Tag Archives: music

What We Have Is Enough

I love the “in between” bits in life. Those very ordinary days amidst the many plans, engagements, commitments and occasions. This song sprang up in one of those moments. Believe me, I wrote what I needed to hear! “What we have is enough” was penned as I had just survived another festive season. Christmas is always a time I intend to navigate better, only to find that once again I have exhausted myself with present planning, buying, wrapping, not to mention balancing everyone’s expectations, getting the home looking right, the food correct and the all the cards sent! So I find that I need to remind myself to “be”, to “breathe” and to enjoy the small moments! To feed my heart on the “in between” times in life and relax in the calm and intimacy that is there. To be “full” instead of falling into the snares of comparison, and to be kind to myself instead of feeling like I’ve not made everything happen.

May I embrace this treasure that is freely available. I don’t need the perfect house, family, party or meal to fill me up! What I long for is peace, security, fellowship, intimacy and rest. I hope this simple song helps to calm your heart in the way that it somehow calms mine!

What We Have Is Enough

What we have is enough
All that riches and stuff it don’t mean
All we think that it does
When success is a bubble that blows
Far away as we find
That it’s drifted from sight

For what we have is enough
All the castles we build crumble down
As they’re made of mere dust
Dare to stop and you’ll find the small things
That we cherish are here
Free to all, held so dear

Dream, breathe, shine
The treasure that we seek,
Is one our hearts can find
Sing, walk, unwind
The precious jewels of life
Are hidden deep inside.

What we have is enough
All we cherish and love is like gold
Running deep within us
And the more that we share it we find
That it just multiplies
Given love grows in size

Dream, breathe, shine….
What we have is enough

“What We Have Is Enough” is out now and available on all major digital platforms. Click here to listen on Spotify or Apple Music.

Freedom in Grace

We wanted to share with you the inspiration behind a track that we’ve recently released called “Freedom in Grace”. About a year and a half ago, just before the pandemic hit, I felt God was speaking to me, and to the world, through Isaiah 40 “A Comfort to God’s People”:

“Prepare the way of the LORD. Make his roads straight. Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low, and the uneven will be made level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed…” (Isaiah 40:3b-5a, NHEB)

I felt that God wanted to proclaim hope and proclaim restoration to the lands and this song, this prophetic film and outpouring is a way of praying, a way of calling out and declaring that God is a God of restoration, God is a God of love and that He wants to pour out His Holy Spirit at this time to bring new blessing, new restoration into our hearts and our lives right across the world:

The landscape across the world is changing but God has chosen to work with us, not apart from us. And our prayers, petitions, actions and hearts all create landing space for the Holy Spirit to bring a new wave of restoration and healing across a broken world. We have all experienced the suffering together and our prayer is that we will all see the restoration together too.

“Freedom in Grace” is out now on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music.

Freedom in Grace

Singing hope across the desert
Singing healing for the broken
Singing shelter for the lonely
Singing life across the ruins
Strength to lift the weary

Singing hope, singing life
Singing freedom in grace
Singing hope, singing life
Singing freedom in grace

And the people rose to pray, hearts awakening they knelt down low each day
Hands that couldn’t touch displayed, unity to build a deeper love again
And the valleys laid with grief, filling gentle streams of grace and empathy
And the mountains toil with fear, bowing low as voices join to intercede

Singing hope, singing life…

Barren land felt gentle rain, growing soft to hold new seeds of hope again
From the ground such beauty came, rising up were Kingdom treasures free to reign
And the light shone in the dark, chasing shadows to reveal the Father’s heart
And the people rose to see, the Lord of heaven and all earth was now revealed

Singing hope, singing life…

New springs of life so fresh and full
Soak tender shoots of Kingdom truth
And rocky places smooth to lead
Creating pathways, helping heal

Singing hope, singing life…

Sanctuary – the new prayerscapes album

Our new instrumental album, featuring many of the soundtracks used in our prayerscapes videos, is out now! “Sanctuary” is an hour of beautifully calm instrumental music ideal as a backdrop for prayer, meditation, work or study. If you’re familiar with our prayer videos, you’ll recognise the ones used as an accompaniment to “The Lord’s Prayer”, “Afternoon Prayer” and many others. Check out our trailer now:

“Sanctuary” is widely available across all major digital music platforms, as well on our site here.

