Christian artist spreads a message of hope in a unique way
By Movieguide® Contributor
Christian artist Matthew West spreads a message of hope in Nashville.
In a recent video, he documented himself putting up encouraging signs all over the city.
“Today I’m taking you with me to spread hope and a bold message of faith in the form of a sign,” he began. “Ever since I wrote the song ‘Don’t Stop Praying,’ it really felt like a statement.”
“My team and I talked about how there are all these signs that are going to be in people’s yards. Everyone is putting something out there and you ask yourself: What is the campaign slogan of the believer, of someone who follows Jesus?” West continued.
To encourage people, he uses the phrase “Don’t stop praying” on the signs.
“Among all the messages that come to us every day in the world, this message is a reminder like, ‘Hey, God is listening to your voice, talk to Him today,'” he explained.
The singer was inspired to start the trend when he saw churches across the country creating encouraging signs for their members to display in front of their homes.
He wants this message to reach beyond Nashville. On his website, Don’t Stop Praying, fans can purchase their own signs to join the movement.
“I’ve been reminded, in a good way, of how often I just stay in my own little bubble, my own little world of family and friends and influence, while there’s a big city full of people who are lost and searching and needing hope,” West added. “There is a God who created you, he loves you, he knows you and he has the best plan for your life.”
West released “Don’t Stop Praying” earlier this year and last month it reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart.
“Getting this call from my record label never gets old! I’m grateful to all the radio stations that share this song with their listeners around the world,” West wrote on Instagram about the accomplishment. “More important than any chart position to me has always been putting songs out into the world that touch people’s hearts with a message they needed to hear and the minute this song was written I felt in my heart that this is a message for our world right now. Whatever you pray and no matter how long you’ve been praying, don’t stop!”
Overall, it is the singer’s 13th song in the Billboard charts.
“With this achievement, West is tied with TobyMac as the No. 1 solo artist on the chart released in 2003. The inspirational track, written by West and Jeff Pardo, recorded the biggest debut streaming week in the history of West’s monumental career following its January release and is on track to become his most streamed song to date,” reported The Christian Beat.
Movieguide® previously reported about West:
In a special Father’s Day episode of his podcast, hosted by his wife Emily, Matthew West talked about his feelings about fatherhood and the most important lessons he’s learned as a parent.
“I think the first thing that comes to mind is that (my daughters) have taught me about the heart of God. I feel like my fatherhood to LuLu and Delaney has shown me so much about our Heavenly Father’s heart toward us as children,” West said when asked what parenting has taught him. “I think it’s just expanded my ability to understand — even though we can never fully fathom the depths of God’s love for His children, for us — that being a father and diving into those crazy depths of love for our children shows me more about the heart of a father.”
“It shows me, you know, that God is with us, like I would drop everything just to be with them. I feel like I’ve thought so many times in my life about the love that I have for my children and the relationship that I want to have with them, and the Lord has used that to show me the kind of relationship that He wants to have with me.”
Through parenting, West has also learned to put his selfish desires behind and focus entirely on the needs of his wife and children.
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