Ephesians 6:18 (KJV) "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"
"How Long Has It Been" is another one of those wonderful Mosie Lister songs I have always enjoyed. Mr. Lister wrote this song in about 1956 and said it was probably one of the easiest songs he ever wrote. He said it kind of wrote itself. Albert Brumbley, the writer of "I'll Fly Away", (thank you Kadie for leading us in "I'll Fly Away" this past Sunday) once said, "How Long Has It Been" to be the greatest song ever written.
The story says, Mr. Lister was thinking about being a child and remembering the prayers he was taught, "now I lay me down to sleep" and other prayers of petition to God. He thought about other adults and wondering, how long has it been since you prayed in that way. He began to realize he should put those words to a song and started writing as fast as he could. He said it took him about 10 minutes. Over the next 5 years, it had sold over a million copies in sheet music form and had been recorded by many different artists.
I remember while living in South Carolina and driving all over the state, I had a tape of Mosie Lister's songs and I played it over and over again. I hit rewind quite often on "How Long Has It Been". I took one of my staff to a gospel music concert one night and we listened to this tape. He wanted to borrow it and I never did get that tape back. I need to call Wes. LOL
"How long has it been since you talked with the Lord and told Him your hearts hidden secrets? How long since you prayed, how long since you stayed on your knees 'til the light shone through? How long has it been since your mind felt at ease? How long since your heart knew no burden? Can you call Him your friend, how long has it been since you knew that He cared for you?"
There are so many links I wanted to post this morning. I almost posted an old version of Jake Hess and The Statesmen but I've done that quite a bit recently. There are several versions of "How Long Has It Been" on many of the Gaither videos. But I decided to post The Kingdom Heirs this morning. I hope you will enjoy hearing "How Long Has It Been" today!
Commenti