Rebecca St. James 'Prays'
Graphic by Dave Hickey/The Daily Times

... for her generation

Oct. 16, 1998

By Frank "Buzz" Trexler
for The (Maryville, TN) Daily Times

Rebecca St. James has a heart for what she calls "my generation," and a heart for prayer – and she wastes little time getting right to point.

"Do you mind if we pray real quick before we get started?" she asks after some brief introductory remarks by the interviewer.

The 21-year-old singer-songwriter then brought to life what her upcoming compilation urges all of us to do – "Pray."

Prayer, she says, has been a recent focus of her music, and she expresses a sense of urgency.

"One of the things that I’ve really been sensing over the last little while is that God is really calling us, I think, to humility and to brokenness before him, and to prayer," St. James said in a telephone interview from Waco, Texas. She explains that the focus of her current tour is 2 Chron. 7:14:

"… if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

St. James believes the time for prayer and brokenness is now.

"I think especially with what’s going on in the nation right now – in politics and this crisis in this country – I think it’s a call to all of us to seek God, you know, and to pray, and to get on our faces," she said. "And that’s something that I’ve been hearing other people saying, too, that God’s been saying to them … that we need to humble ourselves and pray.

"I’ve even heard people go to the extent that they’re saying if we don’t do that, if we don’t seek God, if we don’t turn from our ways and humble ourselves and pray, then America may fall as Rome did," St. James said. "And so, I think it is a crisis point, but I think it’s something that God is saying – let’s awake, let’s arise – and he’s calling us to seek him."

It’s a strong statement, but the Australia native is no stranger to music with a message: Her father was a Christian concert promoter.

"Growing up I would, like, dance in the living room to Petra songs, and do ‘The Champion’ with Carman, you know," she recalls, noting that she was influenced by a wide variety of artists.

"Petra, Carman, White Heart, and even groups like Stryper, I think influenced me. Also, I listened to a bit of Larry Norman," she says. With a bit of a chuckle, St. James says "the first concert I went to – I was 6 weeks old – was a Larry Norman concert in the Sydney Opera House."

St. James, who attends First Baptist Church in Franklin, says growing up in the music business helps her to keep things in perspective.

"I think it really helps," she says, "because it makes me feel that the stage doesn’t mean anything, you know, because we would see it set up and taken down and it was such a natural part of our lives to be around. …

"It’s like being on the stage doesn’t consume me," she says. "It’s more that this is something I feel God’s called me to do. I enjoy it and love doing it because I love him."

"Pray," which is due out Oct. 20, includes covers of classic works by two late artists: Keith Green’s "Lord You’re Beautiful" and Rich Mullins’ "Hold Me Jesus." Green was killed in a plane crash July 28, 1982, and Mullins died in an auto accident Sept. 19, 1997.

"I have loved both of these songs for years," she says. "I truly identify with Rich’s words, ‘Hold me Jesus, ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf …’ I remember once listening to that song four or five times in a row. I know what it is to be ‘held.’

"‘Lord, You’re Beautiful’ is a song I’ve known since childhood. It’s a fabulous worship song," she says.

While Green’s music often taught listeners about holiness, and Mullins’ music often addressed grace, St. James is asked what it is that she hopes to teach listeners. It is then that the 21-year-old’s concern for "my generation" comes to the forefront.

"I think I would seek to encourage and bring hope," she says. "I think the Bible does that. It encourages us to seek a deeper love relationship with Jesus and it also brings us hope in life.

"When I look at my generation I see a generation that’s hurting, that’s in a desperate need of Jesus and knowing what true hope is about."

St. James says in her travels she sees a lot of young people, and hears of their struggles.

"You just see the break-up of the family, you see young people that have bought into the whole drugs, alcohol, sex-before-marriage scene and are now paying the consequences and are really suffering.

"I think that’s why those kind of things just make me even more passionate about sharing hope with other young people and saying, ‘Hey, look no further than Jesus for your hope and for encouragement.’

And look no further for someone to share that hope.

... for her generation

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