Four Essential Tools to Stay Inspired

January 29, 2015 By Stanton Lanier 4 Comments

Click above to listen to Streams from the album Draw Near. If you enjoy, consider ordering the CD or MP3 Album, or Sheet Music (the song is also on iTunes, Amazon , Spotify, Pandora, and more).

How do you navigate life’s ups and downs?

If you feel like you are more in a valley or desert right now, instead of a mountain top or sanctuary, this happens to me too. When we are feeling down, there is a way to climb upward.

It wasn’t obvious then, but in the early 1980s four practices were planted in my heart. They happened working summers at Adventures Unlimited canoe rental in the Florida panhandle. Each one is an essential tool I can remember and apply to rise up from life’s “downs,” or when celebrating life’s “ups.”

Maybe all four, or at least one, can inspire your journey. Here is how each seed took root at the canoe rental, and then blossomed into fruit when I learned verses to apply (thanks to Charles Swindoll and his powerful little book Intimacy with the Almighty). All four of them became song titles in my early years of composing Scripture inspired piano.

1. SIMPLICITY. Take time to do simple things, to see life and the world through a child’s eyes. Unload the canoes in the morning, drive customers to the starting point, show them how to canoe, load up the canoes in the afternoon. The work day was simple. Give the customer a great experience, and stir their child-like simplicity. This song on the album Draw Near was inspired by Ecclesiastes 7:29 — “God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.”

2. SILENCE. Take time to unplug, be silent, pray, and listen for God’s voice. I loved the job of unloading one hundred canoes on the sandbar to be ready for customers (see the photo above). I worked in silence and it was silent when the work was done. So silent I could only hear the water, the wind, and the birds. This song on the album Still Waters and re-recorded on December Peace was inspired by Habakkuk 2:20 — “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”

3. SOLITUDE. Take time to be alone. Working outdoors along a river provided lots of alone time. Many special moments come from solitude…working hard, resting well, creating calmly, listening closely. This song on the album Walk in the Light was inspired by Mark 1:35 — “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

4. SURRENDER. Take a position of surrendering control with relationships, work and play. This took the longest and is the hardest for me. Sometimes life’s worst moments offer the best possibility for responding with surrender. This song on the album Draw Near was inspired by Proverbs 3:5-6 — “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

What can you do to practice more simplicity, silence, solitude and surrender?

The song Streams also reminds me of the Coldwater River (in the photo) and was inspired by Psalm 42:1-2 — “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”

Do You Need a “Small” Miracle? A True Story

January 23, 2015 By Stanton Lanier 4 Comments

Click above to listen to the love song Captivating from the album The Voice. If you enjoy, consider purchasing the CD, MP3 Album, or Sheet Music at stantonlanier.com (the song is also on iTunes, Amazon , Spotify, Pandora, and more).

How would you describe your greatest point of need right now?

Would it be physical (health), relational (spouse/family), financial (debt), emotional (ups and downs), spiritual (faith), or something else? If you need a “miracle” there is no such thing as a small one.

It was a Monday night in March 2005. We had founded Music to Light the World as a non-profit 501(c)(3) ministry the previous year, and through this I had become a full-time pianist and composer of “Scripture inspired piano” in August 2004. We were only six months into this adventure, and my wife came to me in tears. She couldn’t take it any more. Not knowing where our income would come from was too unsettling (I was afraid too). We cried together and I told her I had such a strong sense in my heart that we were doing the right thing. I didn’t know how it would all work, but I just knew we should keep going by faith. We prayed and surrendered, asking God to watch over us and to direct our steps. Then the miracle happened…

The very next morning — 12 hours later — there was a donation check for $20,000 in the PO Box from an anonymous donor (still the largest one-time gift to this day). I was speechless. Tears of joy and amazement flowed. I called my wife to celebrate in disbelief. Then a few minutes later it struck me — there must have been a mistake. Nope. Everything was correct. Through some research it was confirmed. I learned the source was a 104-year old lady in Iowa (I never got to meet her). I called it a “small” miracle, but I have learned that there is no such thing as a small miracle with Jesus.

God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). Sometimes He amazes us. Sometimes He doesn’t answer our prayer the way we would like, or the way that seems best. Sometimes He is quiet and doesn’t seem to be moving at all. The twelve months following the “$20,000 donation miracle” included an emergency ambulance and hospital stay for my wife, and our house being robbed of everything small and valuable during the middle of the day. Prayer and surrender are hard for me sometimes, but the Lord meets me where I am and gently encourages me by His grace and power.

I chose the love song Captivating as today’s listening track because God loves you and me more than we can imagine. He is captivated by us, like the lover is with his beloved in Song of Solomon or Proverbs. There is no such thing as a “small” miracle with Him. He knows our every need. He loves for us to share them with Him, and ask for His help. It is a life long process, but I have found He keeps His promise “if you seek me you will find me.”

What step can you take toward seeking and surrendering?

Three Ways to “Be Still” and Reduce Noise

January 15, 2015 By Stanton Lanier 4 Comments

Click above to listen to my arrangement of the old hymn Be Still My Soul (1752 lyrics, 1899 music), from the album A Thousand Years as you read. If you enjoy, consider ordering the CD or MP3 Album, or Sheet Music (the song is also on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, and more).

How do you like to “be still” and reduce life’s noise?

If you are wanting more “peace and rest in a hurried world,” and all the “noise” in life has you overwhelmed, I want to let you in on a secret — you weren’t designed to be stressed.

I also felt more stressed until the idea of creating and listening to Scripture inspired piano was revealed to me. I didn’t know that practicing this regularly for fifteen years would lead to touching listeners around the world, and becoming an award-winning composer. I just had a desire to “be still” in my own life, and rise above the fog of noise and busyness.

Here are three ways to “be still,” which have increased my inspiration and productivity. One of these may stand out, or these three suggestions might give you a better idea to try for you.

1. Unplug. On our most recent family vacation, I did not take my computer. This became more invigorating each day. It helped me to live in the moment, and focus on creating memories together. I try to “unplug” from technology for part of each day. For example, I have been jogging without any earbuds or music in my ears. Listening to my foot steps, my breathing, the wind blowing, or a bird singing blocks out the noise. When I did finally get a smart phone (I waited until January 2012), in the settings I turned off “push notifications” for everything, including email. I figured I did not want technology to “push” me around. Instead, I would “pull” from it on my schedule. How do you unplug from the noise?

2. Do Something “Old Fashioned.” On that same recent vacation, we only took a deck of cards for entertainment. We played a few times and it was nice to talk to each other during the games. At home we sometimes play a board game instead of watching TV. I also enjoy cooking in the kitchen with my wife, or grilling dinner outside. When we do watch TV, we often enjoy “old fashioned” shows the most, such as The Muppets, Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy, or The Dick Van Dyke Show. If you’re married, try taking a walk with your spouse and holding hands. What are some “old fashioned” things you like to do?

3. Meditate on a Bible Verse. Consider writing down (or recording as a voice memo in your smart phone) a Psalm or verse that can encourage your faith and spiritual journey. For example, Psalm 46:10 reads, “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’” This idea grew to a new level when John 1:14 inspired my first Scripture inspired piano melody — “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Meditating or memorizing verses like these helps me remember I wasn’t designed to be stressed.

What step can you take to “be still” and find refreshment for your soul?