Listen on Spotify

Download at iTunes

Listen on Apple Music

Download at Amazon Music

“It’s been a real pleasure to create this new album of meditative instrumental music. I love the sounds that cellos, pianos and gentle choral tones weaving together can make, and these new works seek to help us find a peaceful space, a sanctuary, amidst the turbulent times we are experiencing.”

Neil Haydock, composer of “Sanctuary”

An Inspirational Blessing Prayer

Hi, having spent many years crafting prayers, songs and films for Prayerscapes, it feels like the right time to open up and get closer to those of you who have always responded to our creative offerings. So, in these short films, we will share with you some of our journey, prayer ideas, inspiration and wisdom we have found as we have sought to reveal the love and light of Christ. If you have not yet subscribed to our Youtube channel do take a moment to do so, as there are many more inspirational videos in the pipeline that we would love you to see and experience.

When we wrote and recorded ‘May The Road Rise Up to Meet You’, we could not have imagined the ways in which it would have been received, used and cherished by others. We’ve been overwhelmed by the emails and messages we’ve had about how this song has touched people, whether it be at baby dedications, or marriages, or as a blessing at funeral of a loved one. All this made me think – why has this simple Celtic Blessing been so powerful in effecting so many people?

I think one of the reasons is that proclaiming this blessing over another is a very powerful and releasing thing! We bless others with the authority that Christ gave us as children. Blessings change, they renew, and they create security and sanctuary. In a world filled with comparison, judgement, jealousy, competition, criticism and envy, it is a wonderfully unexpected thing! This simple prayer is such an inspiring blessing which rolls out like a beautiful and holy land, ahead of loved ones, soft grace soil on which to tread.

My husband wrote this little blessing song for me when my second son was a baby. For those of you who have lived through a similar season, you’ll know it’s messy! At the time I was often walking out very early in the morning with a crying baby, so as not to wake the rest of the household! It was just one of those seasons where I felt vulnerable, I felt ashamed to be pacing the streets in the dark mornings, not to have the answers, not to be the perfect family. I often felt myself welling up with tears as I pushed my baby boy around. I just trudged on as we all do sometimes. I remember I did cry as he sang me the song and its words did hold and keep me through that time.

So, if you are in this hard place, through illness, anxiety, grief, trial or loss, I sing this to you…. allow this little song to lay a soft blessing under your feet. And then go ahead of someone else and lay this blessing for them. It will become for them a lullaby, soothing and gracious. It might be that the Holy Spirit leads you to physically be this blessing to soften someone’s walk with service, understanding or generosity. And why not say the blessing in unexpected ways? Say it behind another, soaking your thoughts and feelings for them in love. Receive this blessing, give this blessing, be this blessing, live this blessing!

Thanks for connecting with us today. And as I said earlier, we’ve lots on new videos coming soon, so if you haven’t already, do subscribe at Youtube, and we look forwards to seeing you real soon in our next film!

Harvest Prayer

Our lives go through many seasons, and there are times when it is natural and easy to be thankful at harvest time. So, if you are in a relaxed place and able to drink in the goodness of God and his provision, it is a joyful and special time to give thanks! However, as Christians we all face times where it is harder to be overflowing with praise. Our heavenly Father knows us, and loves us just as we are in the valleys as well as on the hilltops, so allow yourself the grace to engage with this festival in the truth of your own circumstance and feelings.

What is amazing about the seeds of peace, hope and love that God plants by his Holy Spirit into our lives is that it is often in the hardest and darkest times that we reap the fruits of these seeds. For to grieve daily yet to still love is a beautiful fruit, to be hurt and broken yet to still forgive is an abundant reaping and to struggle with pain or ill health yet still to engage with others and enter into the hope in Christ is a remarkable harvest. These are kingdom blessings that shine so brightly to all around you.

Wherever you find yourself this harvest time, we hope this prayer will help you connect with your heavenly Father: –

Harvest Prayer

Father, as we celebrate this season of thanksgiving, we give thanks for the blessings of food, provision and nourishment.

Please grow in us a harvest for the world. Come sow a seed of hope within our souls Lord, that we might yield goodness, patience and kindness in abundance.

Sow a seed of peace in our lives Lord, that we might bear the fruits of forgiveness, compassion and righteousness.

Come sow a seed of love in our hearts Lord, that others would reap the blessings of family, friendship and community.

May each seed of hope, peace and love grow within us into a harvest that can be feasted on by all.

Amen.

(Prayer by Julie Palmer)

You can download and keep this film in HD for a small sum by following this link.

