Behind the Song “Pour Your Spirit Out” by Thrive Worship
by Corbin Phillips
“Pour Your Spirit Out” was such a beautiful gift deposited in us as a song. We were on a songwriting retreat but it came after we had finished our sessions for the day and had started into some conversations about what God was doing and speaking to each of us. Taylor and Jace had a verse and chorus the first night and the second night we came up with the bridge and finished the rest of the verses. The song just came out so fast that we started writing other sections spontaneously as we continued to converse. Then I got really quiet. I felt something was on my chest and I needed to articulate it. See I grew up having panic attacks at least once a month, if not more, since I was seven or eight years old. They never made any sense to me. One minute I would be smiling and joyful as can be and the next my body felt like it was going to give up on me. Over the years, I learned to manage, but never eliminate these attacks. Some seasons were better than others but it felt as though no matter how much I prayed, worshipped, sought counsel or wished, it seemed these would be a part of my life forever.
One night my wife heard an advertisement for a Sunday night service at a local church with a pastor who had written a book about his journey with anxiety. We cleared our schedules so we could attend. I remember thinking it was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. I know that may sound silly but when you have struggled with something for as long as I had with anxiety, you feel like you’ve heard almost everything there is to know and every trick in the book to try to mitigate what you are experiencing. Thankfully, I went.
At the end of the night the pastor prayed and said a very simple phrase, “Some of you will be healed tonight and some of you won’t. God’s sovereignty is at work in either scenario.” Now let me just say I was not raised in a very charismatic environment so what I experienced that night was something I had never felt before. As the pastor began his prayer I felt as though a wind was pushing me back and it took a fair amount of effort to stay standing. As soon as he said, “Amen” I instantly sat down in my chair and began crying. And I’m not talking about your super spiritual, happy cry. I was full on ugly crying with snot and all. I knew something changed that night and I was overwhelmed by the grace of God. I haven’t had a single panic attack since. That’s why I fell quiet in the songwriting session that night. I felt like God was saying that He wanted me to share my story. So I reluctantly wrote out the words to verse 3 that shared my testimony of healing. I never thought we would actually record it! It was extremely hard for me to be that vulnerable but I’m standing on this side of that willingness to obey the Spirit’s prompting now having seen people with chronic pain be healed in an instant, the blind having their sight restored, people battling mental health find freedom and so many more stories of God using this song. We believe that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the one living inside of us who believe today. It’s the same Spirit that healed me and the same one we’ve seen on full display as a result of leading this song. Our hope is that this song continues to bless and minister to anyone who hears it. That they would know the truth and power of Matthew 7:7 and Acts 2 and ultimately more would know and call on the name of Jesus.
***Thrive Worship’s “Pour Your Spirit Out” EP releases May 26, 2023 — Pre-save here: https://presave.to/m881805