Awaken is the new worship album by Christopher and Jennifer Hopper. Christopher and Jennifer's original worship has been refined through years of service at New Life Christian Church in Watertown, NY, where they serve together in leadership in the music department. As a worship duo, their music reminds me of recent offerings like "The God I Know" by Love & the Outcome, "I Surrender" by All Sons & Daughters and "Walk on Waves" by Austin & Lindsey Adamec.

Their congregational leadership style, dynamic energy on stage and accessible song writing have made them an audience favorite at Kingdom Bound, Creation Festival and at the many churches where they have led worship. They live with their four children in northern New York. I had the chance to speak with Christopher and Jennifer about "Awaken."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

Jennifer: The song came to us rather quickly. Some songs take years to write, and some songs take minutes. For this song, we were in our living room. He was playing guitar and I was singing, and we started to sing this song. My favorite line of the song is "loving You is breathing." In my own personal walk with the Lord, I know that a lot of times as Christians we can think of our walks as a list of do's and don'ts. At a young age, I realized that the more I understood and fell in love with who Jesus is, the easier it is for me to follow Him. It's easy to do what someone says when you are in love with them. That line speaks to my walk with the Lord, that loving Him is oxygen and is like breathing for me, makes me alive. 

Anywhere you are in your walk with Christ, this song can minister to you. We always need to be more awakened in Christ. We always need something in our lives. Whether we are happy or sad, we need Christ to awaken our hearts. I think one of the main reasons we selected this song as the title track is that we've sung these songs at our home church, and this is one that has really resounded with everyone. It's easy to learn, and we've had the most feedback about the song as people have shared that it has ministered to them and taken them deeper spiritually. In the bridge it says "You are awakening everything," which connects with Revelation 21:5: "Behold, I am making all things new." There's always something that God is making new in us. The Christian walk is a process. We are constantly going towards being perfect in Him.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Psalm 63:4 (VOICE): "I will bless You with every breath of my life; I will lift up my hands in praise to Your name."

Psalm 57:8 (NLT): "Wake up, my heart! Wake up, O lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song."

Psalm 57:7-9 (NIV): "My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise You, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of You among the peoples."

Ezekiel 37:4-10 (NKJV): Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.'" So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: 'Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.'" So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Psalm 46:10 (NKJV): "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

1 Kings 19:12 (KJV): And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

John 14:16 (NKJV): "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever."

Revelation 21:4-5 (NKJV): "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."

What is the takeaway message?

Christopher: The position that we take when we say, "Lord awaken my heart," is a very vulnerable position. I think it is safe to say that is the epitome of worship, to say "Lord I am less than and in need of who You are." If I start from this place of invitation, the dialogue can go anywhere. 

With the themes of the album that we wanted to explore theologically, all of them are predicated from the idea that we are going to start by saying "Lord, You are the one who needs to breathe on this soul." I'm not here to breathe on You God. Instead, we need You to breathe on us as a people. From there, have the conversation and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us.

The chorus is based on two different translations of Psalm 57:8. NIV says "Awake my soul" and NLT says "Wake up, my heart!" I love the reference, "awake harp and lyre." I believe that if David had access to modern technology he would have had the first electronic harp. I also like the reference, "I will wake up the dawn with my song." I'm a morning person, so that means 6 a.m. for me. Jennifer is much more Hebrew in her approach, where the beginning of the day is at night. Either way, the idea is that we are summoning the day to track with who we are as people and what we need spiritually in the Lord. I'm telling the day what it is going to do, and that I'm speaking and affirming to this twenty-four hour period, wake up, that I'm going to wake up, and use music to do so. I love that imagery.

Lyrics:
I'm alive in You again, I was barely breathing
I'm alive in You again, almost stopped believing
I was dying in my sin
Until I let Your grace begin to

Awaken my heart, awaken my soul 
I see who You are, I give You control
I give You control

I'm alive in You again, loving You is breathing
I'm alive in You again, never stop believing
I was dying in my sin
Until I let Your grace begin to

Awaken my heart, awaken my soul 
I see who You are, I give You control
Awaken my heart, awaken my soul 
I see who You are, I give You control
I give You control 

You are awakening, everything  
You are awakening, everything
You are awakening, everything 
You are awakening

Awaken my heart, awaken my soul 
I see who You are, I give You control
I give You control 
I give You control 

I'm alive in You again, loving You is breathing
I'm alive in You again, never stop believing

This song and album celebrates the freedom we are promised in God's Holy Word (2 Corinthians 5:17): "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." Christians are new creations on the inside. The Holy Spirit gives us new life, and we don't have to live anymore with our guilt, fears or worries. We are born again, and we need to live as children of God. Believing the words of this song is a great way to work on the disciplines of self-examination and prayer.

Christopher and Jennifer have been writing and breathing their breath, given to them by God, into anointed new songs for the church. Sing this song in Spirit and in Truth to the Lord and ask to be in His presence and to hear His voice. As believers we need to take time to "be still and know that He is God." If we aren't spending time with God and cutting out the noise of life, you can't be attentive to His "still small voice." You'll be blessed by this powerful song, which is a stand-out anthem with a convicting declaration: "I'm alive in You again, loving You is breathing, I'm alive in You again, never stop believing."

This song reflects the conviction and strength we can all have as God's army of dry bones who are filled with God's breath, and then we can breathe out as prophesied in Ezekiel 37. For the saved in Christ, one day "God will wipe away every tear, there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying." As believers, we all need to live for Heaven and not get depressed or angry about our fallen world. Pain and suffering and disappointments point us to God and how much we need Him. If you have put all of your hope and trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation, you can sing along with a loud voice: "Awaken my heart, awaken my soul, I see who You are, I give You control." Amen to that!

Watch the music video below.