Music to Pray By: When Brothers Build Together
My brother Ron has been playing the piano since he was seven years old. On May 19, 1997, at a Promise Keepers seminar, he recommitted his life to Christ — and he's been serving the Lord through music ever since. What started as a single album recorded in 2002, with over a thousand copies given away around the world, has grown into something much bigger: Music to Pray By — a ministry of spontaneous piano worship designed to draw people into prayer.
Ron Johns — Music to Pray By
I've watched him build this from the ground up. He records live piano improvisation on a Yamaha grand piano, streams to six platforms simultaneously, publishes auto-extracted podcasts, and now has over a million downloads across 192 countries. All of it faith-first, all of it given freely, all of it for the glory of God.
"The primary purpose of this ministry is to bring glory, honor, and praises to Him Who sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb. My prayer is that this music will inspire people worldwide to spend time in prayer and in fellowship with our Wonderful Creator." — Ron Johns
Devotion = Prayer + Bible + Worship
Here's what I've been thinking about as I've built the Watchman Bible Reading Plan and the MOOP Bible Translation Engine: true devotion isn't just reading Scripture. It's the convergence of three things — the Word, prayer, and worship. We've been building the Word layer here at U.S.M.C. Ministries with five daily Bible readings, lexicon studies, and cross-references that go deep into the original Hebrew and Greek. But the worship layer — the music that draws your heart into the presence of God — that's exactly what Ron has been building with Music to Pray By.
It's a natural fit, and it's time to bring them together.
The Album: "My Father in Heaven"
Ron's full album features twelve original piano instrumentals, each one named for an attribute of God. From "Alpha" to "Omega," the album traces the character of God in a way that's both musically beautiful and theologically intentional:
🎹 Tap any track to listen on musictoprayby.com
And beyond the album, Ron has recorded over 70 Piano Prayer Podcasts — raw, unedited, spontaneous worship played in the moment. This isn't produced studio worship; it's a man sitting at his piano, praying through his fingers. There's something authentically powerful about that.
Two Brothers, Same Mission, Different Angles
Ron and I are building the same thing from different angles. He's building a music and worship content engine — live piano worship, daily streaming, podcast distribution across major platforms. I'm building a discipleship and ministry content engine with the Bible Translation Engine, the Watchman Plan, and tools like the REAL MAN devotional. Both of us are going automated, both faith-first, both betting on the infrastructure to eventually pay for itself and serve the Kingdom at scale.
The parallel is striking:
- His content: Live piano worship, podcast episodes, streaming to six platforms
- My content: Five daily Bible readings, Hebrew/Greek lexicon, cross-references, blog posts
- The overlap: Prayer. Devotion. Drawing men and women closer to God through intentional, daily rhythms
What's Coming: Word + Worship Together
We're exploring ways to bring these two ministries closer together. Some ideas on the table:
- A "Daily Rhythm" section on U.S.M.C. Ministries that recommends Ron's streams as the soundtrack to your Bible readings
- Embedded live streams on the site on stream days — read your morning passage with live worship playing
- Ron's podcast RSS featured on the readings pages as a prayer companion
- A future devotional page that integrates Scripture, worship music, and guided prayer into one experience
The vision is simple: when you sit down for your morning devotion, the Word is there, the worship is there, and the Spirit meets you in the convergence.
"Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." — Ephesians 5:19
Go Listen
If you've never experienced Music to Pray By, start here. Put on one of Ron's Piano Prayer Podcasts, open your Bible to today's reading, and just sit with the Lord for ten minutes. Don't rush it. Let the music carry your prayers where words can't reach.
Start the Watchman Plan
Ron Johns has been playing piano since age 7 and serving the Lord through music since 1997. His ministry, Music to Pray By, has reached over a million downloads in 192 countries. He currently serves at The Connection Church in Buda, TX.
Adam "MOOP" Johns is a Christ-following husband and father, retired US Marine, and founder of U.S.M.C. Ministries in Fredericksburg, VA.