Dave Brooks
Donna Jaree Brooks
Wes Brooks
Bass guitar/audio
Lead vocal/keyboard/songwriter
percussion/videography/photos
WHO WE ARE
Through worship and speaking in churches, conferences and special gatherings, our passion is leading people into God’s presence—to experience His power, and know His peace.
Songs written by Donna Jaree Brooks are rooted in prophetic worship, also drawing from clinical experience working with hurting individuals as a psychotherapist (LCPC). Her songs have been recorded by Legacy 5, Doug Anderson, Grammy-nominated recording artist Karen Peck & New River and many others. In addition to THREE O’CLOCK SESSION recordings, she contributed vocally and played keyboards on Altar Fire, a spontaneous, contemplative worship experience recorded with Kevin Zadai, released in 2020.
For many years, Dave managed WCIC, a Dove Award-winning Christian music radio station serving Central Illinois. A fourth generation ministry leader/speaker, he has more than 20 years of experience as an on-air personality. Prior to radio, Dave traveled full-time in music ministry across the United States and also in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and China. He enjoys consulting and is trained as a leadership coach.
Wes desires to explore the wonders of life and the glory of God through creativity. Alongside music, he is involved in filmmaking and is nearing completion of his university studies, majoring in English & Writing. He loves his friends, family and being a part of the Body of Christ in ministry.
The Name: THREE O’CLOCK SESSION
When Jesus said, “It is finished” from the cross and gave up His Spirit, the time was 3:00 p.m. on Good Friday. That’s when everything changed. He paid the price for all sin. The thick veil in the temple surrounding the “Most Holy Place” was supernaturally torn from top to bottom, providing access for everyone—into the holy presence of God.
Let’s enter His Presence together through worship. Let’s have an intentional meeting with our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Let’s have… a THREE O’CLOCK SESSION!
(Video) The Meaning of Three O’Clock Session
When Jesus said, “It is finished” from the cross and gave up His Spirit, the time was 3:00 p.m. on Good Friday. That’s when everything changed. He paid the price for all sin. The thick veil in the temple surrounding the “Most Holy Place” was supernaturally torn from top to bottom, providing access for everyone—into the holy presence of God.
Let’s enter His Presence together through worship. Let’s have an intentional meeting with our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Let’s have… a THREE O’CLOCK SESSION!
(Video)
The Meaning of Three O’Clock Session
OUR STORY
Crossing the Bridge of Worship
When life punches hard in the gut and knocks the wind out, how do we find our way back to “normal?” Maybe normal is too far away to even see a path right now. Maybe just finding a way to take the next breath is about all we can focus on for the moment. The beauty of how our story began offered no hint of what was to come.
Donna: After we said, “I do,” someone joked, “The angels could finally take a breath of relief!” We had each been focusing on our careers and were both very particular in choosing our life partner. But the Lord brought us together in such fun and profound ways. It became unmistakable that we were the answer to each other’s prayers. We were so amazed by our love story and excited about discovering the destiny God had for us as a couple.
In our first few years of marriage I completed my Master’s Degree in Counseling and worked full-time as a teacher. Dave managed WCIC, a contemporary Christian music radio station. It was an incredible opportunity to combine his passion for ministry and music, and watch God at work changing lives. His work with this amazing team continued until early 2020, when Dave transitioned into a consulting role with the station in order to be more available for Three O’Clock Session.
Shortly after receiving my MA, we received the glorious news that we were expecting a baby boy! After a difficult pregnancy, all trouble was forgotten as we held our perfect gift, David Wesley Brooks in our arms.
I transitioned from teaching to enjoying motherhood and started postgraduate work toward a license in clinical counseling.
Donna: Since childhood, I felt called as a songwriter. Writing material for our worship group was exhilarating. The Lord began taking us into deeper realms of His Presence and Glory than we’d ever experienced. We were chasing after our God-given dream in full pursuit, and loving every minute, watching Him at work from a front row seat.
Then, life threw us a curve. In this season, through a divine set of “fluky” medical circumstances, there was a strong suspicion I had breast cancer. The diagnosis was confirmed, which led into the second most frightening time of my life. Me? How could this be happening? I was not even 40. I had no known risk factors. This is not the way it’s supposed to be.
