It Pays to Pray

So I need to write a blog. I hate when the realization comes to me, and I have nothing extremely specific to talk about. NQC is over, and part of me is sad, but part of me is already anxious for next year. I love this time of the year, because I get to see all of my favorite people in one place.

Rather than talking about NQC though (as that is the hot topic right now isn't it?) - why not talk about something different all together. I'm done talking about all the things that are wrong with this industry and what needs to be changed. I'm sick and tired of hearing about gossip of who left what group and why. I'm sick and tired of all the garbage that seems to be so prevalent - and that garbage is all the negativity that seems to be taking over this industry.

What's right about this industry you may ask? What's right is that songs are still being written that minister to the hearts and minds of the listeners. What's right is that there are still artists out there who aren't afraid to pause their program for an instant in which God wants to move.

I was recently sitting in the audience for Legacy Five's Labor Day Celebration. Greater Vision was on, and truth be told I've never been a huge fan of the hugely orchestrated and traditional style of Greater Vision (though my respect for those guys is through the roof), and for some reason I was really intent on listening to them at the event. As they began to sing "It Pays to Pray" - I realized that this is a once in a lifetime kind of song for this group. Why is it a once in a lifetime kind of song? Because it hit me at the right moment when I needed to hear it the most. It ministered to me at a time when prayer was an especially active part of my walk with God. It spoke specifically to me at the time I needed it the most. Will the song go down as Greater Vision's most popular song ever like "My Name Is Lazarus"? Probably not - but it became a once in a lifetime song for ME at that moment. Greater Vision may never know that it had the impact that it did on me - but I am so thankful that they took the time to sing it during the set that I was a part of at Legacy Five's Labor Day Celebration.

I said all this to make this point: Southern Gospel is still serving its purpose, because we're still singing songs that have a message that the church needs to hear. Sure, for every "crying momma" song that is sung, there's another one like "It Prays to Pray," or The Perry's "If You Knew Him," or The Whisnants' "Even In the Valley," or Dove Brothers' "I Can Pray," or Mike & Kelly Bowling's "Your Cries Have Awoken the Master," or The Isaacs' "It Is Well (Elisha's Song)," or Talley Trio's "My Hope Is In the Lord," or Karen Peck & New River's "Four Days Late." These are songs that reach deep down into the depths of the sorrowful life and pull them up to see the redeeming light of God's love and plan in our lives.

Southern Gospel is still doing some things right. Let's at least sit up and take notice of that.

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