Worship Interludes - Piano Instrumentals for Prayer, Meditation, Soaking Worship, Relaxation, Study, and Rest

The Deep Things – Piano Instrumental for Prayer, Meditation, and Soaking

Today’s interlude, “The Deep Things” is spacious and contemplative. I wanted to record an episode with a lot of space and room. This music turned out to be great for prayer, meditation, and deep thinking. As I recorded this and listened to it afterwards, I wanted to just close my eyes and prayerfully press into those “deep things” – those hidden treasures and purposes that we only discover through much prayer and seeking.

In the Bible, the Apostle Paul tells us that the Spirit of God searches and knows these deep mysteries. As Believers, we are blessed to have that same Spirit of the Living God residing inside of us who can teach and show us the deep things of God.

However, as it is written:  “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him – these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God 1 Corinthians 2: 9-11

I’ve used a different piano sound on this instrumental. As you can hear, it has a longer reverb and ambient effect that helps the melody to linger.

I hope you enjoy listening. For those of faith, I hope that it helps you to pray and soak in a time of seeking. I also realize that there are many who listen to this music who may not be of the same Christian faith but enjoy the music for the calm and relaxing sounds. Either way, my hope and prayer is that the music will be a blessing to you and all those who listen.

Listen:

Watch:

“Regrets” – A Piano Instrumental for Contemplating, Praying, & Forgiveness

Let’s face it – all of us have regrets in life. In this fallen world, where our very nature is to be selfish, we will always make decisions that we regret. Yet, there is an amazing freedom that comes when we acknowledge our regrets, confess any of the hurt or pain that is a result of the decision, and move forward.

My piano interludes are more than often, uplifting. I hesitated to use such a negative word as a title but I realize that regrets are real. We all have them and carry them and long to be healed from poor decisions.

Some regrets are over monumental mistakes that have altered or changed our lives. Some of them deeply hurt other people or left us questioning ourselves. Yet, some regrets are much more simple and small. Even today, January 15th, 2019, I realized at 8:00 AM that I regretted the past three hours of this morning. I wanted a do-over. It all started with my early morning decision at 5:00 AM to turn off my alarm and skip my morning workout. I hadn’t been to the workouts with my buddies since before Christmas and was really looking forward to getting back into my regular routine. Instead, I justified my need for more sleep … I’d only gotten a couple of hours of sleep the night before and have been battling a nasty cough for over three weeks. Yet, that had been my excuse for weeks. Today was the day.

I managed to get a little sleep but when I woke up around 7:15 AM, my first feeling was regret. I regretted sleeping in. I regretted starting what I knew was to be a very busy day a few hours late. I felt disappointment in myself. Within minutes, that self pity and disappointment was projected onto my family as I spent our breakfast time arguing about petty things. And guess what that did? It brought on more regret, and certainly hurt those around me. I find that when I am loathing in frustration or regrets, even for what may seem to be a petty thing, I project that onto others. Such a terrible mistake.

The good news is this:

We do not have to live in regret. We can acknowledge our poor decisions, ask those who we hurt for forgiveness, and most importantly – we can receive God’s forgiveness to us. By clinging onto that regret, we are rejecting the wonderful gift of grace and mercy that is available to us from our Heavenly Father.

Already running behind, I battled the thoughts of skipping today’s interlude. Yet, thankfully, I did not add yet another thing to regret and sat down in my home studio and recorded this piano instrumental, “Regrets”.

As you listen, my desire is that you don’t meditate on and live with your regrets. Instead, my hope is that you will acknowledge them and confess them. Then receive God’s forgiveness, grace, and mercy to pick yourself up, make amends the best you can, and move forward with your head high. You may need to listen to this piece several times. You may need to journal about some people whom you need to approach about forgiving you.

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.Philippians 3: 13-14, NIV

Listen:

Watch:

In The Stillness” is a soothing, peaceful piano instrumental interlude composed and performed by Fred McKinnon. It is an ideal soundtrack for your quiet time, prayer, meditation, soaking worship, and relaxation.

Many times we may fill our prayer times with requests and appeals to God. Often, our times of prayer become our opportunities to vent about everything that stresses us in our lives.

I’ve found that it’s very peaceful, relaxing, and stress-relieving to say nothing; rather, be still and just listen. Give an opportunity for your body to slow down, for your thoughts to settle, and for the space in your mind to calm down so that you can HEAR direction and guidance.

Sometimes we may not hear anything. That is also fine. The very process of taking a “sabbath” moment and doing no work is so very healing and positive for our mind, body, and spirit.

