7 Brandon Lake Lyrics That Stir Our Hearts to Worship
Spiritual Life
Audio By Carbonatix
11:45 AM on Tuesday, September 30
By Whitney Hopler, Spiritual Life
1. Lyrics from “Hard Fought Hallelujah” – Give God an Offering of Honesty
This is a hard-fought hallelujah
This is a wrestling with the angels
This is a song for the suffering
This is a sinner’s testimony
This is a cripple running to you
And it ain’t pretty, but it’s holy
This song describes the messy, painful side of worship. It validates the experience of praising God through our struggles and pain. The lyric “it ain’t pretty, but it’s holy” is encouraging because it emphasizes how God gives us the freedom to come to him just as we are, without any requirements for our prayers or our worship to be polished. God welcomes us to express our thoughts and feelings openly and honestly, without suppressing or sugarcoating anything we say to him. So, instead of pretending we have it all together, we can bring our authentic selves to God in worship, just like the Psalms often describe. In Psalm 22, David cries out in anguish: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” yet concludes with a choice to “declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.” God invites us to worship through our pain, not around it. “Hard Fought Hallelujah” encourages us to celebrate that God is good even when our circumstances are challenging. Worshipping with that kind of authenticity can deepen our trust in God in ways that easy praise never could.
Click Here to Listen to "Hard Fought Hallelujah"
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2. Lyrics from “Praise You Anywhere” – Worship in All Circumstances
I'll praise in the valley, praise on the mountain
I'll praise when I’m sure, praise when I’m doubting
I'll praise when I’m broken and when I am whole
I'll praise ‘cause you’re sovereign, you’re always in control
This song celebrates the power of praising God in any circumstances, since we worship God for the unchanging reality of who God is instead of for what God happens to be doing for us at any particular time. It describes praising God in life’s hills and valleys – during both good and bad times. The line “‘cause you’re sovereign, you’re always in control” highlights how we can praise in the middle of our doubt and brokenness because we’re confident that our God is still in control, working for good purposes in our fallen world. This calls us to make praise a choice in all the situations we face. When we’re having a difficult day, we can make a choice to stop and worship God in the middle of our stress and declare that God is in control and will help us.
Praising God is a powerful way to change our perspective from our problems to God, who we can rely on to overcome our problems. This mindset of setting our minds on God reminds us of what the prophet Habakkuk did when he resolved to praise God even while dealing with famine and failure. Habakkuk 3:17-18 says: “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Another verse that the song “Praise You Anywhere” brings to mind is Psalm 34:1, which encourages us to always praise God: “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.”
Click Here to Listen to "Praise You Anywhere"
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3. Lyrics from “Gratitude” – Celebrate What God Has Done for Us
So, I throw up my hands
And praise you again and again
‘Cause all that I have is a hallelujah
Hallelujah
And I know it’s not much
But I’ve nothing else fit for a king
Except for a heart singing hallelujah
Hallelujah
“Gratitude” challenges us to notice the blessings God is constantly pouring into our lives and to respond with an attitude of gratitude that motivates us to make worship a lifestyle. Unlike the messages we often hear in this fallen world about how we should keep trying to get more of whatever we want, this song’s message celebrates how God gives us everything we need.
The song suggests that the most valuable offering we can bring to God isn’t our accomplishments, but our thankful hearts. The lyric “all that I have is a hallelujah” is a powerful statement that highlights the reality that worship isn’t about what we can do for God, but about celebrating all God has done for us. The lyrics of “Gratitude” challenge us to be thankful in every situation, which brings to mind the Bible’s encouragement in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to: “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” We can put this into practice by starting a gratitude journal. That will train our minds to look for God’s goodness in every part of our lives. We can also start our prayers with praise, which will change our focus from our needs to God’s generous provision before we make our requests. Listening to “Gratitude” can inspire us to follow the worship guidance in Psalm 100:4: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.”
