Paths Of Waiting Before The Lord is my latest music album of comforting Christian prayersongs, released last month. This new video recounts through my original art and in my own words the compelling story behind that album.
May the Lord use my story on this video to bless and encourage those who need to be reminded that Jesus loves them, of His forgiveness and grace, and that He answers our prayers in His own way and time, according to our needs, in Jesus’ name, amen.
To listen to the songs on Paths of Waiting follow the link to my Hear & Now Website or listen on your favorite streaming station.
When I first fell about three weeks ago, my whole body was screaming with the worst pain I’d ever felt. I wanted more than anything to die. Throughout my agony in the hospital I cried and prayed for Jesus to please come take me Home and rescue me from this ordeal. Having already fallen flat on my face from a dead faint onto a hardwood floor back in November and miraculously only suffering painful bruising, a black eye, and bloody nose, then losing Mama and my precious sister Nancy, enduring vicious migraines every day, and fierce tension knots, I felt like this new affliction was the last straw. No way did I want to face this new trial.
~~Unlike King David, the man after God’s own heart, who, when God put through a dark trial, he faithfully prayed,
“Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain.Then You turned away from me, and I was shattered.I cried out to You, O Lord. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying, “What will You gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise You? Can it tell of Your faithfulness? Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord.””
Psalms 30:7-10 NLT
No, I was not good like David, for the very last thing I thought of was praising the Lord in my pain, alas. I screamed in bitter agony.
The Bible says that the dead praise not the living God, however He seeks a people who will praise and glorify Him despite their trials.
“The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, for they have gone into the silence of the grave. But we can praise the Lord both now and forever! Praise the Lord!” Psalms
115:17-18 NLT
I learned that if I truly love the Lord I would endure despite the pain and continue to trust Him believing He will come through in the end. By His Almighty grace, I have determined to seek for ways that I can praise Him during this trial.
For His Word tells us that God’s mercies are new every morning, great is His faithfulness. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
One thing I will praise the Lord for is giving me such a wonderful husband. Ever since I fractured my humerus I’ve had to rely on Mark for assistance in doing everything ~~even doing my hair. Mark finds this task quite difficult and I must admit he has a gift for making really bad hairstyles. They are so awful that they are hilarious and make me laugh. I wish I had been documenting these crazy styles. Even JJ, our Yorkie, noticed him fixing my hair one day. Her little black eyes seemed to pop as she suddenly halted and hopped fast backwards out of the room, We both wish we could’ve documented her reaction on video.
Well, the night he made my hair look like I was wearing an ice bag, I could not stop laughing. I then said, “Honey, can’t you just manage a simple braid?”
I texted a friend about the issue. She told me that her daughter was really gifted at braiding hair and had her own website dedicated to braiding, and she gave me the URL.
I told Mark and sent him to the website. “Here is your chance, honey. Study her techniques and you will soon be braiding my hair!”
I was hopeful as I saw him intently studying two of the braiding videos. But when I noticed how complicated the braids were my heart sank.
Sure enough he soon gave up overwhelmed. Closing his laptop he looked at me and said, “You have two chances for me to ever braid your hair~ fat chance and no chance!”
I pouted. Why could he not have just chosen a video on how to do a simple braid?
Well, the next day the home health care nurse who comes to help me wash my hair and bathe said that she used to run her own hair braiding business on the side till she had her baby!
Would I like for her to braid my hair? She gave me two long beautiful French braids on either side of my head!
Here was my loving God giving me a chance to replace Mark’s fat chance and no chance!
How I praise Him for showing me His love and mercy in that special way!
And that wasn’t the end of the story either.
The next morning my Occupational Therapist came and wanted to braid my hair. She did a beautiful job. Once again, God demonstrated His love and mercy sending two people to braid my hair!
The dead praise not the living God but I will praise Him for these special ways He blessed me.
And the praising for His amazing blessings does not end there.
We went to the orthopedic doctor for a check up and while she did not see a great deal of improvement in the fracture as it was huge; she said it was going to take time and to be patient; after testing me she said I had no nerve damage!
This was very encouraging to me! She said with this kind of injury they sometimes see nerve damage in the hand so it was very good that I had none.
Glory to our wonderful God!
And today after Mark had graced me with another awful hairstyle last night that was truly hilarious, I went into the bathroom and prayed to be able to braid my own hair.
And God be praised~ He really helped me do it ~despite my broken arm!
God helped me braid my own hair despite my broken arm! Praise our awesome Lord Jesus Christ!
Fat chance and no chance are God’s chances in the eternal realms of the Almighty.
“Lord, You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give You thanks forever!”
“Lord Help Me Endure To The End” is a prayer song inspired by a scripture verse that Jesus spoke to His disciples when He was talking to them about prophetic events of the dark last days.
