Skip to main content

"Listen to Our Hearts" by Avery Stafford: When Words Fall Short of Worship


Have you ever felt something that is so profound that you can't find the right words to describe it? How do you explain a love "that goes from east to west and runs as deep as it is wide"? How do you describe something as simple as the flavor of a strawberry? That's the beautiful tension that Avery Stafford sings about in his cover of the song "Listen To Our Hearts." 

Avery Stafford - Listen to Our Hearts (Radio Edit)"Listen To Our Hearts" is a classic praise and worship song written by Geoff Moore and Steven Curtis Chapman. Avery Stafford recorded it for his album "Undignified" in 2004, after discussing it with a friend following a worship concert. His friend was impressed by the jazz-influenced version of this beloved song and encouraged Avery to consider recording it. This recording features Tony Bolivar (saxophone). Until now, "Listen To Our Hearts" had never been released to radio. 

The lyrics are about the moment when our words fall short, when even "a thousand years" wouldn't be enough to express our gratitude and awe. "Words are not enough to tell You of our love." Our God is able to hear beyond our limitations. He knows "all our hopes" and "all our fears," and He listens to our heart. 

That doesn't mean that we can sit back and think that there is no need to praise because God can hear our heart! The song reminds us that true worship doesn't require perfect words. It's your heart-cry that really matters. May this rendition of the song help you discover how your wordless devotion actually creates the most beautiful song.

(Related scripture: Psalm 51:17; Psalm 139:23–24; 1 Samuel 16:7)

Connect with Avery Stafford

Would you like to hear more CCM music? Then check out our Christian playlists on: https://www.christiandance.eu/playlists

PS: Did you know that the posts we have on Christian Music Today also contain the backstories that artists have shared with us? Check it out on: https://christianmusictoday.eu/

Tags:

Popular posts

"A Love Song" by Seek and Surrender: The Three-Stranded Covenant

(By Jasper Tan) We always see people say "I love you" to someone, professing their love to that significant other. But we often see how a marriage united by love easily shreds to tatters, and we ask ourselves, "Why?" Where did it all go wrong? How did something joined together by love easily get broken and be accepted as "falling out of love"? But the biggest thought that comes to mind while listening to Seek and Surrender's latest song, "A Love Song," is: do we really understand what it feels like to love? In Seek and Surrender's song, there are countless lines in which the singer professes his love to his bride. It seeks to highlight the sincerity of his love, the magnanimity, the pureness. But in those lines, there's this line that we all should focus on —  "If Christ gave Himself for His bride, Oh, then I'll give myself for mine." Do we know how Christ gave himself for his bride (the Church)? He sacrificed himself w...
More >>

John Mayer's Secret to Writing Catchy Song Lyrics

John Mayer's Secret to Writing Catchy Song Lyrics by Kapa Freeman  Why are John Mayer's song lyrics so easy to remember? It comes down to human psychology. I am notoriously bad at remembering song lyrics, except for John Mayer's Songs. Other artists may write a song I remember here or there, but John Mayer does it consistently. Why? I discovered the reason when I was working full-time as a teacher. Teachers can always tell when they're losing students. When those eyes start to glaze over, when that one eyebrow raises in confusion and someone yells out... "I don't get it!"  I got those a lot when I first started teaching. Talking to other teachers, I soon discovered why. I was giving too much information at once. I would vomit these elaborate explanations, thinking that more information would help clear things up... But they just got confused. Talking to my teachers reminded me of lessons I'd learned while getting my teaching degree:  "People remem...
More >>

"If Jesus Could (Walk on Water)" by John Fumo & Robert Fumo: A Funky Call to Compassion

Have you ever considered Jesus’s actions as a benchmark for our own compassion? In their funky, soulful new track, John and Robert Fumo do just that. In their song, “If Jesus Could (Walk on Water)”, the brothers Fumo share how easy it is to be compassionate and loving in light of the accomplishments and miracles which Jesus performed. In other words, His incredible acts should make our own acts of kindness feel entirely achievable.  For example, “If Jesus could …walk on water,” the lyrics challenge, “then we can …love one another.” There’s more… If He could feed thousands with a few fish and loaves, surely “it shouldn’t be hard to keep the people fed.”   The song reframes Jesus’s acts into a call to action. Instead of seeing insurmountable problems, we are reminded that if Christ could “rise from the dead, // We could trade hate for love instead.” The song not only triggers a paradigm shift, but it also empowers. At its core, it reminds us of Jesus’s promise that ...
More >>