Worship
A Discussion With Don Moen...
...on Two Of His Latest Songs

"Thank You Lord"

I was sitting at my church in the balcony, looking at the congregation, and wishing I had a simple song of thanks that people can sing. Praise and worship songs can get very complicated. The congregation really wants to worship, but sometimes as leaders we make it difficult musically and lyrically for them to do that.

That Sunday in my own church, I asked the Lord to give me a song that causes people to give thanks to Him easily, that puts thanksgiving on their lips. The result was "Thank You Lord."

Thanksgiving is the first step to come into His presence: "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise" (Psalm 100:4 NIV). Simply saying 'Thank You Lord' is one of the most powerful concepts in worship. To say thank You 'for all You've given to me, for all the blessings that I cannot see' is powerful because we're remembering what He's done in the past and thanking Him for all He's going to do in the future. I pray those words in every concert. If you can say "Thank You" for something you haven't seen yet--a job, a car, a healing--that is powerful.

"Jesus, You Are My Healer"

Last summer, I received an email from a good friend named Carli who lives in Panama. Carli's doctors had diagnosed him with pancreatic cancer, and given him just one week to one month to live. After I read that email, I sat at my guitar and said, "Oh God, would You give me a song of healing for Carli?" The result was "Jesus, You Are My Healer." The words express my conviction that God is a healing God--no matter what circumstances look like.

I prayed for Carli, as did many around the world. He passed the one-week mark, then the one-month mark. Today, doctors say the cancer is still in his body, but miraculously he is still alive.

We planned to record the song on Thank You, Lord, but it got bumped off the album, as songs often do in the process leading up to the actual recording. Then I got a call from Carli that doctors had given him permission to fly to the U.S. with his wife so that they could be part of the recording. The song was put back on the line-up.

At the recording, Carli told me that before the cancer, he had grown a little cold in his faith, but because of the cancer, he was now living every day for the purposes of the kingdom of God. Now he has such an awareness of the presence of God, every minute of every day. He told me, "If being healed means I won't have that focus anymore, then I don't want to be healed."

Six months after the original diagnosis, Carli is still alive. Recent tests revealed that a tumor in his stomach has disappeared, and other questionable areas in his lungs are also gone. The tumor in his pancreas is still the same size, but has not grown.

You can see Carli on the video as we're singing that song. It was a wonderful moment. I'm believing every day that God is going to heal him completely.