God’s Constant Supply!

   A gospel singer with whom my husband and I occasionally sing with on the same program often says to me, “It’s just amazing how you get all of these ideas for songs.” In all honesty, I am as astounded as he is. It amazes me that God is constantly supplying me with ideas with which to write songs for Him. In fact, I have more song ideas than I will be able to write in this earthly lifetime and my collection of them continues to grow.
   As I mentioned in a previous article, I believe God was teaching me to be ever aware of acquiring ideas for my writing, even before He called me to be a writer of gospel songs. For many years as a writer for a local monthly magazine, I was constantly on the lookout for ideas about which to write. This habit transferred very well to gospel song writing. I am incessantly looking for and collecting ideas for songs and constantly attuned to God pointing them out to me.

   I buy small hard-covered, spiral-bound notebooks into which I log each song idea. Before using the note books, I cut each page into halves or thirds (depending on the size of the page) from the edge of the page to the spine of the notebook. Each strip of a page is used for one song idea. When I use the idea in a song, I draw a large ”X” through it. When both sides of the strip of a page have been Xed, I tear that page out. Eliminating ideas already used makes it quicker to go through the notebooks when I am looking for a song idea about which to write. I’ve filled six notebooks so far and I am well into my seventh. I keep one with me at all times and I write down any ideas God inspires me with as soon as it happens—otherwise they may be lost to me later.
   I believe this constant supply of ideas for songs comes from the Lord. Each morning as I pray, I ask the Lord to provide me with ideas for songs and, through His Holy Spirit, He attunes my heart, eyes and ears to be alert for them. Sometimes God just impresses on my heart the need to write about a certain topic but He also provides ideas through a number of other resources. During my prayer time, phrases and/or ideas will stand out for me and I jot them down to work on later.
   Each day before doing my daily Bible reading, I will pray, asking the Lord to open my heart to His word so that I might be given a number of specific things from it. One of these things is song ideas. Lately, I have been find the majority of song ideas have been coming directly from Scripture. The Lord also uses the sermons I hear in churches, studies in Sunday School and mid-week Bible studies and personal studies and readings to reveal song ideas to me.
   When I accepted the Lord as my Savior many years ago, my focus shifted from the music of the world to gospel music. I did, however, listen to a little secular music. Later, as the Lord began to make clear to me His calling to write gospel music, I stopped listening to the world’s music all together. Personally, I do not want what I am writing for the Lord to be influenced by it at all.
   I listen to a lot of gospel music—mostly Southern Gospel. My husband and I attend concerts whenever we can. We sing at Gospel Coffee Houses and churches where others are singing and I really listen. I play gospel music when I am doing office work at my desk.