“A Cry at Midnight”

Jonathan Baldwin & Team

Recorded live at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City during the Night Watch, “A Cry at Midnight” is a collection of some of the best moments of the 35 or so midnight times of worship and prayer that I led in 2005. This CD includes three songs that I have written, released for the first time: “Something to Live For, Something to Die For”, my new song about the ending of abortion, “Where is the Moral Outcry?” and “Longing for Greatness (She Will Be Ready)”. Below is a brief description of each track along with the date of the set that it came from, chord sheets, and audio samples.

$10

[1] “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”  Audio Sample  Chord Sheet (12.17.05)- Being someone who enjoys the old Christmas carols, I told my team the week before Christmas that I wanted to do some Christmas carols. As I sang the song, I was surprised to touch a piece of God’s heart for His people, Israel, to be saved (Romans 10:1).

[2] “Prayers for Texas and Louisiana During Hurricane Katrina” Audio Sample (9.24.05)- I was very heavy during this set having found out that a hurricane was headed for my hometown, Lufkin, TX. Since my parent’s house was in a flood plane, they were fully expecting to suffer great Text Box: Our team meets before each set to discuss our prayer focus, to study the word, and to work on music Photo by Alan Ruiter, alanruiter@ihop.org loss. So, I really had to lean on my team to even get through the prayer time. The next day I found out that my parent’s had suffered no loss since the hurricane had lessened strength before making landfall. I rejoiced in the protection of the Lord around those who love Him! (Psalm 32:7)

[3] “Longing for Greatness (She Will Be Ready)” Audio Sample  Chord Sheet (9.16.05)- I wrote this song in 2003 when I was meditating on Luke 1:13-17. John the Baptist was called great in the sight of the Lord. This is a longing in my heart: to be great in the sight of the Lord. Like the Lord did in the days of John, He is once again pouring out the spirit of Elijah to help us make ready a bride for her Bridegroom.

[4] “Prayer for the OneThing Conference” (12.24.05)- This prayer was taken from our Christmas Eve prayer time. This year, for the first time in Night Watch history, we had full teams of singers and musicians who gave up their holidays to cry out days before our annual young adult’s conference. It was worth it all when we saw 10,000 young adults impacted by the Lord during the times of worship and teaching.

[5] “Where is the Moral Outcry?” Audio Sample   Chord Sheet (3.4.06)- I wrote this song last year inspired by Supreme Court Justice Antonio Scalia’s statement to some people visiting him: “I’m against abortion but where is the moral outcry over abortion in America?” I began to think about the church’s response to abortion comparing it in my heart to the church of Germany’s response to the Holocaust. It is said that during the holocaust in Germany Jews passed by a church in train cars headed for concentration camps. Inside of the church the people sang their hymns louder in order to drown out the cries of the suffering Jews. I can’t help but think that we are doing the same thing all over again with abortion—drowning out the cries of 50 million babies. Amos 5:23-24 say this, “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. ‘But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Oh how I pray that “abortion is ending now”!

[6] “Prayers for the Ending of Abortion” (7.21.05)- Almost every Friday night last year we had a prayer cycle focused on the ending of abortion. During this particular set, we focused our prayers on the Senate’s judicial confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court.

[7] “The Throne Room- Revelation 4” (11.02.05)- At IHOP, not only do we have a desire to impact the nations of the earth through intercession, we deeply desire to encounter the beauty of the Lord in our own hearts. Twice a week, our team leads “Worship with the Word” sets in which we take a passage together and sing spontaneously through it. This is one of those times w hen we took Revelation 4 and sang through it. Text Box: Our worship team in February of 2006This track would be good to play during your own personal quite time.

[8] “Something to Live For, Something to Die For” Audio Sample  Chord Sheet (11.02.05)  On November 5th of 2002, when I was still in college, I wrote the chorus to this song. I had come home from a Bible study and caught the last bit of a Christian movie highlighting martyrdom. I began to think about this end-time generation that God has called to absolute abandonment to Him. I read Revelation 6:9-11 about the martyrs crying out before the throne. I wrote the chorus as my own heart cried out that, indeed, Jesus Himself has given me “something to live for” and “something to die for”.