How Can You Pray Without Ceasing?

In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul tells us to "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

How can you pray without ceasing? I heard a wonderful answer from from a Community Bible Study teacher. You know how we all have a little inner voice?

It's just a little shift in focus to shift our inner dialog upward instead of inward. Even in things as simple as shopping, you can be asking God to help you. Pray about the big things and pray about the small things too.

Here's a little video for you with 7 tips on taking care of your guitar. I recently put up a post on guitar care, but there's something about seeing visuals that helps you remember all the tips. Let me know what you think. Blessings to you!

'Guardame Las Vacas' is such a fun Renaissance piece. It's included in the new Reading Music and Music Theory Course. The song was originally written to be played on the lute. I used to own a lute and even performed in an Early Music Group for a number of years. We performed at the Edinburgh Music Festival in Scotland. I hope you enjoy the song and maybe even learn to play it too?

Would you like to improve your guitar playing? Practicing with guitar scales is a fruitful and beneficial practice. Here are 4 tips that can help you play scales excellently.

1. The first tip is practicing. You need to spent time with the instrument to improve your playing. Use scales to begin you time of practice. It helps you to focus on just the technique of playing.
2. Speaking of focus. That's the next tip. Sometimes people play the guitar, but just play things they already know. To get better, it takes concentration and focus. I know a concert guitar player who plays a difficult section of a piece 100 times perfectly. If he messes up on #89, he starts over again from #1. We aren't all 'concert guitar players' but I think focusing will benefit all players.
3. Start the scales by playing them slowly. Try moving both hands at exactly the same time. In other words, hold down the note and strike the string at the same time. This will help you play faster down the road.
4. Using a metronome is an excellent practice. You can use it to gradually increase the speed and it will also help you achieve an more accurate sense of tempo.

For an easy scale to play, there is a video at the website of Guitar Scales.

'It Is Well With My Soul' is one of the songs in the New Reading and Music Theory Guitar Course. The story is so touching, I decided to make a short video about it to share with you. God is FAITHFUL in all of our trials and helps us through them when we have an eternal perspective. I hope you enjoy this short video and are maybe even inspired to write your own songs or poems of His Unfathomable Love and Faithfulness.