I’m so grateful the Lord had already taught me to listen for His whispers over many years. Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:3). Right now, I NEEDED to hear from Him.
During one of the scariest moments in the ordeal the Lord spoke peace to my heart through a scripture. The words jumped off the page of my Bible. It was as though the verse was written in neon light. I knew what I was hearing was Him. Jesus was so kind, loving, and faithful to give me a personal promise to hold onto throughout this life-threatening crisis.
Our ministry assignment had to be put “on pause.” After several surgeries, I was pronounced cancer-free! Jesus showed Himself so faithful to us moment-by-moment. In the heat of the crisis we drew strength from His nearness. His Presence was our oxygen.
After recovering we moved to a different house and became a part of a church closer to where we lived. I received my clinical license and began working as a psychotherapist in a private, Christian practice.
We could now pursue our worship calling again with even more fervor. I continued writing, and went to Nashville as one of eight finalists in a national songwriting contest sponsored by the Gospel Music Association. Doors opened to co-write with some amazing writers and I continued growing in the songwriting craft. It was especially meaningful when original songs began to be recorded by well-known artists, impacting people far beyond my own personal sphere of influence.
Dave: At church, we helped pioneer evenings of “Healing Prayer/Worship.” Each month, we’d offer three hours of non-stop worship, while in adjoining rooms, prayer for individuals was taking place in small groups by appointment. It seemed each time, something of heaven’s atmosphere would enter the room as worship and prayer ascended. God’s healing touch radically changed many lives throughout those years. We set up to record in our home and began to minister in other churches.
Early one Sunday, Donna and I had an unforgettable conversation about what Jesus accomplished on the cross when He cried out, “It is finished.” At that moment, the biggest change in human history occurred. Jesus paid the price for our sin so we could enter the holy presence of God. When He took his last breath, the time was three o’clock.
Our calling is to help people experience God’s Presence. As a therapist, each of Donna’s clients schedules an intentional meeting—a session. Musicians have recording sessions. But what we need most of all… is a SESSION with our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. We felt a nudge from the Lord to call ourselves THREE O’CLOCK SESSION. Later that morning it was further confirmed at church. Our pastor’s message was based on a rarely quoted Old Testament verse which had profound, direct personal meaning in relation to our worship ministry. It was all coming together. We were excited to be back on the road to fulfilling our calling.
Then, the bottom fell out from under us. Again.
Donna: Our son, Wes, had experienced some unusual health issues. The symptoms were now becoming more intense. It was hard to do the normal things of life. Joint aches. Chronic sleep disruption. Trouble focusing. Sensitivity to light and sound, fatigue, mood swings, digestive issues, food reactions. He experienced more than 20 symptoms. It was baffling.
We started homeschooling and began the sleuthing work of figuring out the root cause of these problems. We prayed. We fasted and prayed. We went to this doctor and that doctor.
After more than two years of searching for answers—two steps forward, three steps back—things escalated to crisis level. Our son’s life was fading. He was losing hope and we were all exhausted. This was the most frightening time of my life. Things seemed like they couldn’t get any worse.
Dave: We learned a new level of surrender. Abandon. Trust while flying blind into the chaos. Worship no matter what, just because He is worthy. Not just words. Expressions from the innermost depths of our being. Sometimes cries; laments. Not sure how we can take one more step. But more sure of God than we are confused by our circumstance.
Donna: It was so hard, but God was helping us build endurance. Hebrews 10:36 reminds us, “For you have need of endurance…” That’s for sure. Two chapters later we’re told to “run the race with endurance.” Every day was a battle to just make it through the day. Some of the vision for 3OS had to be put on hold. Every time we’d set up for a three-hour worship session at church, Dave and I would look at each other and wonder how in the world we could do it. We had nothing. But every single time, God met us in worship, and we’d leave refreshed. His Presence sustained us like a tree in the barren desert, whose roots go down deep, finding underground water.
Dave: While crying out to God from a place of intense desperation one morning, we received an email which seemed to be straight from heaven. It was from friends we had just met. Knowing nothing of our health crisis, they felt God put it in their hearts to cover our family in daily intercession. They invited others to do the same and this group of incredible prayer warriors became our lifeline, known as “Operation: Prayer Shield.”
