Today I want to share with you my time of Praise and Worship that I try and do daily. I find it also a time of prayer, a time of connecting with God by praying through hymns and worship songs. I really feel like praying through music it not only opens a door for me to talk to God, but also a time for the Holy Spirit to talk to me. What more can I ask for? When I decided to write this reflection, I thought that this process of praying through song really hit me during Covid, however, as I sit down to write this I realize I’ve been doing this since grade school.
As a child I went to St. Agnes Catholic School, in Phoenix. It was in that lovely sanctuary that I first discovered the hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy”. I remember having a WOW moment the first time I heard that song. It was like the choir were angels and the church was like heaven. My connection to this song has lasted the rest of my life. It is a deeply personal praising of God that allows me today to join the angels in praising God and to get a glimpse of heaven.
This version by Michael W. Smith became a favorite in my 20’s. Listen to the lyrics and sing along, either aloud or in your heart. Sing it to God our Father.
Joe Berringer was a 6th grade teacher at St. Agnes when I was there and even though I was never in his classroom, he forever changed my life and my connection to God. He also led our Folk Mass music for the church. Wow! Guitars in church and the guy and priest were wearing sandals. (“What was the world coming to???” I remember my parents saying.) For me the change in my world was that music of praise was planting itself deep in my heart. It was making worship more personal to me. So now I share this song with you. “They Will Know They are Christians By Our Love”.
I found this version by Tommy Walker to share with you.Before I spent much time in the Bible and today when I dig deeper into the Word of God I find this as a basis of my faith. Many times when I’ve been in prayer about a decision that needed to be made with a work colleague, a son or a daughter or other stress in life, my spirit with start to sing this song and I believe it is the Holy Spirit talking to me in that prayer time to be a Christian and to follow the guidelines in this hymn/folk praise song. Listen and again sing along and use it as a prayer time.
When I have my praise and worship time I use Alexa or Spotify to play songs of praise and worship. I get lost in worship or should I say I find myself lifted in worship (praying and connecting with the Lord). I am taken out of my stress, out of conflict, drama, etc. I am in a direct connection with the Trinity.
I share this as I felt the Spirit put it in my heart and I want to be faithful. I am writing to share how I pray through songs helps me to find an extremely personal connection to God and that is why we pray. Now this is just one type of prayer, if you haven’t found your personal connection with God, I ask you to try this. If it isn’t your way keep looking to find your way. God in three persons want to connect with you!