Americans are anxious.
The latest American Psychiatric Association poll revealed that 43% of adults felt more anxious in 2024 than they had in the previous year, while the National Institutes of Health reported that 1 in 5 adults have an anxiety disorder.
These alarming statistics do not account for the 10% of youth who also suffer from an anxiety disorder. Additionally, these numbers do not reflect the 8% increase in suicide rates among children ages 8 to 12 in 2024, nor the fact that suicide is now the fifth leading cause of death in preteens.
Yes, Americans are anxious, and in response to this anxiety epidemic, Music for the Soul (MFTS) released its latest project, What Hope Says.
For award-winning songwriter Steve Siler, the founder and director of MFTS (musicforthesoul.org), this project is a culmination of research, interviews, collaborations, and prayer.
Identifying the need
“When I attended the 2023 American Association of Christian Counselors conference,” Siler told The Stand, “I polled many of those therapists on a possible topic of our next Music for the Soul project. They all said, ‘Anxiety!’”
So, Siler began researching the topic before carrying the idea to MFTS’s advisory board of Christian therapists. With their blessing, What Hope Says got its official start.
MFTS was established in 2001 to unite music industry professionals with donors, therapists, pastors, and others. The goal was to create healing songs and stories that conveyed the redemptive love of Jesus to individuals enduring deep pain.
Since then, MFTS has released 20 full-length projects and multiple singles addressing 44 painful topics, including abortion, grief, addiction, and suicide. MFTS also offers project discussion guides, devotionals, written and spoken testimonies, books, music videos, and the Music for the Soul podcast.
However, the latest project, What Hope Says, opens with a slightly different approach.
Beginning with prayer
“With each project,” Siler explained, “we usually start with a song capturing the pain of the topic because we’ve learned that people won’t trust you for their hope until you really understand their pain. But this collection starts with ‘Prayer for the Anxious.’ It’s a gentle reminder of God’s promise to always be with us, no matter what.”
Then, the 12-song project takes listeners on a musical journey through the overwhelming stresses of today’s technology-driven world. It realistically examines past traumas and promises that those traumas do not have to define one’s future.
With songs written by Scott Krippayne, Tony Wood, and Siler, What Hope Says showcases a variety of tempos, styles, topics, and talented singers. The lyrics highlight what God’s hope says about life’s anxious situations.
Finding God’s hope
One of the project’s most powerful messages comes from the song “Right Now.” Inspired by Psalm 46:10 and sung by Denise Carite, it is a tender invitation to give all anxiety to God, rest in His presence, and simply “be still and know” that He is God.
The words of “Hope Says There’s a Way,” another song on the album, speak directly to the heart of the project’s message:
Hope says keep knocking,
And a door will be opened.
Hope says there’s a way
When it seems all is lost.
Hope says tomorrow is a brand
new day.
Hold on, ’cause that’s what hope says.
Siler firmly believes that hope is found in Jesus: “I love that His words in Matthew 6 about anxiety are very clear. When Jesus said, ‘Do not be anxious,’ He meant it.”
(Digital Editor's Note: This article was published first in the April 2025 print edition of The Stand. Click HERE for a free six-month complimentary subscription.)
