Paul Baloche has been writing worship songs for over 30 years, and he still describes the process the same way he always has, show up with your loaves and fishes and let God do what only He can do. The writer behind Open the Eyes of My Heart, Above All, Hosanna, and Your Name has a new live album called Yes We Believe, recorded at Christ for the Nations in Dallas with students from 50 different nations holding their home flags in the crowd.

Songwriting, the mystery of what catches on, and the prayer that started it all: Paul shares how Open the Eyes of My Heart was born out of Friday night prayer meetings, not a writing session, a cry of the heart that became a song he almost buried at track eight on the album. He also walks through how Above All sat with a different chorus for a year before a single morning with Lenny LeBlanc produced the verse that made it complete, why there is no formula for what God breathes on, and why the best advice he can give any worship leader is to stop trying to look like the YouTube version of someone else and simply be the most authentic version of who God made them to be.

Highlights

• Why Open the Eyes of My Heart was song number eight on his second album, proof he had no idea what it would become
• How Above All circulated in his church for a year with a completely different chorus before Lenny LeBlanc wrote the verse that changed everything
• Why he keeps the last page of every journal for song title ideas, and how Above All may have come from a drug commercial
• The first song he ever had sung outside his church, I Love to Be in Your Presence, which was quickly translated into Spanish and spread across Latin America
• Why a worship song, to him, is any song that feels like singing a sincere and authentic prayer to the Lord
• Why he recorded Yes We Believe at Christ for the Nations with students from 50 nations, and what it meant to see their flags in the room
• Why he tells aspiring worship leaders to be trained, skilled, and rooted in community, and above all, to be the most authentic version of themselves

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🌐 Paul Baloche website: https://leadworship.com
• 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulBaloche
• 🎵 Album: Yes We Believe
• 🌐 Integrity Music: https://www.integritymusic.com
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