I Came To Worship You

I Came to Worship You is almost a statement of purpose set to music. Terry MacAlmon wrote it with the kind of direct language that has become one of the hallmarks of his ministry. There is no long introduction explaining why the worshipper has come. The song simply makes the decision: I came to worship, to sing praise, to love the Lord and to lift His name.

That simplicity mattered in the World Prayer Center setting where the song was recorded with hundreds of worshippers. Terry has often challenged worship leaders not to make songs so complicated that the people in the room are left watching the musicians perform them. Worship belongs to the people of God. A song should help them participate. I Came to Worship You does exactly that. Its words can be understood immediately, which means the heart can move beyond learning the song and begin doing what the song says.

Making it the title track of the 2001 album was fitting. The album was not designed merely to document a concert. It captured worship happening in a room where people had gathered for the Lord. The title therefore describes both the song and the posture behind the recording.

For Terry, this song remains important because it clears away secondary motives. Worship is not first about receiving an answer, a blessing or even a feeling of God's presence. It begins with a decision to come for Him. The song gives that decision a voice, and then leaves enough room for the worshipper to mean it.