It’s my prayer that as you listen to this you will sense the peace of God and be comforted with the knowledge that He will direct your paths. Wait, silently, in the stillness.

Listen:

Watch:

“In the Stillness – Piano Instrumental for Prayer, Meditation, Soaking Worship, Rest, Relaxation
Episode #120 – Worship Interludes Podcast by Fred McKinnon

New Seasons, New Beginnings

January represents new seasons and new beginnings for us as we kick off a brand new year. I’ve spent a good bit of time looking back (I recently published an instrumental for the podcast called “Looking Back” to give you a moment to look back and reflect) and now I look forward to 2019.

This year should be a year of excitement, growth, new opportunities, and new vision. I am beginning the new year in such a different position in life and work than I was last year.

One of the things that is new with this 119th episode of the Worship Interludes Podcast is a new sound! Today’s interlude is recorded with a different piano sound that I discovered as part of the Spectrasonics Keyscape program. I’d love to know how you like it. It has a nice grand piano but adds a shimmery pad and some extra reverb effects. What do you think?

I’m so grateful for each and every listener. Thanks for listening, thanks for writing in with your comments and feedback, and thanks for sharing this music with your friends.

I hope that as you listen, you will have a time of peaceful prayer, meditation or rest.

Happy New Year!

Listen:

Watch:

Looking Back – A Piano Instrumental for New Year’s Reflection

2018 is drawing to a close and it’s time for pausing, looking back, and reflecting on what the past year has brought us. This piano instrumental is Episode #118 of the “Worship Interludes Podcast” by Fred McKinnon. Personally, I love the turn of a new year because it gives me a new sense of purpose, a new beginning, and a new set of goals and aspirations.

I also believe it’s important to take time to reflect on the past. Although we cannot change our past, we can most definitely learn from it. Perhaps your past year, 2018, was fantastic for you. Perhaps it was a tough year. Regardless, there are always going to be highs and lows that you can reflect on.

The image featured on this podcast episode is yet another one of the amazing stellar images provided royalty-free by Pexels.com. This image is by a photographer named Pete Johnson. I chose this image because it signifies being on the road of life and stopping to look back.

As you listen to this piano instrumental interlude, take some time to look back and reflect on 2018. Perhaps you’d like to have a journal so you can write down the year’s highs and lows.

What can you celebrate?
What can you learn from your trials?

There are so many things that I can celebrate in 2018. I accomplished a goal of releasing a new Christmas album, “Silent Night”. I was able to see exponential growth in the number of people listening to this podcast and my music. I’m so grateful for these wonderful accomplishments and look forward to even greater ones in the future.

I hope that as you listen, you sense the peace of God and that you are filled with purpose and vision for the new year to come.

Happy New Year!
Fred McKinnon

Listen:

Watch:

“In the Waiting” – Piano Instrumental Interlude for Prayer, Meditation, Soaking Worship

One of my current favorite worship songs is called “Take Courage”.  It’s performed by Kristine Demarco with Bethel Music.  The message in this song is beautiful, encouraging, and the phrase “He’s in the waiting” appears throughout the chorus.

As I recorded today’s interlude, I was reminded of our waiting.   We are in a season called “Advent” now which refers to the arrival of a notable person or event.   In the Christian church, the season of Advent refers to the four Sundays leading up to Christmas and it also refers to the waiting for the return of Christ.

It’s often during our times of waiting that God is doing something in our behalf that we cannot see.   So much happens underneath the soil when a seed is planted before we can see the plant come forth from the ground.   

Musically, there is a lot of lingering in this composition.   In those waiting moments, take time to be still, be silent, and wait.   

Listen:

Turn Aside – A Piano Instrumental for Prayer, Meditation, and Reflection

Hey everybody,
First some housekeeping.   In my previous episode I took a moment to actually speak in the episode and issue a greeting to the listeners.  Thanks to those of you who responded and let me know where you are listening from.  It was great encouragement to hear from people all over the world.    

As you may have noticed, there hasn’t been many episodes the last two weeks.   First, I’ve been very busy with the release of my new Christmas album, “Silent Night”.   Second, I’ve had some downtime in my studio due to some equipment issues.   After spending some time on the issues today I seem to have fixed the hardware issue, although I have no clue what I actually did to fix it!

Now to this episode, “Turn Aside”:

This episode was inspired by my devotion a week ago.   I was moved by a simple verse in Exodus Chapter 3 and shared my thoughts on social media.  Below is a copy of the post I made on Facebook and Instagram.   I hope it inspires you and that as you listen to this interlude, you’ll turn aside to see what you may be missing.

