In a previous post, I mentioned that I sing songs during my personal devotions, and this week is about why I’ve made music a part of my quiet time.
Music is a gift given to help us communicate deep thoughts and truths that we otherwise struggle to grasp or say, and music written for worship is a way to give God praise, to use our breath and our being to exalt the Most High. Songs are prayers set to melodies, outpourings of the human soul before the throne of the living God.
Music is beautiful.
I believe that music has power, and I believe that the Holy Spirit uses music to move and thaw hearts. He uses it to help me come close when my mind is scattered or my soul is raw with griefs or desires I can’t find words to express. He uses it to draw me into deeper love and wonder and humility and new understanding of the magnitude of what He’s done for me, how far I once was, how close I now am, and how much closer I can get to Him.
And when it comes to meeting with God alone, how can I not sing? How can I not give Him a joyful noise? When I’m able to go boldly before Him, how can I not use that boldness to give Him a freewill offering of praise?
I don’t think that quiet time with God is only about learning of the God Who knows no equal; quiet time with God is about coming to Him with intentionality and humility and prayer and praise with the purpose of glorifying Him.
Yes, devotions are about knowing Him as intimately as I can and taking what I know and living like I actually know it, but that isn’t all there is to it. The whole reason anything in all creation even exists is to glorify God, to give Him praise. Period. That’s it. And yes, my entire life is to be an act of worship, but when given the opportunity to lift my voice and glorify my matchless God one-on-One, when it’s just Him and me, why wouldn’t I take it?
I try to keep my music well-balanced with my prayer and study time, and I have found that beginning with some prayer and then a couple songs sets a tone of adoration for the entire time so that my heart is as engaged as my head.
How I use music depends on the day. Sometimes I grab my iPod and listen/listen and sing a few songs. Sometimes I simply pray the lyrics of a song. Sometimes I sing acapella. Sometimes I grab one of my ukuleles and play softly (though, sometimes I have trouble focusing on the words themselves and get too fixated on playing the song well, and so then I have to set my uke aside and sing without it).
I’ve made music a part of my devotions because I love to sing of my God, I love to sing to my God.
I’ve made music a part of my devotions because a few songs on Sunday just doesn’t cut it for me anymore.
I’ve made music a part of my devotions because I want to have a soulfire for God, and music about Him reminds me Who I’m burning for.
I’ve made music a part of my devotions because it helps me focus; it helps me turn my eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face.
I’ve made music a part of my devotions because I want to be consistent in my worship.
Penprints 
I really like this idea! I’ve never thought of including music in devotions before, but I think I might try. I agree, music is very powerful – it always helps calm me down or stop my thoughts from raging around when I’m listening to one of my favorite songs. The Bible does say multiple times to sing and shout praises to the Lord! I’ve just never thought of doing it in my personal time before😂 Awesome post!❤️ – Abi
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Thank you for your comment, Abi! :) I hadn’t thought of it either until my older brother suggested that I have a “personal worship” time as well as personal devotions, and it’s stuck ever since! :)
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Lovely post! I couldn’t pass it up after seeing how hard you worked to get the photo ;)
I have always sung a lot. I’m always in one choir (sometimes 3 o.o) and enjoy our hymns on Sunday morning. I’ve never been one to listen to much on the radio, but now that I have Spotify I’ve begun to seek out more worship music. I love that my church does hymns on Sunday because of the timelessness and theology. But there is a lot of great praise music out there that’s newer and while it may not be Sunday morning material (in my opinion), it is still worshipful. It helps me worship God individually. Tenth Avenue North is a good example — they’re lyrics aren’t churchy, but they’re real.
I’ve never really thought about making music part of devotions specifically because I set aside special time for that. I sing whenever I want to. So it is everyday worship for me, but not as structured, if that makes sense ;)
It was lovely to hear your thoughts on this! Do you have any artists you recommend? I’m trying to familiarize myself with some of the newer music and find some good songs. :)
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Lol, yes, I angst too much (like, wayyyyyy too much) over my blog pics.
Whoa. 3 choirs?? O.o O.o
My church does hymns too! We usually do at least three hymns a week and then three newer songs, but our organist had surgery and is out of commission for a couple months. :( So we’re down to one or two hymns, depending on how much time our worship team gets to practice. (And that is way more info than you ever wanted to know, but now you know it. 😉) I love hymns too! They’re so solid and rich in their lyrics–much more so than a lot of contemporary music…
I sing a lot throughout the day, but that’s usually more of a multitasking thing, and I’m awful at multitasking. I decided to incorporate it in my devotions because have trouble actually worshipping (because I can’t focus to save my life) when I sing throughout the day. But what you said about everyday worship definitely makes sense, I just can’t do it well because I’m like a squirrel.
As for artists! Rend Collective is a very thoughtful band; they have such joyful songs! Check out Simplicity, Every Giant Will Fall, and Boldly I Approach. :) Also, there’s Casting Crowns. Most of their songs have more to do with Christian living than intentional praise (if that makes any sense), but they’re all so solid. My favorites are Hallelujah, What If I Gave Everything, This Is Now, and Thrive. Have you heard of Keith and Kristen Getty? They’re modern day hymn writers, and they are so excellent! Basically anything by them is gold. :)
Thank you for you lovely comments, Abi! 💜
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Great idea! Contemporary Christian music helps me start each day as I get ready for work and drive to work, but I never really thought about adding it to personal devotion time.
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It was Luke’s idea first (I suppose I should have given him billing in the post…)! He challenged me to make time for personal worship. Thanks for commenting! :)
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“Music is a gift given to help us communicate deep thoughts and truths that we otherwise struggle to grasp or say, and music written for worship is a way to give God praise, to use our breath and our being to exalt the Most High. Songs are prayers set to melodies, outpourings of the human soul before the throne of the living God.” You echo and word so beautifully exactly how I feel about music! Sometimes music is my sole expression of my worship. Yesterday I discovered, “What a beautiful name” by Hillsong and I just let it pour over me this morning <3
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Oh, thank you for reading! 💜 Oh my goodness! I love “What a Beautiful Name”!! I get chills everytime I hear it! 💜💜
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me too!
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