Early Morning Prayer

Worship is intrinsic to our wellbeing. It creates a sense of peace in us as we recognise that all the love and beauty in the world has its source in God. When we wonder at the intricate life and order within nature it allows us to relax and know that we too are a unique part of God’s remarkable creation.

It is important that we connect daily with all our senses – smell, touch, taste, hearing and seeing – because we were created not just as a mind but as a receptive body too. The following prayer uses imagery to convey how the love of the Father surrounds you in all your senses – like the beautiful smell of fresh roses, or the warmth of a winter coat, or the breath-taking sight of first light across a stunning vista. I want to encourage you to lay down your cares, worries, burdens and weariness at the start of this new day, and to take a moment to soak in the delights of the morning and great love of God your Father: –

(It’s possible to download & keep this film in HD for a small sum by following this link)

Prayer in this film: –

Early Morning Prayer

You are the glorious morning,
You are refreshment and peace.
You are the sounds as the dawn breaks,
You are the rose that smells sweet.

You are the Lord, my creator,
You are the wonder of life.
You are the great words of wisdom,
I read them and fill up inside.

You are the wonderful sunrise,
You are restorer of hope.
You are the air that we breathe now,
You are the warm winter coat.

You are the Lord, my creator,
You are a love without end.
You are all grace and forgiveness,
I stand loved and free as your friend.

Kingdom Threads

“Kingdom Threads” is a prayer poem that came to me as one continuous stream of thought as I was settling down to sleep one evening. It is a picture of threads being sown, woven and laid across the lands, connecting the broken and needy with the goodness of heaven and desolate places with the power of prayer, for these are “threads that mend, threads that gather, threads that change, threads that lead others into the hope of eternity”.

What is the Kingdom of God? It is fundamental to the message of Christ and is mentioned over 150 times in the New Testament alone. Jesus frequently speaks about the Kingdom of God in parables, and it is central to how he taught his early followers to pray (Matthew 6:9-13). He speaks of it in many ways – it’s beginnings may be as small as a mustard seed, it is like a pearl of great worth and like yeast that gradually pervades the whole of the dough (Matthew 13:33).

This extraordinary kingdom is not like any earthly kingdom, or any kingdom we have seen before. Rather, it is wherever God’s ways rule, and the great news is that this can be through us! It is open to all who seek the forgiveness of God and love the Holy Spirit, and whose hearts are abandoned to the ministry of our heavenly Father. If we, God’s children, seek to remain in him in every thought, deed and feeling we can be assured that God will take and use us to extend his Kingdom ways on earth, just as his Kingdom is fully realised in heaven.

I pray that “Kingdom Threads” will bring vision and encouragement to your heart as you weave God’s threads of light, love and truth into the lives of all you encounter: –

It’s possible to download this film in HD by visiting this page.

And listen to “Kingdom Threads” on Spotify here.

Here are the words to this prayer poem: –

Who are God’s children? A blend of human and holy, restless longings and redeemed dreams, real doubts and fearless faith. Amidst the drab days they weave kingdom threads of kindness, patience and generosity, sewn carefully as beautiful golds within the grey. They ride upon the heartbeat of Christ, clothed in forgiveness, finding strength in the struggles, hope in the hardships and a love that brings life. God’s children snuggle under the blanket of grace where their differences melt away and tensions fade. Humility blossoms like an intricate embroidery within their lives. And joy dances amongst them, as they bin the fast fix of comparison, bypass the sting of competition and burst the bubble of control.

God’s children join together, worship in unity, engage in vulnerability, and ooze encouragement. Fear does not stand a chance, it cannot grip these little ones, showered with perfect love, unconditional affection and a peace that surpasses understanding. Panic is overridden. Shame is swept away, selfishness slayed by the thrill of compassion. And when they sing in harmony, move in sync and run as a team…there is no limit to their impact. Distinctive men and women of integrity are fashioned in God’s family. Unique, complete individuals, who rest on God’s word, seek the truth and walk daily with Christ. Dreamers and visionaries who cross the boundaries of class and culture to bring understanding and reconciliation. Devoted teachers who instil goodness and hope into the young, gifted medics who pursue excellence in treatment and care, entrepreneurs who release vision, model integrity and shun greed. Creatives who leave behind self-interest to bring the goodness of heaven to earth, faithful advocates who keep and protect the vulnerable.

God’s children learn to love each other’s imperfections, connect in brokenness and celebrate differences. Yes! And where their feet tread, their hearts engage or their voices ring out, golden kingdom threads are laid, threads that mend, threads that gather, threads that change, threads that lead others into the hope of eternity. Gods children, his sons and daughters weave royal threads of kingdom family, reflecting the majesty of the creator, heavenly and stunning and utterly indestructible.