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/AaronAmat
4. Lyrics from “Graves into Gardens” – Testify about Transformation
You turn mourning to dancing
You give beauty for ashes
You turn shame into glory
You're the only one who can
You turn graves into gardens
You turn bones into armies
This song about God’s unlimited power to redeem any situation is packed with images of transformation from the Bible. The central theme is that God doesn’t just fix what’s broken; he resurrects what’s dead. The imagery of a grave – a place of death – being transformed into a garden – a place of life – is a wonderful way to think about how Jesus has made it possible for us to experience resurrection power in our own lives, every day. We can do so by taking an honest look at our lives and identifying our own “graves” (areas that feel dead and hopeless) and then bring these areas to the Master Gardener in prayer, asking him to bring new life to them. The Bible promises us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” That’s the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 61:3, where God promises to: “bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
Click Here to Listen to "Graves into Gardens"
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/Elvira Podolinska
5. Lyrics from “Talking to Jesus” – Talk to Jesus in Prayer Anytime
My momma told me, “Son, sometimes it’s gonna rain”
And I’ve seen seasons so dry, I thought they’d never change
I’ve had my share of sunshine and my share of storms
But in the joy and the pain, I know I’m not alone
‘Cause I’m just talking to Jesus
This song strips away the formality we sometimes associate with prayer. It helps us see prayer simply as an ongoing conversation with Jesus. It reminds us that talking to Jesus isn’t reserved for Sunday mornings or times when we’re going through a crisis. We can pray about everything by just carrying on a conversation with Jesus anytime and anywhere. Philippians 4:6-7 promises us that when we pray about everything that concerns us, God will respond by sending us his peace: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The song “Talking to Jesus” highlights how prayer is accessible to everyone. God invites us to integrate prayer into our daily activities by talking to Jesus like a friend. We don’t need to use any fancy words. All we have to do is share what’s on our hearts and minds, in whatever ways come naturally to use. We can share our joys, sorrows, hopes, frustrations, questions, and more with Jesus as they come up. The Bible urges us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray continually,” and that’s exactly what this song inspires us to do.
Click Here to Listen to "Talking to Jesus"
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6. Lyrics from “Too Good to Not Believe” – Trust God to Do Miracles
I’ve seen you move, you move the mountains
And I believe, I'll see you do it again
You made a way, where there was no way
And I believe, I'll see you do it again
This faith-stirring song connects God’s past faithfulness with his future promises. It shows us how remembering how God has helped in the past fuels our faith. By reflecting on the ways God has moved in our lives before, we can build a foundation of trust to expect the best from God in the future. “Too Good to Not Believe” confidently says: “I believe, I'll see you do it again,” challenging us to expect the miraculous power of God in our lives. We can apply this by remembering God’s faithfulness in past situations, such as specific prayers God has answered. When we face a new challenge, this history of God’s faithfulness can give us the confidence to trust him again and to pray boldly, expecting him to act. This is the definition of faith that Hebrews 11:1 describes: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” It's the kind of faith Jesus himself calls for when he says in Mark 9:23: “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Click Here to Listen to "Too Good to Not Believe"
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Tim Bogdanov
7. Lyrics from “Fear Is Not My Future” – Speak Truth Over Anxiety
Hello peace, hello joy
Hello love, hello strength
Hello hope, it’s a new day
Goodbye fear, goodbye guilt
Goodbye shame, goodbye pain
You are here, it’s a new day
This song celebrates the choice we have to receive the peace, joy, love, strength, and hope God offers us and let go of fear that holds us back from growing spiritually. It highlights the authority we have in Christ to overcome anxiety with God’s help and to set our minds on what God wants us to focus on. When fear creeps into our lives, we can apply this by speaking God’s promises out loud. There is power in singing: “Fear is not my future.” The Bible, which is the ultimate weapon against fear, tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7 that “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” When we arm ourselves with these truths, we can confidently face any challenge in this fallen world, because we know that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
In conclusion, Lake’s songs show us how worship is an open and honest conversation with God. These songs invite us to come to God just as we are and to let our hearts be stirred to more authentic worship.
Photo Credit: Unsplash/John Price