Jesus said, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Matthew 24:13 KJV
What does the word Jesus used for endure mean?
ὑπομένω hupomenō~~Thayer Definition:
1) to remain, 1a) to tarry behind, 2) to remain, i.e. abide, not recede or flee,
2a) to persevere under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ
2b) to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments
This verse with its word meaning has spoken volumes to me as I have studied and meditated over them.
I’m so thankful the Lord gave me this prayer song to encourage me to meditate on this verse as I seek Him in prayer and in His Word, especially now.
No stranger to affliction being a sufferer of chronic daily migraines and fibromyalgia, I was painting to distract myself from pain early one morning last month.
Mark reminded me of an appointment I had to get ready for so I got in a rush to print my painting and get ready for the day.
Alas, as I rounded the corner of my bed I tripped and fell backwards landing on my left side and crashed onto the hardwood floor.
Horrified, I saw my left arm detached from my body. In excruciating pain, I thought my hip and neck were broken, as they were hurting as much as my arm and shoulder, also I could not move. Talk about screaming. My beloved Mark was by my side in a second.
I had to be taken to the hospital where they did imaging. Not only did I have bruises all over the left part of my body, but the X-Rays and scans revealed that I’d severely fractured my left humerus. Thank the Lord I had broken nothing else. I returned home with my left arm in a heavy splint and sling. It was so heavy in fact, I could barely walk. The pain was unbearable. I learned how disabled one is made by such a severe injury.
At first I just felt manacled by that awful splint and was sent into panic mode in certain positions. I was in more pain than I’d ever been in my life and I begged God to take me to Heaven. He kept saying nope. Not only did I find the pain beyond my endurance, I couldn’t tolerate being so helpless and dependent on others for assistance in EVERYTHING.
The Lord said, “ENDURE.”
Hadn’t I suffered enough, I asked.
The Lord was not going to let me off the hook.
He reminded me of the prayer song He had given me, “Lord Help Me Endure To The End.”
He reminded me of the other prayer song with lyrics He had given me on my most recent release Paths of Faith, “I Will Lay Down My Life.”
Migraines flared up the agony in my fractured arm even more. The wretched splint caused huge tormenting tension knots in my back and neck. I could not get comfortable nor sleep in my bed but had to sleep in Mark’s recliner.
Despite my misery, the Lord showered me with rivers of His measureless mercy. He sent wonderful home healthcare people to assist me. They always ended up telling me about folks who were far worse off than I was and this would somehow comfort me because I not only then felt I was not alone in my pain, it motivated me to pray for people who suffered as I did.
Prayer was the only way I could lay my life down in love for others because of my disability, while others were laying their lives down in love for me. The Lord always sent me people with the most cheerful attitudes. They somehow could make me laugh despite my intense pain.
Our son flew home from LA to help my husband with my care.
Our daughter being tied up with myriad issues in Tucson did many wonderful things for us that we needed assistance with by ordering things we required and had them sent to us.
We were surrounded by love. God showed His mercy and faithfulness in so many ways that helped me to hang on when I thought I could not endure another moment of pain. Many from our church sent beautiful cards and prayers while our friend Sharon came and stayed with me twice so Mark could run some necessary errands.
Our Pastor came over and anointed me with oil and prayed for my healing. All of these beautiful expressions of God’s love comforted me, reminding me that our Heavenly Father still loved me despite my suffering.
One night after I finally fell asleep exhausted from the pain, I dreamed that the Lord Jesus Christ came down from Heaven and into my living room. He stood by the recliner where I lay sleeping and He checked on my arm as if He were a doctor checking on my progress. I dreamed this two nights in a row. I woke up very comforted both times, assured of His love for me.
But on days when the hours stretched by and my pain level stayed at a ten I became depressed and wept, praying for God’s mercy and repenting for everything I could think of that might have upset the Lord. For when we go through serial trials we can’t help but look up and ask the Lord, “What did I do wrong?”
Whenever I ask the Lord questions like that He refers me to His Word. From the Epistle of James: “My Christian friends, remember to be happy, even when many kinds of trouble happen to you. Troubles can help you. God wants to see if you really trust Him. Your faith in God will become stronger as a result of these troubles. So you should continue to trust God all the time. Then you will become stronger as a Christian. You will become completely how you should be. You will not need anything more.” James 1:2-4 (*Easy English Bible)
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to comfort me and assure me that God is using my trials to enlarge my faith.
“We thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because He is so good to us. As our Father, He is very kind to us. He is our God who comforts us in every way. Whenever we have trouble, He comforts us. Because of that, we ourselves can comfort other people. When they have any kind of trouble, we can comfort them, in the same way that God has comforted us. Christ himself received much pain, and God comforted Him. As Christ’s servants, we also receive the same kind of pain. But, God also comforts us very much, because we belong to Christ.”2 Corinthians 1:3-5 *(Easy English Bible)
Peter the Apostle wrote that we should expect to have suffering and trials as Christians.
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4:12-13 KJV
Peter asserted that suffering and pain motivate the Christian to do God’s will instead of their own will, even as Christ did His Father’s will on earth.
“Christ had trouble and pain while He lived in His human body. So you should prepare yourselves to have trouble and pain too. Think about it in the same way that Christ did. If someone has trouble and pain in his body, he stops doing wrong things. As a result, that person will want to do what God wants him to do. In his life in this world, he will not want to do the bad things that people think are good.” 1 Peter 4:1-2 (*Easy English Bible)
“That is why we never give up.
Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.
For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT (*New Living Translation)
Scripture Quotations from the King James Version Bible Translation, the Easy English Bible, The New Living Bible Translation, All of which are copyrighted by their various publishers.
*Created through the Indwelling Risen Lord Jesus Christ, Inspired by His Holy Spirit, To The Glory of God The Father, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Album 28 of Music Inspired by the Holy Spiritsince 2013
Original Keyboard Instrumental Prayers Featuring the Various Instrumental Voices of Guitar, Strings, & Piano Solos Performed by Suzanne Davis Harden, through the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, Inspired by the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God the Father, In Jesus’ name, amen.
Midnight Prayers and Meditations, Volume 2, is the second chapter of the album of original keyboard instrumentals inspired by the Holy Spirit. I published the first volume of Midnight Prayers & Meditations last Autumn in the twilight of 2020, forever to be remembered as the year of the Pandemic.
I had several of the songs on this second volume ready to publish even back then, but the Lord had me wait to publish the current album for various reasons. God’s word says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” ~Ecclesiastes 3:1 –KJV
The Lord has blessed me with much music for His glory through the risen Lord Jesus Christ in me. But He only directs me to publish what He wishes according to His plans and purposes. It is as if the Lord uses each song or composition to teach me that not everything is chosen for the spotlight right now, and yet everything is loved and special at all times.
All of the music He has blessed me with was created for His glory and glorifies Him in its own way whether it gets published a month from now, in six months or ten years, or whether it never gets published at all. I truly believe that all of His music serves a divine purpose and brings Him glory in the way He has chosen in its own time.
If we could only understand that each one of us are like the musical compositions He inspires. We all exist because the Lord wanted to create us; He loves us all very much.
“Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him would not be lost but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world. He did not send Him to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through Him.” ~John 3:16-17 – ERV
God is infinite and His love and mercy toward us are measureless.
His thoughts are far beyond our thoughts and He does not think as we think. We can’t wrap our minds around an infinite Being.
“The teaching about the cross seems foolish to those who are lost. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will confuse the understanding of the intelligent.” 1 Corinthians 1:18-19 – ERV
God is as far above us as the universe is wide. If we try to define Him by putting Him in a neat box of rationalizations we fail. He is not a black and white formula. He does not make sense at all to our rational minds. He will blow us away when we truly come to know Him.
“So what does this say about the philosopher, the law expert, or anyone in this world who is skilled in making clever arguments? God has made the wisdom of the world look foolish. This is what God in His wisdom decided: Since the world did not find Him through its own wisdom, He used the message that sounds foolish to save those who believe it.” 1 Corinthians 1:20-21 – ERV
We will go insane trying to define Him in any traditional sense. He won’t be standardized, denominationalized, fit into neat theologies, philosophies, and so forth; for the minute we try we fall flat on our faces and He has to pick us up; dust us off and say, “Read My Word again.”
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 – KJV
We might not like or agree with His word in all its completeness. And we might be tempted to pick and choose what we want to believe out of it. But have we never considered listening to Jesus Christ?
Jesus teaches us how to read His word. He spoke in parables. He spoke in metaphor and pictures.
His word is spiritual. Many of His disciples left Him when He spoke to them spiritually. Jesus said, “My words are spirit and they are life. The flesh profits nothing.” (John 6:6:63)
If we approach Christ and His word with a literal mind we are not going to know Him or understand His word.
We must walk by faith and not by sight. (*See 2 Corinthians 5:7)
We must trust and believe that He is real:
“Faith is what makes real the things we hope for. It is proof of what we cannot see. God was pleased with the people who lived a long time ago because they had faith like this. Faith helps us understand that God created the whole world by His command. This means that the things we see were made by something that cannot be seen. Without faith no one can please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that He is real and that He rewards those who sincerely try to find Him.” Hebrews 11:1-3,6 – ERV (Easy To Read Version Bible)
I sing by faith. I play the keyboard by faith. I have no real background in music. Really. All of my background and training are in the visual arts.
I did not grow up with any musical gift or any idea of becoming a musician. My whole passion and goal was to become a visual artist. Art was the love of my life. Music merely existed to stimulate my artistic creativity. In other words, I listened to it while I created my art.
