Worship music

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LaFleurDeLis

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Can listening to worship music (KLOVE) be a form of prayer? I struggle in my prayer life, but listen to KLOVE a lot and it gets me thinking about my faith. I sing along in the car all the time and am just curious if this can be considered prayer?
 
Hi,

Right now as I am posting to the forum, I have Catholic Music on and actually this is turning into a prayerful experience. It helps to have Windows Media open at the same time. 😃

As a musician I think that music is a great way to pray. Somehow that can express so many feelings that one cannot put into words. I too listen to KLOVE and enjoy the positive music on the radio station, but because I cannot stand the talking, I end up downloading music and putting it on the computer.

St. Augustine says he who sings prays twice, I agree with him.

God bless.
 
James 5:13
Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise.
 
I just can’t get into the contemporary music genre. 😦

Are there any other online stations that play a wide range of Catholic music?
 
Ahhh I had forgotten to mention that King David was the author of some of the psalms in the bible. The Psalms were songs of prayer that ranged and covered all aspects of the human emotions that one can feel. I love praying the LOTH and I chant it most of the time when I have time, because there’s just something with chanting and praying at the same time.

God bless.
 
LaFleurDeLis said:
Can listening to worship music (KLOVE) be a form of prayer? I struggle in my prayer life, but listen to KLOVE a lot and it gets me thinking about my faith. I sing along in the car all the time and am just curious if this can be considered prayer?
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Absolutely it is.
Little_One0307 said:
Ahhh I had forgotten to mention that King David was the author of some of the psalms in the bible. The Psalms were songs of prayer that ranged and covered all aspects of the human emotions that one can feel. I love praying the LOTH and I chant it most of the time when I have time, because there’s just something with chanting and praying at the same time.
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I totally agree.

I remember trying to read my way through the Bible (just to get a better idea of what was in all the books), and having no idea what I was going to do with the Book of Psalms. I just happened to stumble upon the LOTH, and that solved that problem. It also taught me something: the Psalms are meant to be said, not read. You don’t get the same “feel” if you just read them; saying them can put your mind into whatever emotion is being highlighted.

I must say too (speaking of Psalms and worship music) that I sometimes find references to the Psalms in some praise and worship music. Maybe not intentional, but there is some.
 
prayer is conversation with God and time spent with God, devoted to him and no outside distraction.

I have no idea what place music plays in your prayer, but if you are doing something else at the same time, multi-tasking, while it can be prayerful certainly, you still need some silent time with God where there is no other outside activity or (name removed by moderator)ut, some time you reserve entirely for Him. yes singing along praise lyrics certainly is one form of prayer at times, but it cannot be the only prayer. Lyrics based on the psalms or other bible verses, in my opinion, are the most helpful for that purpose. Some lyrics are essentially the private prayer or confession of the writer set to music and they have value if they help us empathize with the spiritual struggle but sometime we need to find our own words.
 
I don’t know what KLOVE is, but I have a folder of praise and worship music on my computer and in my .mp3 player. I wouldn’t expect to hear it in Mass, but I like to listen to it in certain circumstances, like when I’m mowing.
 
DaveBj said:
I don’t know what KLOVE is, but I have a folder of praise and worship music on my computer and in my .mp3 player. I wouldn’t expect to hear it in Mass, but I like to listen to it in certain circumstances, like when I’m mowing.
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KLOVE is a Christain radio station that has lots of modern praise and worship songs on it. It’s pretty much everywhere in the United States from what I have heard.

God bless.
 
Little_One0307 said:
KLOVE is a Christain radio station that has lots of modern praise and worship songs on it. It’s pretty much everywhere in the United States from what I have heard.

God bless.
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Dang, that’s not a station, that’s a whole network. Must be over 50 stations, not to mention on-line listening. No stations in Alabama, tho.
 
DaveBj said:
Dang, that’s not a station, that’s a whole network. Must be over 50 stations, not to mention on-line listening. No stations in Alabama, tho.
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Oops. Thanks for pointing that out, I meant to say network. I just think station because its on the radio. What state is EWTN in? Is it in Alabama?

