NASHVILLE, Tenn.—As the writer of praise songs such as “Your Grace is Enough” and “Christ is Risen,” Matt Maher’s work has become a staple of contemporary worship.
“What I’m trying to do through music is explain the basics of faith and make it simple for people to understand why they need Christ as their Savior,” he said.
Through his music and message, Maher also desires to help people realize the importance of connecting with a local church and being encouraged by a community of believers.
“I think that too often people slip away from attending church regularly, because they have this lackadaisical behavior about their faith,” he said. “Many times, people don’t really understand what it means to follow Christ and live for him.”
For Maher, ministering to college students and young adults especially is important because of his own life experiences during those years.
“In the span of like a month, my whole life changed,” he said. “When I was 20 years old, my parents were going through a divorce, and my cousin reached out and invited me to church. For the first time, I had people my age who were welcoming me into church and helping me to realize the importance of having a relationship with Jesus.”
After graduating from Arizona State University with a degree in jazz performance, Maher began leading worship at events.
“When I was in college, I had some opportunities and times where I considered dropping out of school to pursue music full-time,” he said. “But I realized the best way to honor God during that time would be to stay in school and be the best student that I could be.
“By waiting and following God’s plan, I learned so many lessons in obedience, faithfulness and simplicity. I also learned that I can’t measure my life to the standard of the world, but I have to measure it by the standard of the cross.”
Sign up for our weekly edition and get all our headlines in your inbox on Thursdays
As doors began opening to lead worship at events, it didn’t take long before fellow musicians were impressed with Maher’s engaging lyrics and songwriting style. In 2004, Maher’s song “Your Grace is Enough” started being sung in churches around the country after Chris Tomlin recorded the song on his album, Arriving.
Since then, Tomlin and Maher have written several songs together including “I Will Rise,” “I Lift My Hands” and “White Flag.”
“With these songs, we’re looking at life through different kinds of lenses and sharing that God is most glorified when we most rely on him. I love the quote: ‘The glory of God is man fully alive.’ But I think it should actually be that the glory of God is man fully alive in Christ.
“I think songwriters and artists have a particular calling to see the beauty of God at work around them. Whether you are watching children playing, watching a documentary or reading a Scripture, inspiration can strike at any moment.”
Maher’s songwriting has garnered many awards and achievements, including two Grammy nominations. In 2009, his song “Alive Again” was selected by iTunes as the best Christian & Gospel song.
Recently, Maher recorded an updated version of the classic hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” for a collaborative project, Jesus, Firm Foundation: Hymns of Worship, that features new recordings of 12 hymns from recording artists such as Michael W. Smith, Brandon Heath, Newsboys, Nichole Nordeman and Casting Crowns.
By adding a modern approach and updated style, Maher hopes young worshippers will find new meaning in traditional hymns.
“The great thing about hymns and most modern worship songs is that they are inspired by Scriptures, so we’re just re-presenting the word of God,” Maher said. “The truth found in these hymns is timeless. Each hymn tells a powerful story and contains great content to reflect on. Sometimes, the best thing we can do is look back at what we’ve done before and re-present it to a new generation.”
While touring this spring, Maher hopes to raise awareness and funds for Compassion International, a child-sponsorship organization dedicated to meeting the physical and spiritual needs of children living in poverty around the world.
“During an evening of worship, it feels like we’re gathering people together for the purpose of sending them out on a mission. By the end of the night, we want people to walk away being encouraged and challenged to put their faith into action by being the hands and feet of Jesus.”
Maher’s latest album, All The People Said Amen, was released April 23. This album features live versions of his most requested songs paired with studio recordings of new songs such as “Lord, I Need You” and “Burning in My Soul.”
“There’s no greater sound than hearing worshippers singing praises to God,” Maher said. “When a song engages an entire room of people, it has the ability to pull everybody together in a way that nothing else does. That is my favorite thing to experience, because God is in the midst of it all. My prayer is that these songs will be used to connect people to the message of the gospel, which is so gloriously simple that it’s simply glorious.”
We seek to connect God’s story and God’s people around the world. To learn more about God’s story, click here.
Send comments and feedback to Eric Black, our editor. For comments to be published, please specify “letter to the editor.” Maximum length for publication is 300 words.