Having written with the likes of Bebo Norman, Chris Tomlin and Ed Cash, Stephan Sharp’s best-known song is “Made to Worship,” which was cut on Chris Tomlin’s SEE THE MORNING. A powerful call to worship, “Made to Worship” is becoming one of the most familiar worship choruses in the modern worship movement.
Featured here is the story behind the song “With All My Heart,” which Sharp co-wrote with fellow Brentwood-Benson and GreatWorshipSongs.com writers Chad Cates and Bebo Norman.
“With All My Heart” is currently an exclusive song at GreatWorshipSongs.com. Make sure you check it out…
WITH ALL MY HEART – Stephan Sharp
“With All My Heart” was born out of a little challenge I had with myself. After talking with a friend, I attempted to start each day praying Mark 12:30 for a year. About a month later, I woke up one morning and thought it would be fun to just sing the prayer…and the song evolved. I wound up putting “With All My Heart” on my next album. At that time, it had the verses that you hear in the current version of the song only with the bridge that I used as another verse.
Ten years later, Bebo Norman, a friend/songwriter with Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing & GreatWorshipSongs.com, and I were performing together. Afterwards, we were talking about the song and he asked if it would be okay if he played the song live. I agreed.
We took another look at the song and felt like it needed a chorus, so the search began. A while later, Bebo was writing with Chad Cates, another friend/songwriter with Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing & GreatWorshipSongs.com, and as they took a look at it, they began to craft the current chorus of “With All My Heart.” A few days later, Chad and I were producing a demo of the song and ended up turning the “with all my mind…” verse into the bridge.
I love what the song has become and I think the chorus was the perfect fit with the verses. “With All My Heart” has been and continues to be one of my favorite songs to sing. It always causes me to reflect on what it would really look like to ‘love the Lord, my God, with all my heart, soul, strength and mind.’ I think so often that I try to put the “great commission” before the “greatest commandment” and even as I sing the first verse I am reminded that to leave a mark, of any sort, it has to begin with loving the One who first loved me. I could go on and on about each lyric of the song and the thoughts they stir in me, but I think Bebo and Chad summed it up in the chorus: “Lord I want to be an offering and live the words from this simple prayer.” I want to live out Mark 12:30.
Great Worship Songs 
I went to high school with Stephan and he know me Galen and the Budman real well. We are all true believers brother and we think about you often….Thanks for bringing the message to the masses in a way a 5 year old could understand it …If you are ever in Charlotte NC come find us ..it would be great to catch up with you
Dees 🙂
Did Stephan Sharp sing “Dancing in the Rain”? I have been trying to find it on iTunes and rateyourmusic.com but haven’t found any mention of it. Thanks for any help finding this, or correcting my information!
I heard Stephan at Frontier Ranch in Summer of 2000, this was the first Christian music I had really heard that wasn’t old hymns. It did do some serious work in my life. Even though, not a believer at that time his CD’s were in my music selection for a long time until the Lord turned me around. Now, my youth and Young Life kids listen to them when they are with us on long car trips. His music touched my heart and was some of the keys to the slow and painful trasformation into my Christian walk with Jesus Christ.