It’s Pentecost this Sunday, the day when we remember the gift of the Holy Spirit given to the Church. That makes it a great Sunday to learn the song Holy Spirit, Living Breath Of God. Here’s what Keith Getty said about the song:
“As in much of our songwriting, we wanted to connect the radical truths of what we believe with everyday life. In this particular song, we desired the hymn to function as a sung prayer about the Holy Spirit’s renewing power.
We divided the hymn into three verses. The first expresses a prayer for inward change, asking the Holy Spirit to transform us from the core of our being. Without such change, all religious attempts are futile. We must daily ask for renewal and the desire to love and treasure God’s word and his ways.
Verse two petitions the Spirit to abide in us so we’re able to bountifully bear His fruit, such as the kindness and gentleness described so beautifully in Galatians 5:22-23. Closing this verse is a prayer “to show Christ is all I do.”
Verse three is a more expansive prayer for the church. During the songwriting process, we kept revisiting this verse as we examined the role of the Holy Spirit throughout the New Testament. In passage after passage, evidence of the Holy Spirit’s power in someone’s life was marked by two characteristics – Christ is magnified, and the individual is led on a path of sacrifice.”
The song spans four centuries of music as the melody is inspired by the music of J.S. Bach and also contains elements of the classical piece, “Gabriel’s Oboe”. The Gettys have kindly made this song available to download for free this week, as either sheet music or an MP3. You can get hold of that at their website here. Watch the video and read the lyrics below so we’re ready to sing it together on Sunday.
Holy Spirit, living Breath of God,
breathe new life into my willing soul.
Bring the presence of the risen Lord
to renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me.
Give me faith for what I cannot see.
Give me passion for Your purity.
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.
Holy Spirit, come abide within.
May Your joy be seen in all I do.
Love enough to cover every sin
in each thought and deed and attitude.
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my striving into works of grace.
Breath of God, show Christ in all I do.
Holy Spirit, from creation’s birth,
giving life to all that God has made,
show Your power once again on earth.
Cause Your church to hunger for Your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise.
Lead us on the road of sacrifice
that in unity the face of Christ
will be clear for all the world to see.
Words & Music by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty