Christian Musician's Book Goes Deeper into Heart of Worship
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
September 29, 2004
(AgapePress) - A contemporary Christian recording artist is challenging believers to go to a lower level in their worship of God -- that is, to the floor level, on their faces.Matt Redman has written some of today's most popular modern worship songs, including "The Heart of Worship" and "Better Is One Day." And now, the Christian singer-songwriter has released a new book titled Facedown (Regal Books, 2004), a prose companion volume to his Christian music album and video of the same name.
In the book, Redman describes "facedown" worship as a total surrender to God that begins as a posture of the heart. But the musician says in their church services, many Christians often, rather than reaching deep down until they find themselves lying prostrate before the awesome majesty of the Lord, will instead limit their adoration and veneration of him.
"Worship is much more than music and styles," Redman explains, "and yet we must pay attention to those things as well. Just feel like, in our services and in our songs, we could paint a bigger picture of God."
The singer points to scripture to clarify his point. "You know, it says in Psalm 66, 'Make his praise glorious.' And that's really the core, I think, of so much of singing and worship in church -- to make his praise glorious," he says.
In fact, Redman encourages Christians to go deep into God's Word in order to get a clear understanding of true worship. "Dive into the scriptures," he says, "and just find there a whole lot of people who encountered the glory of God and were never the same."
Then, the artist says, believers should pray: "God, would You let me encounter You that way ... to see You as the most high God, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the King above all kings and ... to give You the praise, above all."
Redman's book Facedown is grounded in three biblical examples: Ezekiel 1, Daniel 10, and Revelation 7, all of which show that the worship going on before the heavenly throne is "facedown" worship. The songwriter is also the author of The Unquenchable Worshipper (Regal, 2001) and The Heart of Worship Files (Regal, 2003).