Devotion:
God is always there. He has plans, answers, direction, and things to say to us. But sometimes … many times … He will wait. He will wait to see if we engage with Him. I’ve seen it over and over in Scripture.

In this verse He waits until Moses decides to turn aside and come near the bush BEFORE He speaks. He could’ve yelled for Him – after all, He’d already set a bush on fire 

A Podcast Greeting from Fred McKinnon

Hello everybody,

This is Fred McKinnon, the Pianist and Composer behind the “Worship Interludes Podcast”.

As you know, it’s quite rare for me to actually speak on this podcast, as it’s intended to just be instrumental music only.   However, I wanted to take one quick episode to say “hello” to all of you listeners and with you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS.

I’ve just released a brand new Christmas album entitled “Silent Night” – you can hear part of that playing here in the background.   I’d be honored if you’d consider buying or streaming this album.   It’s available for purchase on my website, the iTunes Store, and on Amazon.Com.     You can also stream the entire album on Spotify and Apple Music.

Did you know that the Worship Interludes Podcast has now been downloaded over 155,000 times in over 250 countries?   I’m sure that many of you listening to my voice right now cannot understand my speaking in English.   I love how instrumental music transcends language and cultural barriers.

For those who are listening, I would be so blessed if you’d take a moment to provide some feedback.   Let me know you are listening, where you are listening from, and consider subscribing to my email newsletter.    Just visit my website, FredMcKinnon.Com, to contact me or subscribe.

It’s my hope and prayer that this music continues to be a blessing to you and provide a soundtrack for your times of prayer, meditation, reflection, and relaxation.

So again, if you’re listening – please checkout the new Christmas Album, and while you’re there, drop me an email and let me know where you are listening from.

Thank you so much for listening and God bless you abundantly!

Listen:

Soaking Time – Extended Piano Instrumental for Soaking Worship, Prayer, Meditation, Relaxation

“Soaking Time” is an extended solo piano instrumental.  At approximately 12:30 in length, this free-flowing, peaceful piano interlude is designed to be a soundtrack for your times of prayer, worship, meditation, relaxation, or “soaking”.

What exactly is soaking?

The common use of this word is to immerse an object into water or another liquid.  Think about dirty clothes that need to soak in the laundry.   Dirty dishes sometimes need to soak in warm, soapy water to help get them clean.   As humans, we sometimes like to pour a hot bath and soak in the tub – to relieve the pain of tired, sore muscles or to alleviate stress.   We’ve also heard of going down to the beach to “soak up some rays” of sunshine.

Over the past years, this has become a common word in religious circles as well.   “Soaking Worship” or “Soaking Prayer” refers to extended times of being immersed in meditation, worship, prayer, or the Presence of God.   In many ways, it may accomplish some of the same things that natural soaking does.

* It may cleanse us through prayers of confession and repentance.

* It may calm our nerves, still our souls, and ease our worries.

* It may relieve stress or prepare our hearts and minds to sense, feel, and hear God’s voice.

I’ve been purposeful for this interlude and last week’s interlude, “Reflect and Pray”, to make these spontaneous instrumental interludes a bit longer.   I hope you’ll find time to linger with them and allow your soul to rest.

I’d be grateful to hear from you as a listener.  Would you consider leaving a comment or possibly writing a review of this podcast on iTunes?

Listen:

Watch:

Reflect and Pray – An Extended Interlude for Reflection and Prayer

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, I wanted to take some extra time with today’s interlude.   (And I’ve heard from some listeners that you wish the interludes were longer!).  So today I decided to sit down in studio and take my time.   There were many pauses, deep breaths, and reflections happening in my own soul as I recorded today’s interlude.

Think about this.   When was the last time you actually slowed down enough to be still for more than ten minutes for reflection and prayer.   When was the last time you gave yourself permission to be unproductive and just settle in to yourself, your thoughts, your feelings, and your dreams?   This process is so deeply necessary for our physical, spiritual, and emotional health.

This interlude is about thirteen and a half minutes long.  For many of you, sitting still with yourself for that long will be torture.   For some of you, it will be like streams of refreshing water.

This is my encouragement to you today:   that you find a quiet place, play this interlude, and disengage from your work and efforts.  Take time to just breathe, reflect on all the many things you are grateful for, and offer up prayers.   I would even encourage you to not feel forced to speak or utter anything unless so inspired.  Just be still.  Listen.   Reflect.

Did you sense peace and calm?  Has the atmosphere around you shifted?  Did you hear guidance or direction from God?   I’d love to know.

Listen:

Watch: