Contemporary Christian singer/songwriter Jimmy Needham, who is my second-favorite Christian songwriters – right behind Matthew West – has released If I Ever Needed Grace, the powerful carrier single off Clear The Stage, Needham’s fourth studio album under Inpop Records.
I am so excited for If I Ever Needed Grace and Clear The Stage, which was produced by renowned Contemporary Christian producer Ed Cash (Chris Tomlin, Aaron Shust, Laura Story). Needham has always been an insightful songwriter, and the themes he explores on Clear the Stage seem to be leaning towards dependence on God, and the attitude of gratitude needed when approaching one’s relationship with Him. Needham admits he went into the stage not fully confident of where he was headed with it – a few of the songs hadn’t been written yet – but that dependence on God carried him through as he sought to communicate that which God was telling him through his own navigation through life.
“I’ve come to understand obedience as more than simply not doing bad things,” he says, “but running to God to drink deeply in Him so that I don’t want to run to any other source.”
Needham’s humility and skillful songwriting prowess, as well as his vocal and guitar skills, have drawn numerous comparisons to other songwriters, including secular superstar Jason Mraz. Needham’s introspective views on faith, however, have put him in a class all his own.
Right now, If I Ever Needed Grace is available in acoustic format for viewing in this special YouTube video. However, the single will drop on iTunes very soon, and we can trust that Jesus will more than satisfy through the Jimmy’s music. After the Trip Lee-featured Grace Amazing, I, for one, am curious to listen to I Will Find You, a collaboration with Christian rapper-of-the-moment Lecrae; I’m also looking forward to hearing Clear The Stage, which Jimmy says changed his life.
“The first time I heard this song as a high school student, it wrecked me,” Jimmy says. “I don’t think anyone can be the same person after hearing this song. I’ll never forget hearing those words and immediately getting on my face before God. It’s a heavy way to close, but my hope is that by the end, every listener will say ‘I want more of Jesus and less of everything else.'”
That’s another CD I’ll be ordering off Amazon (unless MusiChristian.com offers an autographed CD, come on!), in addition to Wilson Phillips’ Dedicated and Jason Mraz’s Love is a Four Letter Word. 2012 for the win!
IF I EVER NEEDED GRACE Lyrics
Jimmy Needham
It still feels like yesterday
A lifetime of empty days
A hungry heart was desperate for a meal
I feasted on the bread of life
Forgiveness pierced me like a knife
Your breath filled up my lungs and I could feel
I was broke and all I could say was
If I ever needed grace, it’s now
You are strong when I am weak, somehow
I am weak enough to see
I need You to cover me
If I ever needed grace, it’s now
I met the woman of my dreams
Wanted to give her everything
Then fear came like a thief in the night
But my journal pages prophesy
That one day I’d make her my bride
Soon my best friend was wearing white
With our lives ahead all I could say was
If I ever needed grace, it’s now
You are strong when I am weak, somehow
I am weak enough to see
I need You to cover me
If I ever needed grace, it’s now
In every joy and pain
Whatever comes my way
God I need Your grace
Nine short months ’til she arrived
Little hands and lion’s eyes
And I’m so scared I don’t have what it takes
But I hear Your voice Sunday morning
Father give me eyes to see
All I need’s the power of Your Name
If I ever needed grace, it’s now
You are strong when I am weak, somehow
I am weak enough to see
I need You to cover me
If I ever needed grace
If I ever needed grace
If I ever needed grace, it’s now
