Song
I Sing Praises
© New Glory International
Song
I Sing Praises
From Live Worship from the World Prayer Center · 2000
Streaming links open the full album
Behind the song
The story behind I Sing Praises
Written by
Terry MacAlmon
Terry MacAlmon context
Written in the mid-1980s; published by Integrity Music in 1989; later recorded on Live Worship from the World Prayer Center
Many people around the world know I Sing Praises without realizing that the song was written by Terry MacAlmon. Its beginning was as unplanned as the song itself is simple. In the mid-1980s, before a Sunday evening service, Terry was sitting quietly in a prayer room, waiting on the Lord. As he turned his attention toward God, a melody and a few uncomplicated words of praise began to come. He suddenly realized he was singing something he had never sung before. He wrote it down, went into the service, and began teaching it to the congregation. Before he was even halfway through, people were already singing with him as though they had known it for years.
That moment became one of the clearest examples of Terry's understanding of worship songwriting. He has often said that his strongest songs do not begin with a plan to write a song. They come while waiting in God's presence. In his words, God is really the songwriter; his task is to keep pen and paper ready. I Sing Praises was published by Integrity Music in 1989 and spread far beyond the congregation where it was first sung. It entered hymnals, churches and languages around the world.
For Terry, its lasting importance is not its reach but its origin. The song was born as worship before it ever became music for other people. Decades later, that remains the heart of it: a simple invitation for every believer to turn from everything else and give praise and glory to the name of the Lord.
Watch
I Sing Praises
Official Terry MacAlmon YouTube channel
Live Worship from the World Prayer Center was born out of a remarkable season of worship in Colorado Springs. In 1998 Terry MacAlmon began leading a Wednesday noon gathering at the World Prayer Center that became known as Lunch with the Lord. What started simply as time set apart to worship grew quickly. The chapel filled with people who came not for a concert, but to seek the presence of God together. Testimonies of healing, restored relationships and renewed hope began to follow.
This album became the first major live recording to capture that atmosphere. The songs move from strong corporate praise into deep, unhurried worship. This Is the Time and Blessing and Honor open the gathering before Holy Are You Lord, For the Lord Is Holy and You Deserve the Glory draw the room into reverence. Even So, What a Friend I've Found, Agnus Dei and I Sing Praises continue that movement toward intimacy.
The recording soon traveled far beyond Colorado Springs. One of the stories Terry later shared was that Benny Hinn heard the CD at home after his wife played it. The worship deeply touched him, and Terry was later invited to minister at one of his crusades. It was one of many doors that opened as the album began reaching people Terry had never met.
Live Worship from the World Prayer Center became a defining recording in Terry's ministry. It did not begin as a carefully manufactured attempt to create a worship brand. It grew out of a real gathering where people were already coming week after week to worship. The album simply opened the doors and allowed listeners around the world to enter that room.
