Psalm 35:1-3 “Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord, give praise, O servants of the Lord, you that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God! Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for he is gracious!” Today's episode talks all about the benefits of listening to Christian music. It also talks about the impact it can have on people's lives. Then I have included a couple of testimonies from people who listen to the radio station. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Christian Music Can Be Life Changing
Psalm 35:1-3 “Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord, give praise, O servants of the Lord, you that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God! Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for he is gracious!”
Yesterday, I shared a personal experience about praising God through the hard times. I also shared this during my teaching at the prayer group. During prayer, we have a quiet time when we listen for words from the Lord, similar to the ones I share at the end of each episode. Yesterday, the Lord kept guiding us with scriptures about praise, like the one above. The Bible is filled with instances of praise. King David, for instance, was a great example of praise. Some of the most powerful Psalms of praise we have from David were not when everything was going well for him. Some of the most impactful ones came from him when he was hiding in a cave from his son or from Saul.
One reason I suggested yesterday that we listen to praise and worship music often is because then that is what you will have running through your head. Whatever you surround yourself with is what you will think about; it is what will contribute to the thoughts running through your head, and it will have an effect on how you are acting. Think about how different things could be if you were constantly listening to music that told you how great God is, how He is always there for you. If you heard stories of how He has helped others and so He will help you too. What if you heard every day that God loves you and doesn’t make mistakes?
This is the transformative power of Christian music. It doesn’t just uplift us, it changes us. When we listen to it, our hearts open up a bit, and our hearts soften a bit. When we listen to Christian music frequently, we begin to believe in an even deeper way that Jesus loves us and that we are His. We start to believe the things they talk about. We begin to believe that we don’t have to be perfect to come to Christ. We believe that we can be forgiven. We believe He died for us, you and me.
My husband used to listen to WAAF radio station. The station number on the radio was 107.3. It has been around since I was a kid. It was a rock station and they also had a morning show that he liked. However, now 107.3 is KLOVE radio, which is a Christian radio station. I have never heard of a Christian radio station before. It is amazing. If you don’t have KLOVE near you, although it is all over the United States I believe, then they have a website and an app. So, even if you can’t get them on the radio where you live, you can still get their music. They also have all sorts of events. They have a part of their website where you can place prayer requests, and then they let you know when someone prays for you. They have pastors you can call and talk to when needed.
Another reason listening to this music can be so beneficial is because, a lot of times, they will use words in the song that are right out of the Bible. When I first started listening to Christian music I remember being so surprised when I would hear the words to the songs in the readings at church. It helped me connect more to the readings because I had already heard the words before. This can happen when you read the Bible too, but that wasn’t where I started. I wasn’t there in my faith journey yet.
One final benefit I will talk about today is the fact that the music can reach people that church can’t. There are many people who have either been wounded by the church or have preconceived notions about the church, and so they have no desire to ever step through the doors of a church. However, they could be flipping through radio stations and happen to hear a song about Jesus that really touches their heart. Music is a great way to touch hearts because people aren’t usually on the defensive when they are listening to music. If you start to talk about Jesus to someone, they might instantly go on the defensive. They might sense that you are going to preach to them. However, with music, people tend to listen without feeling like that. Music finds a way into people’s hearts and souls that is different than anything else.
The radio station KLOVE is fundraising this week. They are listener-funded, so every quarter, they do a week of fundraising on the show. I will be honest, this is not my favorite week to listen because I don’t like that they are asking for money so much; I would rather listen to music. However, what I do like about their fundraising weeks is that they read so many testimonies about how KLOVE and the music they provide have changed so many people's lives. They talk about the power of the music they play and give real-life examples of how it has brought people to Jesus. I have heard some amazing testimonies from this radio station. I have taken a few from their website so that I can show you how powerful music can be. Here are a couple of the ways KLOVE and the music they play have affected others.
I enjoy listening to K-LOVE every morning on my way to work. When I am feeling down and out a song starts playing and it is just the song I needed to here. Thank you everyone at K-LOVE for doing what God wants you to do. God bless you all.
My husband passed away in May. It has been rough, to say the least. One of the things we did was talk when I was driving home from work. K-LOVE has filled that void. I listen to K-LOVE all the time in my car. Thank you for your ministry.
A few years ago I went through a difficult breakup and I found that it wasn’t helpful to keep listening to regular radio stations. They only reminded me of the pain I was going through. That’s when I switched to K-LOVE, and I never went back.
I had been praying and thinking about something for a while and finally just asked God to tell me what to do. Then I heard the verse of the day: Psalms 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. At that moment, God was talking to me.
This is not an ad for the KLOVE radio station. I just want to let you know how important and beneficial it can be to listen to Christian music. You can also go on Spotify. This is an app and a website, and they have a ton of amazing Christian music on there too. There is a playlist on there called Walk Boldly With Jesus Favorites. This has several of my favorite songs on it. I will place a link for this playlist in the show notes. I pray each of you will spend some time this week listening to some Christian music. You can find a ton on YouTube as well. Just put in the search bar praise and worship songs with lyrics. That way you can sing a long with them!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode today. Lord, thank you for encouraging us to praise you and for creating us to praise you. Lord, please continue to increase our desire to praise you and teach us how to praise you more and more. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Click Here for the Playlist.
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in December 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or about these words, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Some of you were waiting. You are trying hard to believe that I am in your troubles. Part of you believe, yes, he is; well, the other half doesn't. It is hard sometimes to hang onto a thread when it feels to you that you have been believing in vain. I'll tell you I, as your father, forget nothing, not a single prayer that you have released and even those you have not.”