Behind the Song: "All of My Heart"
Get ready! On August 12, Chase Oaks Worship will release their new original song, “All of My Heart.”
Below, Chris Opie, songwriter and Chase Oaks Worship Development Coach, shares some background behind this new song:
I remember leading a time of worship when I was younger. An older man (whom I used to secretly call the “Christian Yoda” because he knew the Bible back to front and probably even levitated once, at least in my mind) was standing still in worship. We had the music cranking, and people were really into it. But this man, whom I really looked up to, was standing motionless off to the side. I naively assumed, “Wow, he is not really into worshiping God this morning.”
As the service finished, I went up to him and asked, “Was the worship not very good this morning?”
At that moment, I noticed a small tear in his eye. He said, “Chris, this morning as I looked at the lyrics, it hit me how majestic our God is. It made me wonder how He could love someone as small as me?”
I learned that day that you can never judge what is happening to someone from their outside appearance. This man taught me in that moment that loving God calls for our heart and head to be connected as one. The facts and truths in our heads must marry with the emotions of our hearts to give us a more holistic view of Who God is. And this union of heart and head in worship is what can move us, like the old man, to the point of tears.
As I was writing this song "All Of My Heart", I found myself in a moment like this—one where I was really overwhelmed by the fullness of Who God is. As I read the following passage, God engaged me with not just my emotions but also the truth of how fully He loves us. And this reminded me of the love He desires from us in return.
“‘Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?’
Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’” (Matthew 22:36-37)
This calls us to love God with everything we have and everything we are. Some of us worship God mainly through our emotions and express ourselves physically. Some of us worship God mainly with our minds and are cognitively drawn to a deeper sense of His truth. Both are right, yet both are not exclusive of the other. They are actually drawn to each other.
God has been showing me that if I engage all of my heart, all of my soul, and all of my mind in worship, I will start to see, more deeply, His love for me.
I love how holistic this is and how it gives us a picture of being fully engaged with God. If I love worshiping God more with my emotions, maybe I should try and engage cognitively too, in knowing the truth more deeply. If it is my mind that is mostly engaged, maybe I should let the emotion of the truth reach my heart and my actions. The point is not just worshiping in either part, but with both. This is where we find a wholeness with God.
This song speaks to the greatest commandment and our commitment to worshiping God with both our hearts and our heads. The chorus sings,
All of my heart, all of my head
Is here to worship You only
All of my life, all of strength
Is here to worship You only
My prayer is that as we sing this song at our different campuses, we will fully bring not just our hearts but also our heads in worship. That we would engage not just with our feelings about God but also with the facts and truths of God.
As we come together, we have the opportunity to love God with all of our life and, in that, experience a greater sense of God's love.
I pray this song draws you deeper into God's presence.
Access "All of My Heart" and other great Chase Oaks Worship music on all major streaming platforms, here.