I believe worship can change an atmosphere. It has become a very important part of my life. I want to be intentional about leaning into God and seeking His presence daily. I am committed to placing God first in my life, and I feel it is extremely important to reach out to Him in prayer and through worship. Worship is the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration. The actual definition list synonyms such as honor, adore, praise, pray, glorify, and exalt, these are all things I wish to do for God daily.

I am not a super spiritual person. However, I have found ways to draw near to the Lord, because I know that if I do, He will draw near to me. I want His presence near me-ALWAYS. I know that if His presence is near me, my life has light in it, and darkness is kept at bay.

I can’t just write that and have it transpired in my life. I must work at it. Drawing near to God involves intentionally pulling Him into our lives. I don’t have hours a day to devote to reading the Bible and studying His word. I wish I did, but honestly sometimes it’s only a few minutes. I also don’t have hours to spend in a quiet place by myself praying. Most of the time I’m just sending up quick prayers throughout the day. In moments when something tugs on my heart, in thankfulness, or even repentance, because I said something or acted in a way I shouldn’t have.

I’m a wife, a mother of two girls, a full time 40+ hour a week employee, a daughter, a sister, a friend, the list goes on. I am far from perfect in these roles, and they lead me into responsibilities that I often don’t feel equipped to handle. I know I need His presence in my life every hour of every day. It’s that simple. That is why I am intentional about making sure I worship Him daily, and for me this is easiest done by surrounding myself with music. Music that glorifies Him, honor’s Him, and exalts His holy name. In doing so I am living out His written word. There are so many verses in the Bible that speak upon the power of worship.

I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O’ Most High

Psalm 9:2

Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,

Ephesians 5:19

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you-I whom you delivered

Psalm: 71:23

 I will sing of your love and justice; to you, LORD, I will sing praise.

Psalm 101:1

Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts

Psalm 105:2

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Colossians 3:16

Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant

Psalm 135:3

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful acts

1 Chronicles 16:19

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

James 5:13

But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress

Psalms 59:16

I could list so many more! God loves to be praised and worshiped, He commands it. I LOVE music! For me a simple change in what type of music I listen to has made a significant impact on my relationship with God. I started in small steps, incorporating worship music in the five areas listed below a little at a time. Now I’m at a point where it is played in the background of my life, and my family’s, setting a wonderful atmosphere filled with God’s presence. It can be a big step, but I encourage you to give it a try. I personally love Pandora, I have selected stations that only play worship music. My favorite stations are Christian Rock radio, Christian Contemporary radio, and Today’s Christian Hits. In our vehicles, our stations are set to K-LOVE. The first time my youngest daughter sang along with every word to King of the World my heart filled with so much love and joy. We set the tone for the environment in which our families live. Every bit of noise our children hear is absorbed, even when we don’t think they are listening. You can set the tone to be encouraging, inspiring, holy and pleasant… or you can choose to set the tone to something different… but make sure you are fully aware of the environment in which you are nurturing and growing young minds and spirits.

Five Areas to Bring Worship Music into Your Day:

• Your Morning:  If you already listen to music in the morning try switching the station. This was the first area of my day I started to incorporate worship music. I became intentional about listening to worship music for just one hour every morning. Praising and glorifying God early in the morning, sets a tone for a good day and invites the presence of God to be near me, and all I have to do is sing along to my favorite songs.

 

• Your Personal Times: I run/jog/walk to music, this was the second place I started to work in worship music daily. Did you know there are Christian Hip Hop stations on Pandora? I personally had no clue, when I found them, it suddenly became a lot easier to replace the other types of hip hop stations I had been listening to. Upbeat, energizing, yet still inspiring, encouraging, and motivating. If your personal time includes reading, crafting, or whatever, you can still have worship music playing softly in the background.

 

• Work: I’m at it for at least 8 hours a day. Sometimes it is overwhelming. I can become stressed and a bit frazzled trying to take care of every patient to the best of my ability and keep up with multiple tasks all at one time. Playing worship music in the background reminds me that I am not alone. At this season in my life I know God has placed me exactly where he wants me to be. No matter how much work is in front of me, I was purposed to serve those around me, because we are created to love. It’s easy to forget this when negativity overwhelms positivity, and the tasks at hand become more important than the people we are trying to serve. Having worship music in the background can be uplifting and encouraging. Hearing the right song at the right time, can pull you through and remind you that this life is so much more than the next task. Worship music can often times change my mind set, calming me and relieving my anxiety. It helps me set my mind on things that are above this world. Bringing God’s presence into the environment in which I work has totally transformed my days. “Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results.” -James Allen

 

• Travel: I will never forget the first time I got into the car with my husband and he had the radio station set to K-LOVE. He was humming along as he drove. One would not look at him and think, I bet he loves Christian music. However, by me incorporating worship music into my daily life, I had rubbed off on him in a positive way. My daughters are the same way, they sing along word for word as we travel. They are praising and worshiping God and living out the verses above in their own lives. I have talked to several other people whom spend a great deal of time in travel, and for them this was the easiest area to bring worship music into their lives.

 

• Home: Cooking, cleaning, working, playing, it doesn’t matter, it’s the music of our background. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. We will praise His holy name. It can be turned up and blaring with me and my girls singing, dancing, and cleaning, or turned down really low in the background as they study for school. I fill my home with music that worships Him and praises Him, because I want to welcome the Holy Spirit, invite Him in, and ask Him to fill the atmosphere with His presence. I want to fill our HOME with His presence.

I didn’t one day wake up and make these changes, it happened slowly. I never once said anything to my husband or my daughters about their music choices. I didn’t have to, once I had brought the presence of the Lord in, He did the rest. I can remember the day my husband texted me asking what station K-LOVE played on. He was having an awful day at work and just needed to change his mind set. What he needed was to draw the presence of the Lord near him, and music was the easiest way at that moment. I remember my daughter texting me to see if she could download the K-LOVE app on her phone so she could listen to it at school during lunch. Soon several of her friends also downloaded the app and began listening to it. They too were drawing near to God, and in turn I know He was drawing near to them. My six-year-old can often be found singing her favorites, at only six she is very conscience of the fact that she is praising His holy name. She says, “mama wasn’t that song good, I just love Jesus, don’t you?” My answer is always the same… yes baby I do.

Worship can change an atmosphere and bring light into darkness. It can fill you with joy, uplift your mind, and encourage your spirit. It will bring you closer to God, and Him closer to you. The stations above can get you started, YouTube also has great channels, Hillsong Worship, Highlands Worship, and Bethel Music. I encourage you to  pick one of the five areas to start with, begin slowly… and let God do the rest, you never know where His presence will lead you.

Do you include worship music into your day?

If so what are some of your favorite stations, songs, and artists?

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