Following up her string of successful songs, "Blessings," "What A Savior," "I Can Just Be Me" and "Who is Like Our God," Laura Story's new album Open Hands continues Laura's signature blend of personal storytelling combined with singable corporate worship refrains. Lessons from her time as a worship leader and as a mother season her spiritually rich songs of hope and praise, including the hit title track featuring Mac Powell of Third Day.

Story shares, "We have this picture all the way through the Scriptures of all these great leaders in this process of surrendering everything. What the Lord is asking them is not, 'You need to hold on tighter. You need to manage this better.' What the Lord asks us is to surrender." I had the chance to speak with Laura about "Open Hands."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

"Open Hands" is the title track and the theme of something the Lord has been teaching me the past few years. As a worship leader, sometimes I imagine approaching God. When we worship, we don't raise our hands with our fists clenched. We see the posture of open hands. It makes me ask myself if that's how I'm approaching the Lord in worship personally. 

It's easy to come and say "God, You are great and You are wonderful." I think He desires for us to say, "God, You are great and I surrender my life to You." Worship is more of a picture of Abraham and Isaac, where we trust Him with our child, our only son. There are other examples that we see in Scripture of worship being connected to willingness to sacrifice. 

I am a bit of a recovering control freak. For me, living open handed is a struggle. When I think about it, you can't think you can gain control of things by thinking they are better in my hands than in the Lord's. When I think about everything He's done and how faithful He's been in my life, it seems the most rational thing to do is to release every hard thing and every big struggle and little detail and surrender those things to Him. It still is a struggle for us as believers to really relinquish control of our lives.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Psalm 63:2-4 (NKJV): "I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands." 

Luke 22:42 (NKJV): "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."

Acts 20:24 (NKJV): "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV): "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will."

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV): "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

What is the takeaway message?

Being a Christian isn't just about being a musician or teacher or whatever it is that you do. It is the very core of your life. When God tells us to surrender, He's talking about our whole selves and every aspect of our lives. Following Jesus may mean going down a road you weren't expecting. You look at the disciples who followed Jesus, and eleven of them were martyred. In a society and culture that craves comfort, security and independence, it's hard to choose a road where we are seemingly out of control, but the truth is that any control we thought we had over our lives is just a façade. I can't control my life. The greater peace comes when we relinquish control, trusting that His plan is better and His ways are higher. 

Surrender isn't just a spiritual exercise. It's coming to a rational place of saying He is more trustworthy with my children and my finances than I am. He is God and I am not, and I surrender. 

Having open hands is something I've been learning on so many different levels. The crazier life gets, the more this idea of open hands became the theme that God was teaching me. Worship in its very core begins with surrender. That's how we really show God that He's worth it all. 

Lyrics:
The sweetest sound, the highest praise
Is the letting go, of this life You gave
My greatest prayer, an act of faith
Is an open hand, Lord have Your way

Take it all, every hope, every dream, every plan
Take it all, every weight, all the shame and brokenness
Jesus I surrender all, every victory and loss
Take it all, Take it all, till all I have is open hands

The clinching fist, a life of fear
A burden held, has no place here
Cause you call me now to cast it all
On the shoulders of the One who's strong

Take it all, every hope, every dream, every plan
Take it all, every weight, all the shame and brokenness
Jesus I surrender all, every victory and loss
Take it all, Take it all, till all I have is open hands

I'm not afraid, of what I'll lose
My greatest joy is finding You
I'm not afraid, of what I'll lose
My greatest joy is finding You, it's finding You
Take it all, Take it all
Take it all, Take it all

Take it all, every hope, every dream, every plan
Take it all, every weight, all the shame and brokenness
Jesus I surrender all, every victory and loss
Take it all, Take it all, till all I have is open hands
All I have is open hands, I surrender
Till all I have is open hands

The song challenges me to think about what I'm allowing to rule in my heart instead of giving myself completely to God. This song is all about trusting in God and confessing to Him and others when you fail or have struggles, praying "Jesus I surrender all, every victory and loss / Take it all, Take it all / till all I have is open hands." Lay your doubts and struggles at the feet of Jesus, and He'll take them from you and release you from those burdens. God wants to hear from you. We are called as Christians to believe in the freedom that we have in the cross of Jesus. We are free from our addictions, our insecurities and perfectionism. Jesus came to die for us so that we can all truly live in Him.

This is a great and challenging song for believers. We raise our hands to celebrate and in surrender. We can lift up our hands in confidence to God, knowing that His mercy is unfailing. His love is never-ending. He is our refuge and our strength. God's ultimate will is not to bring affliction upon people, but to restore us so that we may experience His unfailing love. 

Worship is about giving God our best, offering all of ourselves to Him. All we can do is submit to Him and give everything we have to Him. According to God's Word in Jeremiah 29:13, we need to search for God with all of our heart, then we will find Him. In our fast-paced society, how often are we dedicating our whole heart to God? Do we offer up half-hearted prayers, or do we seek Him with all of our heart?

Lift up your voice and your life to God and submit to Him. My hope for this song is for people to pray along and live out these words. Our weaknesses are nothing to hide. In fact, because of our weaknesses, God's grace and strength are perfectly revealed. The theme of this song should be the heartbeat of every faithful Christian. You'll be raising your heart and hands in worship along with this great new song, proclaiming to God: "I'm not afraid, of what I'll lose, my greatest joy is finding You, it's finding You." Amen to that!

Watch the lyric video below.