Longing for Jesus
Posted May 03, 2015
By KevinDavis_NRT, Staff Reviewer
Australian-based worship band Planetshakers partnered with Grammy nominated producer Ed Cash for Outback Worship Sessions to capture a more acoustic, organic delivery of some of their best-known songs. Known for their high energy sound, this acoustically driven collection also includes the new songs "Spirit of God," "Father" and "My Soul Longs for Jesus."
The opening track "Like a Fire" has tender and powerful vocals, taking listeners on an emotional and spiritual journey with every lyric sung about faith in our God Almighty, our Lord and Savior Jesus. The lyrics are very stirring and convicting: "Jesus I'm desperate for You, Jesus I'm hungry for You, Jesus I'm longing for You, Lord You are all I want."
"Spirit of God" is an emotive song crying out for God's Presence and for an indwelling of His Holy Spirit. The standout track for me personally is "My Soul Longs for Jesus," featuring female worship leader Sam Evans. The Ed Cash-penned song is an ethereal vertical worship ballad and modern hymn, sung with a stirring passion and filled with prayerful declarations. This is an incredible song for the Church, and you'll express your longing for Jesus along with Sam.
Another standout moment is the worshipful prayer-song of adoration, "Leave Me Astounded." You'll want to sing these words with fellow believers: "Leave me astounded, leave me amazed, show off Your glory, let heaven invade, we're waiting with worship, we're waiting with praise, for the almighty presence of God to invade."
"Endless Praise" is an example of being obedient to our calling to make God the object of all of our worship. This song is a great answer to that calling. One of the sections that I really enjoy in this song is the bridge: "We lift You up, up, up... We're giving You our love, love, love for everything You've done, done, done." As the Scripture and famous hymn repeat "Holy, Holy, Holy," God often speaks to us three times. Biblical scholars consider the number three as something that is used to get our attention, draw emphasis or show completion, as God is Three in One (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Join in with the angels and saints and sing to God "We give You all the praise."
The beauty and majesty of our King Jesus is reverently captured throughout the album with anthem after anthem, including "Covered," "Father" and "Made for Worship." Every single song could be added to your worship set. More importantly, this is an album about submitting to the Lordship of Jesus and declaring that there is no other name under Heaven by which we are saved than Jesus Christ our God.
A sincere desire for the presence of God and to see His Kingdom on earth is found in every song, especially the closing tracks "This is the Day" and "This is Our Time," which are both instantly singable prayer songs featuring declarations about Jesus, as found in the refrain "This is our time, this is our place, this is our moment to lift Your name."
Closing Thoughts:
One of my favorite aspects of singing a new song to the Lord is the thought of our eternal worship in Heaven, which is an exciting picture for me. We gain glimpses of eternity from this collection of vertical worship songs. Sometimes people think that worship is something they do at an event or at church or only through music. We know from Scripture that worship is what you put your "worth-ship" in, and that a biblical definition of worship is a lifestyle of "Endless Praise."
There are several instantly singable and worshipful arrangements that you'll want to add to your Sunday morning set-list. I especially recommend "Like a Fire," "Spirit of God," "Leave Me Astounded," "Father," "Made for Worship," "This is Our Time" and one of my top worship songs of the year, "My Soul Longs for Jesus." I'm really engaged by the emotional vocals and the deep, prayerful lyrics throughout the album. All of the songs are catchy and worshipful. Outback Worship Sessions is a truly anointed set of songs for the Church, expressing a longing for Jesus.
Song to Download Now:
"My Soul Longs for Jesus"
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