The Aussie Christian music scene boasts very few who’ve stayed the course.
Nicky Chiswell is one such gem who continues to gift the Church her heart-on-sleeve music. Thirty years since releasing her first solo album, 2023 saw Nicky release her fifth studio album, Real Self, Real God.
Bringing us face-to-face with the real God, Nicky urges us to come as our real self—unpretentious, unmasked—so we can truly know God and rest in the knowledge that we are truly known by him, warts and all.
Nicky is one of those precious singer-songwriters who reel you in with a good story, a raw emotion, a heartfelt prayer, a lyric that catches you off guard. She’s like a modern Psalm writer, leaving no emotions off limits. Just as the Psalms take us on a spiritual journey through the highs and lows of life with God, “Real Self, Real God” is a raw, honest, songbook as Nicky takes her struggles with prayer into the public square.
eBook and CD
More than just an album, “Real Self, Real God” is actually an eBook and CD combo, available for free download (donations can also be made to support her ministry).
Her website says:
Do you struggle with prayer? Me too! Big time… This eBook, combined with the songs on the album, are designed to help you tackle and get past the things that might be getting in the way of prayer for you.
I think the combo is fabulous, as she has gifted the Church a rare resource that provides both devotional material and practical strategies for unlocking five common barriers to prayer.
Nicky says of her eBook,
In each chapter I describe the barrier and provide a link to the related songs next to the lyrics. This is followed by a tool to help you pray and some suggested Bible passages to ponder.
What a gift to the Church! Every Christian struggles with prayer, so get your hands on this easy-to-read, well-laid-out eBook, and follow the links to each of the songs, which take on a whole new meaning when heard in this context.
Psalm-Like Album for the Grief-Stricken
When I first heard the album, though, I wasn’t aware of the eBook, so I have an interesting experience to share.
I listened to Real Self, Real God a couple of times and felt that I’d stumbled upon a treasure. “This is the album I will listen to when tragedy strikes”, I thought. I don’t mean I’ll only listen to it if tragedy strikes. Far from it! But these songs seem to provide spiritual strength and comfort that will aid many believers enduring a season of grief or turmoil of soul.
This is well-illustrated by the second verse and chorus of “Too Deep”:
If I was one of Job’s friends, what should I have said?
Maybe just tears in my eyes and shake my head…
And maybe…”Don’t you let anyone give you slick answers why”,
Just let now be now, and let your silence reach the sky.
Can you listen for the groans?
I know you don’t believe me, but you might not be alone.
Can you hear the Spirit’s groans?
Too deep for words…
I love how these lyrics effortlessly move from Old Testament to New, from Job to Romans 8:26—”the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
The Psalm-like character of these songs is represented beautifully in “Humility” with its mix of agony and hope. Here we find a poetic contrast of Nicky’s (or is it Zaccheus’s?) life of “self-promotion” as a “cheating, selfish fool” with the impeccable humility of “the source of all being, light and love”. Though he’s never named, Jesus Christ takes centre stage in this song.
An Opportunity Missed
Interestingly, “Humility” is the only song that mentions the death of Christ, with an oblique reference to his hands being “scarred beyond repair”. Given the album is all about prayer—and the only basis we have an audience with the Almighty is the substitutionary death of his Son (consider Hebrews 10:19-22)—perhaps the album would carry more weight if the atoning sacrifice of Christ was perceptible.
Regardless, strong, biblical themes pulsate throughout the album, kicking off with “Come Near”. Effectively serving as a call to worship, Nicky paraphrases Psalm 103:8-12 with a confident declaration of the abounding, steadfast love of the Lord whose “arms are open, come near!”
Intentionally Slow Tempo
Eight of the nine songs are new, while one is an oldie but a goodie. “Come now and pray”—co-written with Greg Cooper—is a simple, gentle, but urgent call to prayer: “Cast all your cares on him, because he cares for you” (1 Pet 5:7).
Musically, it’s a slow-tempo album led by acoustic rhythm guitar and strong melodic vocals, accompanied by lovely percussion and tasteful piano and electric guitar licks.
I imagine the slow tempo is entirely deliberate, since part of the album’s message is “Slow down!”. This forms part of her strategy of unlocking the third barrier to prayer—the one Nicky confesses is probably her biggest barrier—“Distraction, anxiety, pace and exhaustion”.
I imagine the slow tempo is entirely deliberate, since part of the album’s message is “Slow down!”
Songs to help us overcome this barrier include “In Peace” and “Song for Martha”, which encourages us to:
Slow down, you’re anxious about many, many things,
And they’re all crying out to you.
It’s time to come and sit at the feet of Jesus.
It’s time to come and just be… at the feet of Jesus.
The words “Real Self, Real God” never appear in any song, but are based on the sixth song, “Real”—probably the most interesting song on the album. Musically, it keeps you hanging on every phrase, twisting and turning all the way, steadily building to a gorgeous climax with a second singing of the chorus, before ending unexpectedly. It’s probably the high point of the album. Lyrically, it’s a disarmingly honest prayer. Amongst other things, she asks God to throw her overboard if that’s what it takes to “see the real You”.
Mysticism?
My only caution is that, in the eBook (not the album), Nicky praises “the contemplative tradition”, as well as seeking guidance from a “spiritual director” and the discipline of “practising silence”.
Perhaps there is a way to pursue these practices and hold to a sound, biblical understanding of prayer, but I grew up in a cult, and I run away from anything that smacks of mysticism.
The only comfort I take is that, when promoting silence and stillness, Nicky says “silence can help us pay attention to what God’s living Word says to us”. If the silence helps to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col 3:16), then, my brothers and sisters, pursue silence!
A Worthy Resource
That minor question aside, the eBook is a thoroughly practical and richly biblical resource to equip and encourage believers to spend quality time in communion with the Lord, and for that I am grateful.
I praise God for Aussie Christian musicians who serve the Church decade after decade, gracing us with biblical music from the heart.
By God’s mercy, I have yet to suffer any great trauma, but when I do, may the Lord remind me of this album. For there will come a time when I cannot find words to pray, and this album will help me just “be” in the presence of the Lord and have Nicky’s songs and God’s living, eternal Word do the praying for me.