Two and a half weeks after these friends began lifting our family in daily prayer, we learned the root cause of Wes’s health issues. It was from dangerous, toxic mold, hidden inside the walls of our home.
We were so grateful to learn of two brilliant, highly credentialed physicians in Arizona who helped people from all over the United States recover from mold illness. We left Illinois and went west for 5 weeks of intense medical treatment.
While we were still in Arizona, a friend from Oregon who had never heard us lead worship wrote prophetically, “Worship will become the land bridge your family will walk across into healing.” We hung on to that.
Donna: Our toxicologist explained the seriousness of Wes’s mold injury, which resulted in severe mycotoxicosis. He told us we could save our son’s life… but we’d need to leave our mold-contaminated home, leave all of our possessions, and build a non-toxic home. Then, recovery would likely take three more years. He helped us see how the mold exposure also affected Dave and me in less apparent ways.
Dave: Gulp. This was all hard to hear.
How can I lead my family through this? How can we afford to build a new house and start over? Three years? I felt overwhelmed. Then, the Lord whispered this encouragement:
“Don’t focus on what you’ve lost; focus on what you still have. And look up.”
Looking at our challenge from this perspective changed everything. What we heard from the doctor was difficult. But… it was good news. We FINALLY knew what the problem was, and what to do about it.
Donna: Like refuges, we suddenly left our home. We had to get rid of our possessions except for heirloom items and other treasures which were placed in storage to be sorted out later. To get to pictures for Wes’s graduation, we had to go into the storage unit with disposable hazmat suits!
Dave: It took 3 years to plan and research how to build a non-toxic home on a budget and save up enough to begin building. Although Wes was doing somewhat better after we got out of the moldy house and into an apartment, it was still a struggle. There was urgency. This felt so S-L-O-W.
One day during the long slog, I vented in my journal. “Lord, how can I do this? It’s too much.” Again, He spoke. I knew it was Him, because it was the kind of wisdom which brings freedom and understanding. His response:
“Walk toward it.”
I knew immediately what this meant.
We love hiking in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Many times, I’ve looked at the summit off in the distance and thought it’s too far. The trail is too steep. The air is too thin. But the key is to take another step. Then another. Even if the pace is slow, I will arrive at the summit, if I don’t give up. It comes back to endurance.
Finally… nearly six years after the crisis began, the day arrived. We moved into our new “non-toxic” home with fresh, highly-filtered outside air continuously coming in, and Wes was getting his life back. Over time, the symptoms were either gone or greatly reduced. A new home studio was built and THREE O’CLOCK SESSION was back on track.
We experienced a miracle!
Donna: I wish I could sit down with you personally and tell you how Jesus walked with us so intimately through each step of our journey. By His sustaining grace we just fell more deeply in love with Him. Many of the songs I’ve written were birthed out of what we experienced during these seasons of challenge.
What the enemy meant to stop us, God used to catapult us into deeper realms of His Glory.
Dave, Donna, & Wes: Our experience felt similar to what Moses and Israel must have felt when they were trapped between the Egyptian army and the Red sea. There was nowhere to go. Hope was fading.
You may feel the same way right now. Can you hear the army and smell the sea?
The challenges of life can feel overwhelming and immobilizing. While we were in the thick of crisis, the Lord clearly spoke through Psalm 77:19. “Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters—a pathway no one knew was there!”
Although we could not see the path at the time, the Lord DID provide a way through our Red Sea. And our friend was right. Worship became that path, the land bridge our family walked across into healing.
In the hardest days, we found when we drew near to the Lord through worship, it was like turning down the volume on the problems of the moment and turning up the volume of heaven in our spirits.
There is nothing in this realm which can separate us from the reach of His love. The Holy Spirit is our resilience. When we start at surrender, and move toward encounter, worship transforms us more and more into the image of Jesus. He picks us up in His arms and gives us the peace we long for. The love we long for. The assurance that He is God almighty. When we get that, all we can do is fall down and worship. And God’s Presence is the ultimate safe place.
The Lord has a path for you. It may be hidden from plain view, but it is HIS path—through the mighty waters. And the path isn’t just to “normal.” It is His path to “beyond.”
Let’s enter deeply into His holy Presence, where there is peace for our storms, and power for triumph to come. Everything we need is found in the embrace of His Presence.
Come join us now, as we walk across the land bridge of worship, together.
