When I first heard LaDonna Taylor serenading the Lord with her violin, I discerned a strong anointing on every note as sweet melodies washed over the congregation like rivers of living water. But when I watched Taylor play her violin over people at the altar, I witnessed the anointing that breaks the yoke in action as people were healed and delivered in puddles of tears.
It’s been said that music soothes the savage beast—and we know David’s harp caused evil spirits to flee from Saul (1 Sam. 16:23). We also know there are sounds that set the captives free. David wrote a Psalm that holds the key to this mystery of heaven: “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance” (Ps. 32:7, KJV).
Can songs actually come to our rescue? Can music really be an agent of healing? Are there sounds from heaven that usher us into the glory realm of God where all things are possible? Do certain songs compel God to move? What role does faith play in this artistic equation? Can we “soak” our way to freedom? How does this work?
“Psalm 32:7 offers big clues about songs of deliverance: He is your hiding place,” says Taylor, a violinist who has played with the San Jose and Knoxville Symphonies and travels around the nation watching God open blind eyes and deaf ears—and perform other miracles against the backdrop of her instrument. “When you are hidden in Him, everything else is insignificant, like the old hymn It Is Well With My Soul. When you get to that place in Him, you get to the glory. (Pentecostal revivalist) Ruth Ward Heflin taught me the map to the glory: You praise until the spirit of worship comes, worship until the glory comes, and you stand in the glory.”
Can Music Really Set the Stage for Miracles?
Beyond David’s harp pushing back darkness around Saul, we see plenty of evidence in Scripture for music setting the stage for miracles. The Holy Spirit came upon Elisha after a musician started playing, and he prophesied provision (2 Kin. 3). God brought miraculous deliverance and victory in war to the children of Israel through singers, musicians and worshippers (2 Chr. 20:22-23). Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises in prison, and God sent an earthquake to free them, bringing deliverance to the jailer and his family (Acts 16:25-34).
“On a spiritual level, music bypasses our mind and goes straight to our heart, soul and spirit,” says Julie True, a musician whose ministry is marked by soaking music. “It touches places that nothing else can reach. When we sing songs of praise and worship, we have the power to defeat the enemy as well. Worship opens up the heavens and moves God’s heart.”
Sid Roth, host of the television program It’s Supernatural, has interviewed many musicians and singers through the years about songs that set the captives free. He has discovered that a combination of the Word of God and music that glorifies Him sets the stage for the supernatural. “The spoken word is powerful,” says Roth. “But that same word when sung, is more powerful. When I lay hands on the sick in the name of Jesus, people are healed. But when I sing ‘Be healed in Jesus’ name’ over them, more are healed!”
Even science agrees that music has healing power, and there are at least 5,000 registered “music therapists” in the U.S. who play sounds that set the captives free in hospitals, special 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. Harvard scientists have also learned that music can improve surgical outcomes, restore lost speech, reduce side effects of cancer therapy, relieve pain, improve mood and battle depression.
“Music might provide an alternative entry point to the brain because it can unlock so many different doors into an injured or ill brain,” Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, a Harvard University neurologist, told the Los Angeles Times. Schlaug’s 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.
Powerful Sounds That Bring Heaven Down
Music is a powerful force that originated in the heart of God—it has always existed in heaven; it is the language of heaven and plays a role in everything God does. Consider the few glimpses of the throne room we see in Scripture. The four living creatures are shouting “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,” accompanied by the music of heaven as they fall down before God’s throne (Rev 4:8, MEV).
“Music is the primary, concentrated and connecting vehicle that joins us between heaven and Earth or hell and Earth,” says Maurice Sklar, a musical prodigy who was accepted into world-class arts schools as a youth before launching into full-time ministry. “It is a concentrated expression of expressive power through sound that directly brings us into union from our hearts to God or to Satan. Whenever I play the violin, it speaks perfectly to every heart, no matter what language they speak. That is the greatest blessing of instrumental music—it does not require words.”
When God created the world, He did it with words—sound. Sklar, who says he visited heaven and heard its sounds, explains that all matter started in the form of light, and light and sound travel in spectrums of wave frequencies that are part of the building blocks of our natural world. Light, he says, is the boundary between the Spirit realm and the natural realm. Since sound—and with it, music—is part of light, it connects us to the spirit realm.
“When we worship, we create an open heaven over our lives,” says Janie Duvall, the program producer for the It’s Supernatural television program for 23 years who has launched her own music ministry to teach the power of soaking in God’s presence. “Worship changes the atmosphere, invites His manifest presence and sets the stage for encounters with the Father that can change our lives—and heal our bodies.”
Do Certain Sounds Move God’s Heart?
We’ve established that God’s power can travel on sound, but do certain sounds move His heart—or move us into His presence—more than other sounds? Kathryn Kuhlman had her favorite songs, such as “How Great Thou Art,” “Alleluia” and “Spirit of the Living God” that helped the masses enter into the miraculous healing presence of God. But are these personal preferences of healing ministers, or do particular songs attract the tangible manifestation of the Holy Spirit?
“Certain keys seem to take us to different places in the Spirit, and to open up different places inside my heart,” True says. “Also, major keys and minor keys each have their own sound and applications. Different instruments also open up different places in the spirit. For instance, cello always affects me like a ‘wooing’ of the Lord. It draws my heart into the love of God and is able to so beautifully express human emotion through the sound when played with excellence.”