God bless.
 
LaFleurDeLis said:
Can listening to worship music (KLOVE) be a form of prayer? I struggle in my prayer life, but listen to KLOVE a lot and it gets me thinking about my faith. I sing along in the car all the time and am just curious if this can be considered prayer?
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Personally, I find music one of the most helpful things for my prayer life. I really love modern worship music (though I appreciate it’s not everyone’s cup of tea 😉 ). Like you, I often struggle to pray, but for me, putting some worship music on is an excellent way to connect with God. It helps me find the focus I need to pray. I pray by singing along, and also in my own words with quiet music on as a ‘background’. 🙂
 
In the Bible, people often sang as a form of worship. Upon the safe passage of the Israelites across the Red Sea, Miriam took a tambourine and began singing with the other Jewish women.

King David sang and danced when the Ark was returned to Jerusalem. He also wrote the Psalms.

Solomon paid the musicians who made up the Temple service.

Even accounts of the early Christians report that often Christians went to their death in the Colloseum of Rome singing psalms and religious songs, praising God.

I can’t see why listening to music couldn’t be a form of worship, if you use it to focus on God and do some prayer.
 
Little_One0307 said:
Oops. Thanks for pointing that out, I meant to say network. I just think station because its on the radio. What state is EWTN in? Is it in Alabama?

God bless.
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Yes, in Irondale, east of B’ham. And Mother Angelica’s Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament is about 18 miles from our house. Cullman County is the Catholic buckle on the Baptist Bible Belt 😃
 
DaveBj said:
Yes, in Irondale, east of B’ham. And Mother Angelica’s Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament is about 18 miles from our house. Cullman County is the Catholic buckle on the Baptist Bible Belt 😃
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Ahhh maybe that is why Alabama does not have KLOVE, EWTN beats KLOVE hands down from what I have heard.
 
Little_One0307 said:
Ahhh maybe that is why Alabama does not have KLOVE, EWTN beats KLOVE hands down from what I have heard.
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There is a CCM station in B’ham, but I don’t listen to it - - too rock-ish. And I can only get EWTN on the XM radio in my truck, and I’m not really in my truck that much, altho it seems like I am.
 
Thanks for all the great responses! I’m so glad this is considered a form of prayer. However, I do still have quiet prayer while this music is playing in my car. It’s a helpful reminder as I’m so forgetful.
 
I never really caught on very much to the “contemporary Christian” music genre, except for Rich Mullins.

For me, there were two major categories of CCM: Rich, and All Others.

I was fortunate to see him in concert several times, and he even played a free concert for Marriage Encounter at our home church, on my own piano we had moved there for the occasion. That was a few days before his last Christmas. The only surviving photo that I can find is one with our pastor and associate pastor … (we lost the rest of the photos in a house fire in 2005).

Rich was within a couple weeks of receiving his first Holy Communion; I got that straight from Fr. Matt McGuinness, who gave him his Catholicism training. He was always interested in Catholicism (which is clear both from his music, his commentary, and even his album covers) but said at a couple concerts that he was too “chicken” to become one. Well, in the opinion of my now retired ex-pastor Father Busch, he was Catholic. And Father Busch had never even heard of Rich until a week before the concert when the big fancy parish that was supposed to host the concert reneged (citing hassle with Christmas preparations – it was Dec 21 I think) and Father Busch consented to the request by my wife and me to have it at All Saints.

I put that photo on my own website and posted it in these forums at least once before. Other websites have used it since then. At the shooting of the photo, Father Busch called it “a Rose between Two Thorns.” It has become a popular photo among Catholic sites because we have Rich flanked by two priests, with parts of the altar, the crucifix, and the tabernacle in the background … as well as my son Chris. One such website I found here by using a Google image search for “rich mullins catholic” has more information about his intended conversion to Catholicism. There is a review of the concert by Danl Blackwood, who made websites for Rich, on the Kid Brothers website.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

RIP, Rich. As one of your band members said in a tribute concert, I’m sure that God has said to you, “well done, my good and faithful servant.” :harp:

Alan
 
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