Tommy Walker: A Heart for Worship

CBN.com Tommy Walker has been serving as a worship leader role for over 15 years alongside some of the most renowned church leaders in the world including Jack Hayford, Bill Hybels, Franklin Graham, Rick Warren, and Greg Laurie. His life's mission has been to bring people to the Lord through worship, especially to the poor.

One of his first encounters in this arena was when he traveled to the Philippines in 1997 with his missionary brother. The revelation that Tommy received was that the poor are usually given leftovers, also in worship.

Tommy thought, “Wouldn't it be great to let the poor be the first to get the best stuff? There is something in the heart of God in that.”

Tommy feels that when he is with the poor, he is with Jesus. He's also planning another trip to the Philippines in June to help raise scholarships for kinds that live in the poor areas of Manila, “so they can have a quality education,” Tommy says.            

In terms of worship, the Bible says that there is power in the tongue and that there is power in words.

“The tongue guides your life,” Tommy says. “When we sing worship songs, we're not only declaring and affirming those things to God and the people around us, we're also singing it over our life. The enemy is always telling us our best days are behind us, but [through worship] we have the opportunity to declare the things that are true.”

USE ME, LORD           

The secret to the Christian life is running to God, Tommy says. Tommy was saved at age 11, picked up the guitar, and has led worship since his teen years. He discovered his true passion while leading worship at his brother’s church in El Paso, TX in 1983. 

“Worshipping God was all I wanted to do in my life,” he says. While working at a dissatisfactory job on an assembly line, Tommy prayed, “God, if there’s any way You can use me to bring people to Christ – to do evangelism and to worship You at the same time – that would be the most awesome thing.” 

In that moment he understood his calling. Tommy began a quest to write songs that would inspire believers to worship while musically and spiritually attracting non-believers as well. Tommy eventually left to study guitar performance at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood. He attended several large churches, but felt a desire to serve in a smaller church. As he has continued to serve God at his church, the Lord has prospered Tommy in his music.            

These days, Tommy says he’s in a time in public ministry where there is a constant struggle of reminding himself about his goal.

“Is your goal fame or is your goal faithfulness?” he says. “Our job is to be faithful and prepared and ready, letting God bring the increase. When we strive and do things in our own strength, we leave a trail of heartache, but when we are faithful, God brings the blessing.”

I HAVE A HOPE           

His latest release, I have a Hope is Tommy's first-ever studio recording.

“The studio gives you creative ideas with different arrangements,” Tommy says.“The artist part of me just wanted to try something new.” The song, “I Have a Hope” was birthed out of feeding the homeless.

“The song was written to help hopeless people declare the promises of God over their life,” Tommy says. “That's really what worship is.”

There's also a song on I Have a Hope called “Do It Lord,” which is a song, Tommy says, that combines compassion and worship.

“It's a prophetic prayer song about God's kingdom. Worship music in the future will be more and more of cries for God to move and bring His kingdom down.”

Tommy's new album is also a product of working with Dove-award winning producer Ed Cash.

“The most memorable moment was the day we started vocals,” remembers Cash. “Tommy started to sing “Hallelujah, We Will Sing” at about 10:30 in the morning. He wasn't feeling it, said his voice felt really tired. We called out to God and asked that His will be done, and six hours later, we had all the vocals for six complete songs. Simply unheard of, simply God! It was positively the most profound day I've ever had in the studio. We laughed, we cried, we celebrated God and became totally lost in His presence.”