Hillsong’s Benjamin William Hastings Says Worship ‘Realigns’ God in Our Lives
By Movieguide® Contributor
Hillsong’s Benjamin William Hastings is sharing how he puts God “back in His rightful place” during worship.
“I would define worship as a realignment of God in His rightful place in our lives, in our hearts. So, not that God ever moves, but I guess we do,” the singer told Worship Leader Magazine. “And so, repositioning Him in respect to everything else that we have…I think you can do that in a lot of ways, but one of the ways is song.”
Hastings shared one of his own ways he realigns God in his life using the Lord’s Prayer.
“A while ago, I got in the practice of…almost rewriting the Lord’s Prayer, and I write it like — maybe not like a poem, but a devotional,” he explained. “I find that really helpful as far as a daily practice of worship because you’re putting God back in His rightful place. You’re recontextualizing Him in your life, making Him present. Not that He isn’t present, but I guess that’s kind of the point — we have such a way of forgetting His presence.”
Hastings is currently promoting his latest single, “What a Friend,” which he wrote with friend Aodhán King. A portion of the lyrics read:
Oh what a friend I’ve found in Jesus
Oh what a hope I have in my Savior’s love
My first and last defense
My help my righteousness
What a friend I’ve found
Speaking about his first solo album, Hastings reflected on the personal nature of his music.
“I was scared to say some of the stuff,” he said of some of the tracks on “Benjamin William Hastings (And Then Some).” “It was hard in that sense to write. I wasn’t really over it yet. The emotion lingered so long and the process of the whole thing, I never was able to fully move on from it — until I was able to move on from it.”
He continued, “But I’m glad I did [write these songs] because all the things I was scared to say seems to be what people have resonated with.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Hastings’ work with Hillsong:
Hillsong United member Benjamin Hastings is ready to launch his solo career.
In a recent interview, the singer-songwriter reflected on his musical success so far.
Hastings was born in Belfast, Ireland and spent his early years playing his guitar and singing on the street.
“When I was maybe 15 or 16, I was in a bookshop and I discovered a Hillsong United record and I fell in love with the music,” he shared. “And what was really cool was United came and played a show in Belfast and I got to meet all the guys and none of them remembered me. But I was so stoked.”
Shortly after, Hastings headed to Australia to be part of Hillsong.
So, when I was 19, I moved out there,” he explained. “Through this kind of crazy set of events, [I] ended up writing songs that I started using on records and became really good friends with all those guys that I met back in Belfast. It was a whirlwind.”
The songs Hastings wrote with other members of Hillsong went on to be played and sung in churches around the world.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Hastings marveled. “Like, if I ever get to be in a church and hear someone leading like a song that I got to play a part in, it’s this really surreal, beautiful moment where you’re like it feels like it doesn’t feel like mine. That makes sense. It feels like you. You create something, and then you hand it over to the church.”
