Even science agrees that music has healing power. Today we have music therapists who play sounds that set captives free in hospitals, special educational needs classrooms, nursing homes, and other environments. Harvard University researchers, among others, are reporting that music is a healing balm for stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and the physical stress of premature birth. They have also learned that music can improve surgical outcomes, help to restore lost speech, reduce side effects of cancer therapy, relieve pain, improve mood, and battle depression. Dr Gottfried Schlaug, a Harvard University neurologist, told the Los Angeles Times, ‘Music might provide an alternative entry point to the brain because it can unlock so many different doors into an injured or ill brain.’ His research shows that pitch, harmony, melody, rhythm, and emotion, which are all components of music, engage different parts of the brain – parts of the brain that are also important for speech, movement, and social interaction. ‘He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions’ (Psalm 107:20 NKJV). So, when music is the medium used to praise God and express His creative and life-changing Word, you begin to see its potential to bring deliverance. That was certainly so for Paul and Silas: ‘At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed’ (Acts 16:25-26 NKJV). Change your attitude. Change your environment. Change your outlook. Start surrounding yourself with songs of deliverance!

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.