There’s something special about worship music.
It silences enemy voices. It provides peace. It’s a form of prayer. And it has the power to shift your focus toward God when you can’t bring yourself to do anything else.
I know this firsthand. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety throughout my life and, without fail, worship music has always lifted my spirits. I grew up listening to bands like the Newsboys, DC Talk and Jars of Clay, recording their songs from the radio on cassette tapes and playing back their encouraging words again and again.
I was raised in a family of five children, just like Terrian, a Christian music artist and songwriter who’s music is bringing hope to listeners all over the world. While I wasn’t a preacher’s kid like Terrian, I did grow up in the church. And I can relate to the anxiety and fear she grappled with when she was young.
You see, Terrian was even afraid of God at certain points in her life. She knew about the Gospel and what Jesus had done for her, but she still had worries about her relationship with God.
She didn’t feel free until she was 13 and a guest preacher at her church prayed for her and told her, “Your singing of worship is your weapon. That’s how you worship the Lord.” She had been singing in church since she was five, but didn’t realize how much it could help with her fear and anxiety until that moment.
Terrian knew that she wanted to change people’s lives through music, but didn’t know how to get there. So she did the only things she could do: pray…and keep singing.
Fast-forward to 2016 and Terrian landed an audition to be on the hit television show American Idol. I won’t spoil the details of her experience there (you can watch the video to hear about that), but things didn’t work out how she wanted.
It seemed like God said “no” to her prayers and dreams, which made her upset. But it also led to surrendering her future to Him.
“Whatever door the Lord opens, that’s the door we will walk through,” Terrian says in the film. “And whatever door he shuts — no matter how excited we were about it — we’re going to allow that door to shut.”
Man, I can relate so much to that statement. I had an experience with God in 2021 where He showed me that my calling was to encourage others with my writing. So I was confused and frustrated when it seemed like every door I tried to open to follow that calling was shut. Why did he tell me I’d help others when it didn’t seem like I was helping anyone? It was only after surrendering everything to him that doors started to open.
The same thing happened for Terrian. After her American Idol experience, she was connected with TobyMac, started singing for his band and signed to his record label. Now, God’s using her to help change thousands of lives with her music.
I’m one of them. My fifth book, 50 Lies of the Enemy (and How to Silence Them), was published in April of 2024 and has a chapter titled “Prayer Doesn’t Work.” It talks about how God says “no” to prayers sometimes and why that happens.
Guess what song I recommend readers listen to at the end of that chapter? “He Sees You” by Terrian. I don’t think this is a coincidence. God is trying to tell us something.
One particular line in that song resonates with me:
God’s plans often don’t look like our plans. But they’re always better. And he has a special plan in mind for you.
As Terrian says in the film, "The safest place to be is in the will of God." Rest in the truth of those words as you pursue His calling for your life — and continue to pray for peace in the midst of it.