The Listening Porch

Make Your Life a Praise | The Listening Porch w/Ray Hughes | Episode 15

The Psalms don’t just tell stories of victory, they carry the long memory of God’s faithfulness. In this episode of Listening Porch, Ray Hughes and Eric explore what it really means to be a psalmist. Not just a songwriter, but a person whose life becomes praise. From David’s victories and failures to our own moments of shame, response, creativity, and redemption, this conversation reframes worship as something lived, not performed.

We talk about:

- Responding to God instead of reacting
- How victory flows from God’s faithfulness, not self-effort
- Why language, art, music, and creativity access God’s presence
- Being a psalmist whether you sing, write, paint, or simply live faithfully - Seeing your life as God’s testimony in the earth
- This episode takes the pressure off “doing praise right” and invites us to simply be the praise.

--

Join Selah Creatives: Get access to all of Ray’s online courses, teachings, monthly live Zoom gatherings, and a community of over 100 like-spirited creatives → selahonline.teachable.com/p/selah-creatives

Support Ray on Patreon: Receive his personal poetry, prose, and creative writings not shared anywhere else → patreon.com/rayhughes

Visit Ray's Website: RayHughes.org

Be a Psalmist | The Listening Porch w/Ray Hughes | Episode 14

What does it actually mean to be a psalmist?

In this Listening Porch conversation, Eric and Ray reflect on #44 from 107 Things I Forgot to Say the Last Time I Talked About Worship, Creativity, and Music. Together, they explore how the psalms are more than songs. They are stories of real lives lived before God.

This episode dives into tension and release, lament and praise, and how David’s psalms documented moments of fear, desperation, trust, and deliverance, often before the victory was visible. We talk about how creativity gives language to the soul, why honesty matters in worship, and how remembering God’s past faithfulness shapes future hope.

Whether you’re a musician, writer, artist, or simply someone learning how to express your walk with God, this conversation invites you to see your life as a song still being written.

Walking While Waiting | The Listening Porch w/Ray Hughes | Episode 13

On a cold November porch in Alabama, we talk about deserts, waiting, creativity, and why God often speaks beyond the narrow parameters of thought. A conversation about stillness, listening, and finding beauty where we least expect it.

--

Join Selah Creatives: Get access to all of Ray’s online courses, teachings, monthly live Zoom gatherings, and a community of over 100 like-spirited creatives → selahonline.teachable.com/p/selah-creatives

Support Ray on Patreon: Receive his personal poetry, prose, and creative writings not shared anywhere else → patreon.com/rayhughes

Visit Ray's Website: RayHughes.org

Fitting In vs. Belonging | The Listening Porch w/Ray Hughes | Episode 12

In this episode of The Listening Porch, Ray Hughes reflects on the difference between fitting in and belonging, and why so many gifted, creative, Spirit-filled people feel misaligned in the places they’re trying to serve.

Drawing from the life of David, Ray explores how the Holy Spirit expresses Himself through poetry, music, story, and creativity, not just within sacred spaces, but through everyday assignments. We talk about fire as light, fire as warmth, fire as focus, and fire as something meant to be carried into dark places.

From campfires and candles to misfits and renaissance moments, this conversation invites us to stop trying to fit and instead find the place where we truly belong, where what God put in us is welcomed, protected, and allowed to shine.

Misfits, Makers, and the Presence of God | The Listening Porch w/Ray Hughes | Episode 11

In this episode of The Listening Porch, Ray and Eric sit down to talk about something so many creatives quietly carry: the feeling of not fitting in.

Drawing from the life of King David, they explore why so many musicians, poets, worship leaders, storytellers, and dreamers walk through seasons of misalignment, and how God uses those very seasons to shape purpose, discipline, and fire.

David didn’t just surround himself with poets and prophets. He gathered the distressed, the discontent, the misunderstood, the ones in debt, and the ones who didn’t fit anywhere else. And somehow, in that strange mix of people, God formed a culture that carried His presence into a new day.

Ray and Eric talk about mis-assignment, the purpose of uncomfortable seasons, the tension between creativity and discipline, and what it means to bring your unique fire into a community without losing your soul.

If you’ve ever felt like a misfit, this conversation is an invitation to see that you’re not misplaced, you might just be in the middle of being prepared.

--

Join Selah Creatives: Get access to all of Ray’s online courses, teachings, monthly live Zoom gatherings, and a community of over 100 like-spirited creatives → selahonline.teachable.com/p/selah-creatives

Support Ray on Patreon: Receive his personal poetry, prose, and creative writings not shared anywhere else → patreon.com/rayhughes

Visit Ray's Website: RayHughes.org