In drawing near to the L-RD in prayer, I’ve been naturally drawn primarily to the worship music of Messianic music artists. However, some of the longer-standing artists seem more distracting than the new generation of artists. Perhaps the songs of old standbys like Paul Wilbur and Joel Chernoff are so familiar and soothing that they sometimes make a better sleep aid than a worship and prayer aid.
My latest favorite artist is someone I pointed out to Rabbi Stan about eight months ago; he wasn’t that impressed back then, but he heard her perform at the Rabbi’s conference this winter and his opinion spun ’round to enthusiasm. It’s kind of nice to know I found her first, even though he won’t exactly admit it: Sue Samuel is a Messianic artist whose latest contribution, Songs … from the Secret Place, is one of the first full albums I bought on iTunes after buying my first official iPod… a 16GB iPod nano, fifth generation!
Along with some songs by Messianic artist Ted Pearce, one track by Paul Wilbur (Shalom Jerusalem!), and even three Christian worship tunes I enjoy … namely, Heart of Worship by Matt Redman, The More I Seek You by Kari Jobe, and Let It Rain by Michael W. Smith … I’ve developed a 46-minute Prayer and Worship playlist that really sets me in the right frame of mind for prayer.
What a help!