looks like.

As indicated above, I am concerned that the repeated line “when you move you make my heart pound” is likely to be interpreted in harmful ways. I have the same concern for the line “fire and wind, come and do it again.”

Music

This song has a powerful, slow-build, dynamic arc. I love the drums and the chord progression. The lyrics and melody are so catchy that it would be hard not to learn this song after hearing it once. I honestly enjoy the song, which makes it difficult to be so critical of the lyrics.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Not for me. This song is supposed to be a powerful emotional response to and plea for the moving of God’s Spirit, but those emotions need to be grounded in scriptural truth, not left adrift to anchor themselves to each singer’s vague idea of what the Spirit does.

Image by Maxim Medvedev from Unsplash

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

BELIEVE FOR IT – CeCe Winans, Lauren Daigle

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

Image by Marc Thunis from Unsplash

“Believe for It,” written by CeCe Winans, Dwan Hill, Kyle Lee, and Mitch Wong, is the title track from Winans’ early 2021 live album. It came to my attention when a new version came out this month featuring Lauren Daigle, and K-Love lists the original live recording as one of their top songs right now. I have enjoyed and worshiped to songs from both Grammy-winning artists before, so let’s see how the words of “Believe for It” measure up to Scripture.

Focus

There are two. The first is an unspecified obstacle, described as unmovable and unbreakable. The second (and more significant) is God’s power, as the singer trusts him to overcome the obstacle.

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
Jesus tells us that faith can move mountains three times in the Gospels (Matt. 17:20, 21:21, Mark 11:23) and Paul references mountain-moving faith in 1 Corinthians 13:2, calling it worthless without love. No one ever moves a literal mountain into the sea in the Bible, so I think it’s safe to see these statements as metaphorical language for God’s power through faith. Winans is also speaking metaphorically. She’s concerned with some oppressive, seemingly unchangeable circumstance in the listener’s life, not geography.

This same obstacle is described as chains and an unchanging tide. Jesus says he came to give liberty to the captives and the oppressed in Luke 4:18. While God has certainly broken literal chains, such as when he freed Paul and Silas from jail in Acts 16, I believe the primary sense in which Jesus liberates us is from the spiritual forces of sin and darkness. In John 8:32-34, he says, “‘You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, “You will become free?'” Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.'”

CHORUS
“From the impossible
We’ll see a miracle
God, we believe
God, we believe for it”

What I like about the chorus, and the rest of this song, is that it extols God’s power. Nothing is immovable or unbreakable to him (see Ps. 29) Luke 1:37, referring to the upcoming miraculous births of John and Jesus, says “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

What I don’t like is that this song lets each listener decide what they are believing for. Whatever obstacle comes to your mind in verse 1 when you sing about unmoving mountains and unbreakable chains is likely what you’re going to be singing about in the chorus and bridge. Is it cancer? Financial strain or poverty? A sin addiction? A broken marriage? An abusive situation? There’s a big difference between believing God is able to fix something and believing that he will. Of course, we will ultimately be rescued from all of those things, but Scripture doesn’t promise that we will experience that rescue in this life. Jesus promises that he will work wonders through our faith in him (Matt. 17:20, John 14:12), but he also promises that we will experience persecution (John 15:20) and trouble, but can find peace in the midst of it because of his victory. (John 16:33). Paul tells us that reliance on God is how we find contentedness in prosperity and poverty, not how we get from one to the other (Philippians 4:11-13). While these lyrics don’t necessarily contradict Scripture, I think they are too open to misapplication.

VERSE 2

Our hope can never be lost because it is laid up for us in heaven (Col. 1:5). Jesus’ grave is empty because he rose from the dead, and we get to share in that resurrection (Matt. 28:6, Rom. 6:5). We should absolutely believe that there is power in the name of Jesus; this is the witness of the whole New Testament. Just do a Bible Gateway search on “Name of Jesus.” Demons are cast out and people are healed in his name (Acts 3:6, 16:18), we are baptized and sanctified in his name (Acts 2:38, 1 Cor 6:11), and every knee will one day bow at his name (Phil. 2:10).

BRIDGE 1

Jesus is the way in John 14:6. Verse 17 clarifies that this means he is the way to the Father, and there is no other way apart from him. The whole Bible is full of reasons to trust in God. Saying he has the “final say” refers to either his final victory and judgment, which will come by his powerful word (2 Peter 3:7) or his total sovereignty over the world, and by extension our circumstances (Psalm 22:28, Romans 8:28).

BRIDGE 2
“You said it, I believe it
You said it, it is done”

We should absolutely believe everything God has promised (Josh. 21:45). But we’d better be sure that when we say we’re believing for something because he said so, we’re believing in something that he’s actually promised in Scripture, not just something that we really, really want. We also need to make sure that we’re trusting God to fulfill his promises according to his timetable, not ours. Many of God’s promises to Israel didn’t find their ultimate fulfillment until the coming of Christ (Heb. 11:13), and others will not be fulfilled until he returns (2 Peter 3:8). So let’s be careful not to believe for “it” unless “it” is something that God has actually said.

Accessibility

I don’t think anyone would have difficulty grasping the meaning of this song. The metaphors are clear, and the words of the chorus and bridge are simple and repetitive. My concern is that anyone not thoroughly grounded in what God does and does not promise in Scripture is likely to sing this song with incorrect assumptions about what we should believe for.

Music

I’m a sucker for a good chord progression with changes on beat 4 leading into the next chords on beat 1, and this song has that. I also really enjoy the drum groove, which is classic and propels the song forward while the melody soars heavenward. That same melody is very repetitive and learnable. I don’t think this song would be difficult for worship teams to learn. The most challenging part would be achieving the gospel styling of the backing vocals and the ad-libbing of the lead singer. Winans utilizes both to powerful and moving effect. Of course she does; she’s a legend.

Conclusions

In an article about this song on K-Love’s website, Lindsay Williams quotes CeCe Winans as saying, “The song challenges people to not brush off your dreams; don’t give up or give in, but it’s time to believe that you can make it. Believe that you can achieve what’s in your heart. It’s time to believe for wholeness and healing for yourself, your family, and your community. It’s time to believe for unity.” Those aspirations are all good, and most are even Biblical. But the idea of following your dreams and achieving whatever is in your heart is not based on the truth of Scripture.

It’s an inspiring song, but I have to pass on it. The belief that is at the crux of the chorus never finds a concrete promise of God to stand on, so the listener is left to supply their own meaning, which could be anything. That’s dangerous and veers uncomfortably close to Word of Faith teaching and the Prosperity Gospel. What we should believe for is the return of Christ, when he will fully and finally reconcile all creation to himself, and the working of his Kingdom in and through us now, which rarely happens the way we expect it to.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.