God sovereignly gave me a gift of music in 2009 and I accepted it by faith. Since then I have played the piano nearly every day; songs the Lord gives me by faith. My songs are more like prayers ascending to Heaven. I pray and it is the risen Lord Jesus Christ within me by His Holy Spirit who inspires the music and who plays through me.
It is the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ within me who creates all the music. I know that sounds strange. But Jesus Christ is a risen, living Savior. He is alive within me!
This is what Christianity teaches. Jesus said, “On that day you will know that I am in the Father. You will know that you are in Me and I am in you. Those who really love Me are the ones who not only know My commands but also obey them. My Father will love such people, and I will love them. I will make Myself known to them.” ~John 14:20-21 – ERV (Easy To Read Version Bible)
If someone who calls themself a Christian says this is not true then they are denying the Lord Jesus Christ. For Jesus Christ said He is a living, risen Savior. He said that He has risen from the dead, that He lives inside those who accept Him as their Savior and Lord, that He seals them with His Holy Spirit, that He does give His children gifts with which to glorify Him on this earth, and that no one can dictate to Him what kind of gifts He is allowed to give His children. The Lord is a God of miracles and He is in the Heavens, the Bible declares, and He does whatever He pleases.
“Our God is in heaven, and He does whatever He wants.” Psalm 115:3 – ERV (Easy To Read Version Bible)
God did what He wanted when He gave me the gift of music. I praise Him for this beautiful gift and will use it to glorify Him for as long as He enables me to by His almighty grace and power.
For it is through Christ alone that I can create any music or do any of the creative things He blesses me with.
I will publicly proclaim that it is the risen Lord Jesus Christ in me doing these works because when Christ walked the earth He said it was His Father in Him who did the miracles that He accomplished and not Himself.
“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” ~ John 5:19 – KJV (King James Version Bible)
The Bible asserts that we are to live as Christ lived who always glorified His Heavenly Father.
I want to always glorify my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as far as He enables me to.
“He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” 1 John 2:6 – KJV
Surely I fail miserably at walking as Jesus walked because I’m not perfect like Jesus was. But I know that following Christ is a little like driving.
If I point my car at some target and drive toward it, then I’m more likely to get to my object than if I don’t aim at any goal at all.
So every day I try to aim my whole heart at the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes I have fender benders, sometimes I run off the road into the ditch when I take my eyes off my Lord, sometimes another “car” runs into me and hurts me terribly; then I have to forgive them. So many things can happen on this journey with Christ. But God’s word has good directions to follow to help me. And Christ’s love sustains me. Jesus has paid the price for all my sins on His cross.
When I confess them to Him and tell Him I’m sorry for grieving Him, He forgives me, dusts me off and sets me right again on my journey with Him. God is love. (1 John 4:8) He loves me more than I will ever begin to comprehend.
If I meditate on Christ’s suffering on the cross maybe I can understand a little about God’s love. His agony and death on the cross make me weep. For I learn that God loved me so much that He would allow Himself to be tortured to pay the price for my sins to be forgiven so that I could be His child and be given eternal life and fellowship with Him.
Not only that, but so that He could put a portion of His Holy Spirit inside of me and bring glory to His name throughout Heaven and earth through my weak vessel to demonstrate His reality.
God is real. Christ is real. He lives inside of me and has made all of the music I’ve published through me. Twenty eight albums inspired by the Holy Spirit now since 2013.
But more importantly, Christ wants a living, vital relationship with people.
Jesus Christ wants all to believe in His reality in the 21st century: that He is a living, resurrected Savior, not someone who only lived two thousand years ago only to be studied and quoted by an elite few.
If He can use a weak vessel who suffers from daily migraines, ME Chronic Fatigue syndrome, and painful fibromyalgia to accomplish His purposes on this earth, then I know that He can use anyone who will simply believe and walk by faith to glorify Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ wants to live and shine through all who will invite Him into their hearts and who love and obey Him~ “For there is no respect of persons with God.” Romans 2:11 – KJV
May those who hear my music understand this message and be encouraged to believe that Christ cherishes them and desires an abiding, eternal friendship with them.
Jesus said, “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. … If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” ~John 14:21,23 – KJV
May our merciful loving God be forever honored, loved, and praised. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Midnight Prayers & Meditations, Volume Two, is dedicated to my Heavenly Abba Father, Beloved Lord Jesus Christ, and Beloved Lord Holy Spirit, through the risen Lord Jesus Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to the glory and honor of God the Father, to proclaim their praises throughout the earth. In Jesus’ name, amen.
*Special Thanks and Dedication to my beloved husband Mark for all his technical assistance in Copyrighting my music and uploading my files despite many recent health challenges. May God bless you forever and always for all you do, sweet Mark!
Peaceangel Song 
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