House of Prayer – Benjamin Hoogterp

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Brothers and sisters, I write to you today concerning the modern prayer movement. Many reading this may not understand, and many of those that do may not agree. Nevertheless, I am moved to write what I have seen and felt.

Personally, I don’t think there is a line between the sacred and the secular,” she suggests. “If a person is living before God’s eyes, everything is sacred. All of life is sacred, as opposed to trying to make church songs in one box and love songs in another box. I think we need to get rid of the separation. I hope these songs will land somewhere between encouraging people and leading them to ask questions about what they really believe. I hope to stir up conversations in their soul. I love the mysterious elements of God, and again, not to separate the sacred from the secular, but see the story of God in our lives and in the dirt of humanity.

There comes a time when a movement comes to a decision and they go to the right or the left. But, what happens when they turn to the left, and not the right? To the side, and not straight on?

I didn’t intend to be an artist, but I originally started writing in the prayer room where I led two or three sessions a day,” she recounts of a multi-faceted role that dates back to her days as an intern at the International House of Prayer. “The songs that came out of those seasons had a very repetitive chorus type of feel to them and a lot of corporate singing off very scripturally-based themes. Not only have a lot of my past albums been centered around corporate worship songs, but the last record was recorded in the corporate live setting. I never want to walk away from that, but worship and creativity under God is bigger than just corporate expression exclusively, and in my heart, I’ve always had a singer/songwriter side. This project focuses more on lyrics than choruses and is not as repetitive as I may have been in the past, which has been a really fun process for me as a writer. The fact is I became an artist very accidentally and it all just evolved naturally, but because the Lord gave me a chance, I’m going to strive to do it with excellence.

Standing In His Presence

Tag: House of Prayer

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