Praying through Music

I started off my 52 weeks of prayer with 2 weeks of prayer through music.

To be completely honest with you, I started with prayer through music because my past year had seen chaos, sickness, loss, and coming into 2020 I was feeling completely defeated and overwhelmed.

I figured that prayer through music was a good place to start, since it would allow me to lay on the floor in an empty room and simply let the music wash over me.  I could muster no more motivation than that.

As it turned out, this prayer practice is exactly what I needed coming into the new year and – as usual – God provided just what I needed when I needed it.

Why Pray with Music?

Prayer with music is not something I had ever encountered before, until I was on a mini retreat-type morning (an hour and a half of instruction and prayer practice to deepen our relationship with God).

My first encounter with prayer through music was with a classical piece that, honestly, did not speak to me at all.  This was not because classical music is not a good choice for this prayer practice – it is.  It was because I am tightly-wound, easily distractable, and very high-energy.  Trying to pray with classical music was mostly an exercise in reigning in my own thoughts about 18 times a second.

This reigning-in is good practice, and I expect to do much of it when I come to contemplative prayer – a deliberate reigning-in type of prayer.  But for prayer with music, I felt called to use something different.

Contemporary Christian worship music is like my life-blood.  I play it in the car, in my house while cleaning the floors or washing the dishes, often while writing or making anything, and while running through the forest.  Since this is the type of music that speaks to me the most, this is what I chose to use.

What I found most helpful, and most profoundly moving, about this type of prayer practice, was that the music spoke directly to me.  I ended up creating a “prayer” playlist of Christian music that spoke into my life, that echoed my own pains and fears and doubts during that season.

Playing this music allowed God to speak truth directly into my life, often in quite shocking ways.  I was reminded of truths that I had known but forgotten.  I was gently prodded with lessons that I keep having to learn – over and over again.  Through this process I found that God offered healing to some hurt, and also sanded some of the rougher edges of my very self.  How many times must I be reminded that I am not the one in control?  Quiet a lot, it seems.

What was most remarkable about my two weeks of this prayer through music practice, was that I was able to pick up some lyrics and turn them back into prayers to God.  God, in turned, answered many of those prayers – through Scripture, through music, and through other Christians in my life.

It is said that St. Augustine once wrote, “To sing is to pray twice.”  In prayer through music, you can let Scriptural truths wash over you – or you can let the beauty of classical music fill your soul – and you can turns the lyrics (if there are any), and your thoughts and feelings, back into prayers that you offer to God.

And so, why pray with music?

• All things beautiful come from God.
• Good Christian worship music contains Scriptural truths that we often need to be reminded of.
• You can turn lyrics in the music, and your thoughts and feelings that arise during your prayer practice, back into prayers that you offer to God.

How to Pray with Music

Praying with music is really quite straightforward, though it may seem awkward and foreign at first.

Basically, praying with music looks like this: Play some worship music and as the music washes over you, draw or write down words, thoughts, and images that come to mind.

It helps to settle yourself first, to find a cozy spot in your house where you can be alone and to draw your attention to God.  But this part is completely optional.

I have prayed through music while driving in my car, and while laying on the couch unable to focus because of total overwhelm.

The only real necessity when praying with music is to let the music wash over to you and speak truth into your life.

I like to do this with contemporary Christian worship music, but this can also be done with traditional hymns and classical music.  Use what speaks to your soul.

1.  Settle yourself.  Get into a comfortable position.  Take 3-5 deep breaths and let your mental focus shift to God.
2. Start the music and listen.  As much as you are able, still your thoughts.  Stop thinking and simply receive.  Allow the music to wash over you and to speak to you.
3. As the music washes over you, draw or write out any words, thoughts, and images that come to mind.
4. Write out any prayers that come to mind in response to the music.
5. Stop the music.  Say, “Amen.”