"Yours Forever, Amen"

It's been nearly two years since a crazy morning of software development drove me leave my house with a head full of chaos and return having written a new song without ever picking up an instrument.

On the morning of March 8, 2016, I was indeed struggling with an excessive amount of mental noise—stress at work and general busy-ness in every facet of life—and wanted to talk a walk in the woods to clear my thoughts.  There on the walking trails at nearby Pharr Mill Park, I was able to walk and enjoy nature and commune with God, and I found myself praying through the prayer that Jesus gave as an example to his disciples, the one most folks refer to as "The Lord's Prayer".  But I was blessed in that moment to have a melody form in my thoughts as well.  So I came home from that little detour feeling much refreshed, and scribbled down the essentially fully-formed song that had been captured in bits and pieces on my phone's voice recorder app while walking the park's trails!

In the two years since, I've been blessed to be able to share the song—which I titled "Yours Forever, Amen"—with various audiences and accompanied by various wonderful musicians.  One of my favorite ways to present the song is to have the text of Jesus' prayer read in chunks over the song's instrumental interludes.

So here's "Yours Forever, Amen", with those biblical readings added in quotes:

Yours Forever, Amen

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven."

Oh, Abba Father, High King of Heaven,
Holy, holy, is Your Name.
Your kingdom come and Your will be done in
Heaven above and earth the same.

"Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Oh, Abba Father, High King of Heaven,
Give us daily all we need.
And please forgive us, as we forgive those,
Who, like us, caused Your Son to bleed.

Yours forever is the kingdom!  Yours forever is the power!
Yours forever is the glory, amen!
Yours forever is the kingdom!  Yours forever is the power!
Yours forever is the glory, amen!  Amen.

"And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil."

Oh, Abba Father, High King of Heaven,
Rescue us from the evil one,
And lead us far from every temptation —
This bride keep spotless for Your Son.

Yours forever is the kingdom!  Yours forever is the power!
Yours forever is the glory, amen!
Yours forever is the kingdom!  Yours forever is the power!
Yours forever is the glory, amen!  Amen.
Yours forever, amen.
Yours forever, amen.

"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen."

I've included here, too, the hastily-recorded demo I assembled back in 2016.  It doesn't have the textual readings because, if I recall correctly, that idea didn't occur to me until after the recording was made.  But either way, I hope you enjoy it.