Lord, make me an instrument!

I find the prayer of St Francis a deeply challenging prayer to read. Whether in a time of peace and prosperity, or in a period of conflict and hardship, it is not instinctive to be an “instrument of peace”. Yet the word instrument does suggest that we become a channel for God’s peace, that it flows into us from him and into the world from him. What can we do to curb our instinct to be defensive if we are shouted out, blamed or cursed? How can we pardon those who we have been hurt by, forgive those who have wounded us, or reconcile ourselves to those we blame? And what can we find that pushes back the doubts we all hold inside and ushers in faith, hope and love again?

I believe that the answer is to remain in Jesus, the source of all this grace, love and truth. It is when we engage with the eternal, pray to God, lean upon him and praise with the angels that God the musician is engaged with us, his instruments. It is only through Jesus, with his spirit alive in us, that we can truly pray this prayer. Bitterness and fear are enemies of health, enemies of relationship and enemies of progress and peace. It is essential that this prayer is one we model at every level with our children who will take this mantle from us. It is crucial that each of us begins to become this instrument at “home” first, allowing the melodies of love and grace to surround our families, for it begins with the little things in life. Being a variety of instruments of God’s peace will create symphonies of blessings in our communities and lead to radical change in the wider world. And the planet needs peacemakers whom at the deepest level give up their being to become instruments for the Holy Spirit to move. From small places extraordinary things can and do happen.

Lord, make me us an instrument of your peace. Come transform our lives and the world around us with the beautiful sounds of heaven…

Read the words to this inspiring prayer & download the film in HD by clicking here.

Dwell at Christmas

In this season of giving, it is hard sometimes to cut through the commercial trappings, rise above the “perfect Christmas” expectations and truly connect with loved ones to give a gift that is really yearned for. We (like most creatives) sometimes find it hard to “push” our own work, to believe that our music can really bless others the way it is intended to. Yet strangely, as I find myself in a broken place surrounded by much sorrow and pain with friends and family, I have needed to “Dwell” myself! Searching through my CD’s I have come back to this album as the space it offers me helps me to pray and intercede for those suffering, even in the darkest times. We thought we would share with you a quote from a recent review of the album by writer and blogger Freya Pickard. It encourages us that “Dwell” can connect with and carry others:-

“This cd was the perfect gift at a very difficult time…Not since I discovered the music of Iona in the 1990s, has a cd had such a profound effect on me. Hearing it gives me goosebumps. I find it both relaxing and challenging. When I first listened to it, I felt like a dry sponge soaking up cold, refreshing water.”

(Read this review in full at Dragonscale Clippings Blog)

So, we hope that others will choose Dwell as a gift for loved ones and that the Holy Spirit would find space in the lives of the listeners to heal, restore, envision and keep them.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Here are some excerpts from Dwell:-

It’s possible to buy “Dwell” by following this link.

A Beautiful Prayer

I think one of our deepest longings as humans is to know that there is a purpose for our lives, that we have a role to play in this world. Thankfully as Christians we can be certain that life isn’t just a random series of events. God the creator of the earth and the heavens is still at work now, intricately weaving beauty and purpose into our lives, building His Kingdom here on earth.

The prayer of St Richard is very special to me. I performed in the musical “Godspell” in my teens, and sang “Day by Day” as a solo. Although I didn’t feel at that time I knew God, I truly meant the words “to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly” and “follow thee more nearly.” It was many years later that I realised that I had travelled to study in Chichester where St Richard lived when he wrote this prayer! And in my journey to knowing Christ as a young person these words have remained with me, like a mantra! God brought me to Chichester. He can and does weave all things together. I now realise that the living Lord responded to my earnest desire to know something of Him in my life, and he has directed my path. For it was in Chichester that I did find faith, began writing with Neil, and Prayerscapes was born. Look for the Kingdom story in your life – journeying with Christ is such an amazing adventure!

Here is this beautiful prayer. St Richard is said to have utter these words in his final hours:-

It’s possible to download this film in HD for a small sum by visiting this page.

The Prayer of St Richard (Bishop of Chichester between 1244 to 1253)

Thanks be to you, our Lord Jesus Christ,

for all the benefits which you have given us,

for all the pains and insults which you have borne for us.

Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother,

may we know you more clearly,

love you more dearly,

and follow you more nearly,

day by day.

Amen.