Every good thing in our lives is a gift from God. He has given us the beautiful gift of music. As a guitar instructor for over 30 years, I have seen how music blesses people.

One of my students was a Beverly Hills lawyer studying classical guitar. He told me that playing music on the guitar always took him to another place and he felt the stresses of his work disappear. Relieving stress is a benefit of playing an instrument.

There are many studies proving that playing an instrument causes your brain to develop in both hemispheres. At a homeschool fair I exhibited in, one of the moms stopped by our booth to tell us how much her teenage daughter loved my worship guitar instructional program. She came back later to add that all of her daughter's grades went up and that she believes it was related to learning the guitar.

There are many good reasons to learn to play an instrument, but adding real worship puts the music in a whole new and deeper category. You see, we were created to worship a Holy God. There is a depth of fulfillment in worshipping Him that secular music will never touch.

When we worship Him we fulfill Hebrews 11:6. This is the scripture that says without faith it is impossible to please God and that He rewards those who believe He exists and earnestly seek Him.

What are those rewards? There are too many to list here, but a big one, and the third benefit in this article, is peace. We have peace with God and can experience peace regardless of what is happening around us.

One morning, while I was worshipping, the phone rang. It was an obscene phone call but because I was in God's presence and peace, instead of reacting negatively I told the caller, in love, that what he was saying was sin.

I told him that Jesus died on the cross for his sins and if he gave his life to Christ that he would be forgiven and that God could meet all of his needs.

Well, he hung up on me, and I noticed that I did not feel slimmed or disgusted with the call. Instead, I prayed for him for a while.

The fourth benefit of developing a daily time of worship is that it's easier to hear from God. When we practice being in His presence through prayer, worship and meditating on His Word, we recognize His ways and desires for our lives.

What is the result of aligning yourself to God? Joy. Joy is not the same word as happy. Jesus endured the cross because of the joy set before Him. He knew that dying for our sins would be painful and horrible, but necessary to redeem us back into a relationship with a Holy God.

We can experience that joy in the trials of our lives. In the book of James, we are told to count it all joy when we face trials of all kinds. Consistently worshipping puts our hearts in alignment with our Creator and He gives us the strength to endure all things with His peace and joy.

The next benefit I thought about was the fact that we can please God! Again, in Hebrews 11:6 it says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Hence, with faith we do please God.

When I give a special gift that I know someone wants it is so exciting. Many years ago, my voice teacher mentioned that she and her husband wanted a Troy-Bilt rototiller but that it was too expensive. I approached one of the leaders of a group she was involved with and 30 of us paid for the rototiller. I couldn't wait to see the expression on her face when she saw their present!

How much more is our Father in heaven pleased when we give of ourselves by giving Him our devotion every day? Realizing his pleasure should bring a smile to our faces as we come before Him with our daily worship.

The last benefit is that it is a tangible way we can say ‘Thank-you' for all the wonderful gifts God gives us. I usually end my Newsletters with the words ‘Worship Him with all your heart because He loves you with all of His.' God Bless.