The gentle worship song emerging from Don Moen's lips was not the majestic choral anthem he was seeking to write. But it would not go away. Moen's "I Want to Be Where You Are," with its smart, ascending chord pattern, youthful melody and singable lyrics has since become a favorite among congregations everywhere. Tender and memorable, the song makes a beautiful first impression, then ages gracefully.

This ballad delivers the timeless cry of a worshiping heart; it is a prayer to remain in the presence of God for both time and eternity.

I just want to be where You are,
Dwelling daily in Your presence.
I don't want to worship from afar.
Draw me near to where You are.

Written in September 1987, two years passed before the song was first released on Hosanna's Bless the Lord. It has since appeared on five other Integrity recordings, including the 1995 Men in Worship with Jack Hayford. Now translated into Spanish and Indonesian, the song seems undaunted by boundaries.

In addition to this classic, Moen is known for penning such favorites as "Worthy, You are Worthy" and "God Will Make a Way." The 46-year-old Executive Vice President and Creative Director of Integrity Music is also a husband and a father of five children.

Describing the writing of "I Want to Be Where You Are," Moen tells of sitting alone at a piano in an empty church. He had been trying to compose an opening piece for the musical that would eventually become the award-winning God With Us.

Instead of a commanding choral overture calling people into God's presence, something unexpected was making an arrival. "What came out of my mouth really surprised me," Moen recalls, "because it was so gentle." He kept putting the piece aside, but eventually just gave in. "I couldn't get the melody out of my head."

He unveiled the song for the first time at a small church in Oklahoma. The piece was still unfinished. "I had my legal pad at the piano," he remembers. "Because I didn't have the rhymes yet, I just sang the four thoughts I had sketched for the bridge."

I want to be where You are
Dwelling in Your presence
Feasting at Your table
Surrounded by Your glory

Moen had planned to complete those rhymes, but never did; the song's effect upon the listeners caused him simply to leave the lyric as it was. Today, he describes the song as one of his favorites.

"This song was unique," he observes, "because I felt the Lord had let me capture, in music, a prayer and a cry on hundreds and thousands of people's hearts - people want to be in God's presence."

Since then, hundreds have sought out Moen to let him know how this song has given expression to the longing of their own hearts.

And his song continues to speak clearly today, not unlike King David's powerful prayer in Psalm 27:4 (NIV), a prayer that impressed Don Moen when received Christ as his Saviour at the tender age of twelve:

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
To gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
And to seek him in his temple.