The Stories I Tell Myself
Matthew Guion Maher is a Canadian Contemporary Christian artist. He began his career in 2000 and released 12 albums and 5 EP’s, including:
- The End and the Beginning (2001)
- Welcome to Life (2003)
- Overflow (2006)
- Empty & Beautiful (2008)
- Alive Again (2009)
- The Love in Between (2011)
- All the People Said Amen (2013)
- Saints and Sinners (2015)
- Lord, I Need You (EP, 2015)
- Echoes (2017)
- The Advent of Christmas (2018)
- Alive & Breathing Vol. I (EP, 2019)
- Alive & Breathing Vol. II (EP, 2019)
- Alive & Breathing Vol. III (EP, 2019)
- Alive & Breathing (2020)
- Alive & Breathing Vol. IV (EP, 2020)
- The Stories I Tell Myself (2022)
In 2015, Maher received a Dove Award for Songwriter of the Year.
Also, check out my reviews of Lord I Need You and Your Grace Is Enough.
Side Note: I also gave a pat review of this song during my interview with GMIHub Online. However, the lyrics I examined during my interview are from the music video, not the “official” video.
Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site! Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.
1. What message does the song communicate?
The song’s title summarizes it. Included also is a personalization of the Lord’s Prayer, that is, the Holy Spirit who endwells Maher. He will live his life as though God’s Kingdom is already on earth.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
This song is Scripture put to song, with an extra phrase that is Biblically sound.
Lyrics posted with permission*
[Verse]
Father, let Your Kingdom come
Father, let Your will be done
On Earth as in Heaven
This is part of the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:10 and Luke 11:2).
Right here in my heart
This is an indirect reference to the Holy Spirit who lives in Maher’s heart (Acts 6:5, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:16-19, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 5:18, and 2 Timothy 1:14).
Father, let Your Kingdom come
Father, let Your will be done
On Earth as in Heaven
Right here in my heart
Repeats lines 1-4.
[Chorus]
Give us this day, our daily bread
Forgive us, forgive us
As we forgive the ones who sin against us, forgive them
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
From the еvil one
This is the next portion of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:11-13 and Luke 11:3-4).
Let Your Kingdom come
Essentially repeats line 1.
[Bridge]
It’s Yours, it’s Yours
All Yours, all Yours
The Kingdom, the power
The glory are Yours
Some translations include this portion of Matthew 6:13 (including KJV and NASB (1995)); However, it isn’t found in the earliest manuscript copies.
It’s Yours, it’s Yours
All Yours, all Yours
Forever and ever
The Kingdom is Yours
It’s Yours (It’s Yours), it’s Yours (It’s Yours)
All Yours (All Yours), all Yours (All Yours)
The Kingdom (The Kingdom), the power (The power)
The glory are Yours
It’s Yours (It’s Yours), it’s Yours (It’s Yours)
All Yours (All Yours), all Yours (All Yours)
Forever (Forever) and ever (And ever)
The kingdom is Yours
Repeats/essentially repeats line 1-4.
[Outro]
On Earth as in Heaven
Right here in my heart
Repeats Verse, lines 3 and 4.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
They will conclude that it’s the Lord’s Prayer put to song. Most unbelievers are familiar with this.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
it glorifies God through a prayer that Jesus taught us to pray.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Matt Maher’s The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours) is Scripture as song. Save for a single line, which is about the Holy Spirit living inside us, who draws us to live out His Kingdom on earth, the entire song quotes from Matthew 6:10-13. Unbelievers will easily interpret similarly.
I highly recommend this song for corporate worship.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours) (listen to the song)
Artist: Matt Maher
Album: The Stories I Tell Myself
Genre: Gospel
Release Year: 2022
Duration: 3:24
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copywright © 2022 Be Essential Songs (BMI) / Caroco Songs (BMI) / So Essential Tunes (SESAC) / Just When Publishing (SESAC) / bryanfowlersongs (BMI) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Comments
Molly
I like this song, but I have a concern with the wording of the line he added to the Lord’s Prayer. If the line must be kept, I would have preferred he said, “AND right here in my heart.” Maybe that’s meant to be implied? But I think it is not clear enough and may convey to some that the kingdom only affects my heart (an over privatization of God’s work in the world).
Vince Wright
Molly,
Thank you for your comment!
Even if it was just Maher, it would still be true. Besides, Maher goes onto say in Bridge that the kingdom, power, and glory are ALL his forever.
-Vince Wright
Tom Slater
I strongly agree, Molly. Iin fact I think it is nothing short of outrageous to ‘improve on’ Jesus prayer by the addition of that phrase, which appears to locate God’s will in our hearts. You are exactly right about the problem with the grammar, and the absolute necessity, if one is to add such a phrase at all, of adding ‘and’.
As it stands, totally changes the focus of what is meant by God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven. I believe Jesus had in mind justice and righteousness, peace between nations and people, a prevailing culture of love between people of all races and languages, beauty and conservation, a different world, His Kingdom, no less. This version reduces all that to a privatised ‘right here in my heart’. How can God be pleased with that?
Tom
Jolee
love this song!!!