Taylor believes songs set an atmosphere for healing but encourages believers not to overanalyze the concept. Ultimately, healing comes from God—not music that hits certain frequencies or 650 beats a minute. She knows this all too well because she was on her deathbed after a physician error during a simple surgery. Her colon was deteriorating, and she dwindled down to 89 pounds, having nine surgeries in 90 days before she emerged from the trial.
“I believe healing comes from the stripes on Jesus’ back—that’s it,” Taylor says. “If we go back to Psalm 32:7, it’s simple. He is our hiding place. Just keep worshipping Him, and you’ll find the hiding place. There are not 50 steps to healing. There’s one mysterious secret to getting set free from disease or anything else in your life. You need one good encounter with God. That’s all. Music can set the stage for an encounter with God.”
Soaking in the Presence of God to Rest and Receive
You don’t need to go to a conference and have Taylor play her violin over you to get healed, either. Soaking music—longer, slower versions of worship songs that flow like a river of life—emerged about a decade ago and can be a tool for entering the healing presence of God in your own home.
Scriptures such as Psalm 4:4 (Meditate in your heart on your bed and be still.), Psalm 37:7 (Rest in the Lord and wait patiently.) and Psalm 91:1 (He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.) support the concept of soaking. Soaking is a time to quiet your soul and awaken to His presence, to hear from the Lord and receive what you need.
“Soaking is an interactive experience with God that has no agenda, no limitations on His goodness and is often accompanied by healing,” True says. “Soaking is a time to fix our eyes on Jesus, cease all striving and lay our burdens at His feet. It’s a time to receive fresh healing in our body and soul. Soaking is a time to rest in the shadow of His wings and to know His peace that passes all understanding.”
This next question is vital: Does faith have anything to do with the power of music to heal? Yes and no. Kuhlman once told the story of an unbeliever who walked into one of her meetings thinking it was some sort of convention. With music thundering in the background, the Lord healed him of a hearing disorder—and, at the time, he was still in unbelief.
Music can play a role in healing and so can faith, but God is sovereign and can heal whom He wants when He wants, and we don’t have to feel anything in the process. Duvall echoes Roth’s comments: “Pairing Scriptures with music helps people put their faith on the Word,” she says. “When we worship the Lord, we may not feel anything, but we can believe that when we draw near to Him, He draws near to us and He inhabits the praises of His people—and miracles can happen.”
When God Shows Up to Minister Healing Miracles
Healing music is not merely a scientific theory—it’s a kingdom reality. Worship unites our spirit, soul—our mind, will and emotions—and body with the Lord, and we create a stairway to heaven, piercing a veil between heaven and Earth and inviting the King of glory to have His way. His way—His will—is always to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers and cast out devils.
Sklar says he’s seen thousands of healing miracles while playing his violin and many more salvations in the past 25 years. He tells of a 12-year-old girl in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who was born with a deformed right foot—and the Lord gave her a creative miracle in the form of a new foot. In Canada, Sklar says he watched God heal over 40 people with knee problems—including one man who had been born without kneecaps.
“I was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the Prayer Center pastored by Dave Roberson when I saw God create a shoulder joint that was not there before,” Sklar says. “This man had never been able to move his arm from birth. As I played the violin over him, he said that he felt his shoulder begin to heat up as God healed him. He was doing windmills with his arm, jumping and shouting: ‘Look, I’m healed! I’m healed!'”
True has seen similar miracles through her soaking music. When people play her CDs, God shows up. She reports improvements in Alzheimer’s patients, reduced pain among women laboring to give birth, better sleep and inner healing. “Inner healing, peace and comfort is the type of healing I’ve seen most with my music, and the way God has uniquely wired me to worship and minister to others,” she says.
Taylor can share story after story from over 20 years of playing sounds that set the captives free. She beams when she speaks of Sylvester, a man whose wife made him fill out a card declaring he received his healing even though he felt nothing. After he signed the card, all the pain left his body. Then there’s Margie, a middle-aged woman who had lumps in her breast. After Taylor played her violin over Margie, a miracle happened—the lumps disappeared. When she went to the bathroom to check herself, everyone heard her scream: “Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus.”
So how do you get to this place where the sounds can set you free? How do you embrace songs of deliverance? Sometimes it can be quite by accident. But we shouldn’t forget Ruth Ward Heflin’s map to the glory: Praise until the spirit of worship comes, worship until the glory comes, and stand in the glory.
“When you want to know what something is worth, you call an appraiser, and you don’t want an appraiser unless he’s certified—and the certification comes from the book,” Taylor says. “The book—the Bible—tells you what God is really worth. So you call God what the Word says He is, and He becomes that to you. Somewhere in your praise, you’ll lock eyes with Him and step into worship—and somewhere in that worship, you’ll touch Him, and He’ll touch you. You’ll enter the glory, and that’s when deliverance and healing come.”
Watch LaDonna Taylor play her violin on It’s Supernatural and talk about how God heals through her music at ladonna.charismamag.com.
Curt Landry 
Michael L. Brown 
Rabbi Eric Tokajer 
