{"id":24200,"date":"2026-03-11T15:45:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T15:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/how-prayer-can-be-like-playing-jazz\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:17:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:17:47","slug":"how-prayer-can-be-like-playing-jazz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/prayer\/how-to-pray\/how-prayer-can-be-like-playing-jazz\/","title":{"rendered":"How Prayer Can Be Like Playing Jazz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though I\u2019ve played trombone, tuba and baritone in public, I don\u2019t consider myself a musician. I am, however, a music lover, and among the many forms I enjoy is jazz.<\/p>\n

Some people suppose that jazz musicians just make up whatever comes into their heads at a particular moment in a song. Not so. Jazz is a form<\/em>, like other music styles, and it relies on each musician or vocalist knowing what\u2019s going on and what his or her place is in the whole. Yes, improvisation happens, but it\u2019s possible only within a structure or pattern where everyone participates. It\u2019s a form that fuels the fires of creativity.<\/p>\n

Prayer can be like that.<\/p>\n

My prayer life is fed and fueled by various structures<\/a> that provide a pattern in which I can play and improvise. For example, I learned as a child the words of the Lord\u2019s Prayer,<\/a> as clear and complete a prayer as I can imagine. I often pray those words exactly as I learned them in childhood. <\/p>\n

At other times I pray like jazz, using the Lord\u2019s Prayer. I might start: \u201cOur Father, who art in heaven\u2026how I thank You that You\u2019re still in heaven, that You remain King and Sovereign over all the earth,\u201d and so on. <\/p>\n

I might go on, later, to say: \u201cForgive us our trespasses<\/a>\u2014especially the things I said to my wife this afternoon\u2014as we forgive those who trespass against us.\u201d Though The Lord\u2019s Prayer is a mere 58 words (in Luke\u2019s Gospel, Matthew\u2019s version is 68 words long), when I pray like jazz, it expands considerably. <\/p>\n

I also pray like jazz in my compline or bedtime prayers. <\/a>Among the standard features of the compline liturgy that has become precious to me is a prayer attributed to St. Augustine:<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep watch, O Lord, with those who wake or watch or weep tonight, and give your angels charge<\/a> over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, Lord Christ; rest your weary ones; bless your dying ones; soothe your suffering ones; pity your afflicted ones; shield your joyous ones; and all for your love’s sake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes I pray it just like that, word for word, but at other times I verbalize the needs that come to mind, like this: \u201cKeep watch, O Lord, with those who wake or watch or weep tonight\u2014especially Fred as he grieves his loss\u2014and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, Lord Christ, including Norm and Deb; rest your weary ones, especially Rhonda,\u201d and so on. <\/p>\n

The Psalms<\/a>\u2014because I\u2019ve read and prayed them many times over the years\u2014also shape the structure of many of my prayers, providing a form while allowing ample room to improvise and specify.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m feeling low, I might recall the words of Psalm 5: \u201cGive ear to my words, O Lord; consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God.\u201d Then move on from there to pray: \u201cYou read my thoughts; You know how low I\u2019m feeling,\u201d etc.<\/p>\n

Or when I\u2019ve stumbled and sinned, I begin as David did in Psalm 51:<\/a> \u201cHave mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions\u201d (Psalm 51:1 NIV).<\/p>\n

Then I begin naming the wrong things I\u2019ve done, eventually finding my way back to the psalm with, \u201cCreate in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me\u201d (Psalm 51:10 NIV).<\/p>\n

Like a jazz musician who can soar to new musical heights with improvised riffs in the midst of an existing piece of music, my prayers are constantly refreshed and enriched by the ability to add my humble \u201criffs\u201d amid the forms and cadences of Scripture and liturgy.<\/p>\n

Praying like jazz may not be everyone\u2019s style. It\u2019s not even the only style in my prayer repertoire. But it\u2019s become such a natural and beneficial part of my prayer life, I\u2019m immensely grateful that I fumbled my way into it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though I\u2019ve played trombone, tuba and baritone in public, I don\u2019t consider myself a musician. I am, however, a music lover, and among the many forms I enjoy is jazz. Some people suppose that jazz musicians just make up whatever comes into their heads at a particular moment in a song. Not so. Jazz is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":30739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[251],"tags":[159,57,30,248],"ppma_author":[465],"class_list":["post-24200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-pray","tag-bible","tag-creativity","tag-prayer","tag-scripture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Prayer Can Be Like Playing Jazz - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Prayer Can Be Like Playing Jazz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Though I\u2019ve played trombone, tuba and baritone in public, I don\u2019t consider myself a musician. 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