The Music Exchange

These last few weeks have been very good for my humility and prayer-life. We’ve recently started a new congregation, which meets in the middle of the afternoon.

The congregation is made up of a mixture of people who have moved from the morning and evening meetings, which had become too full. It’s been wonderful seeing how people have been so keen to help prepare food, welcome and serve on all the various teams.

Few musicians

However, on the musical side of things we’re much shorter on numbers. The few musicians who play and sing are superb, and are some of the most servant-hearted people I’ve worked with. The fact that I have a smaller team, and that they have such a healthy attitude of service, has helped restore my focus to what it was when I first started working as a church musician 14 years ago.

When I first started my job I propped up a small card on my desk on which I wrote some of the things I should be doing daily as a Christian musician. The first point on the card said, ‘Pray’. It was a simple note to myself reminding me to pray for my own godliness, for my day’s work to bring glory to Jesus, and for the musicians in the church family. The trouble is that my desk has always been by a window, so over time the card has warped. As the warping increased, as the dust thickened and as the ink faded, so my prayers for musicians have diminished. The card has been at the back of a drawer for about ten years now. In fact, I’ve just reached down to look for it in the drawer and it seems to have disappeared completely. If anyone’s seen it…

One of the reasons I’ve neglected to pray is because God has always provided enough musicians who have been able to serve. I know how privileged I am to have such a committed and godly number of musicians around, but, instead of being thankful, I’ve been duped into complacency: ‘Why do I need a silly little card reminding me of something I don’t need to do anymore? Prayer is for Christians who are just starting out. Now I’ve been doing the job for 14 years I have enough experience not to need to pray.’

Rediscovering prayer

Well, maybe I don’t need a little card, but I do need the humility to recognise that any Christian work involves a deep commitment to prayer — otherwise our work is in vain because all that is served is our own vanity.

So, I’ve rediscovered the prayer for musicians to be godly. Two of the musicians have recently had some very sad news, which will require them to be a strong Christian voice to their family and friends. They’ll need to be godly. They need me to pray.

I’ve rediscovered the prayer for musicians to volunteer. I have half an eye on the long summer months when everyone disappears for holidays and camps (including me). I need to pray.

I’ve rediscovered the prayer for musicians to work hard at their skill so that they’re better able to serve the congregation. Already I’ve had requests from some who want to take a set of songs with them so they can practise at home. I need to go on praying.

I’ve rediscovered the prayer for musicians to be responding personally to the truths they proclaim. Thankfully, I can see this at work in them — one of the musicians gently rebuked me during a rehearsal because I’d been trying to do something flashy with a song that he’d been using to meditate on for a few weeks. I realised that what I’d suggested was completely inappropriate, and that he had a far deeper measure of the sentiment that the song was trying to communicate. They need to pray — for me!

This has all reminded me that it is no good being comfortable — even musically comfortable. Coming out of my comfort zone has helped me pray again for things that, though they seem mundane, are the essence of the work God has given me to do. Similarly, having many resources and godly musicians is not an indication that the music co-ordinator is praying. That will only be evident when the fruit of the work is seen on the last day.

The leaner and fitter music group!

Few musicians

Rediscovering prayer

We need to pray.

Richard Simpkin

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