I want to thank you for visiting this website by giving you a FREE gift: the downloadable MP3 “Pray to the Lord”. You don’t have to sign up for anything, or even give me your e-mail address. Just click on the "Download Options" link directly below, and the song is yours.
On a Friday morning sometime back in 1998, I was dreaming that I was standing on the back of a bus, in Israel, with a guitar, singing a song, and everyone on the bus was singing with me. I woke up, looked at the clock, and it was about 6:00 in the morning. On the nightstand was a pad and pencil. (I didn’t usually keep it there). I grabbed the pad and began to write down the music still spinning through my head. When nothing else would come, I lay back down, and slept another hour.
When I got up I went to the keyboard. I wondered if I would I remember the melody, but it was still there. Because of my job, I didn’t have time to work on it that day, but right before Erev Shabbat services at Bridges to Israel, I had a bit of time. There was a small gap in the words of the chorus. Marcia was listening to me and suggested the phrase “Messiah, Ben David”. It fit perfectly, and everything just fell in place. I sang the song during the service and the congregation received it enthusiastically (they actually cheered).
The song wasn’t complete, however. It still needed a second verse, and the perfect opportunity came a few weeks later. I was going to be on Amtrak for about three hours, so I got comfortable, pulled out my notebook computer, and started to work. It was at that point that I realized the first verse had a complex rhyming pattern, which I was incapable of writing. After two and a half hours I was frazzled. I couldn’t get the words to come together, so I gave up. I gave up my effort that is. I just said a simple prayer admitting I couldn’t do this on my own, and giving it back to the Lord. Within five minutes, the parts and pieces were together and the song was done.
I envision one day soon, people who are visiting and moving to Israel singing “Pray to the Lord” as they walk the Holy Land. That’s why I want to give this song to anyone who wants it. You can use it any way you choose. The only thing I require is that you ask permission to use it in a recording or a paid concert. Enjoy, and I’ll see you in Jerusalem.
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