Turning to faith to make it through 2020 and beyond

HOUSTON - What a year 2020 has been, and many have turned to faith to make it through.

We talk with one Houston radio DJ who’s sharing more than music with his listeners. NGEN Radio’s Marcus Sullivan is also sharing hope with those who tune in by using what he calls the power of prayer.      

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"I always say much prayer, much power. Little prayer, little power. No prayer, no power."

With that in mind, 91.7 NGEN radio's Marcus Sullivan began uttering words into his microphone a few months ago.

"Maybe close your eyes, maybe bow your head, maybe hold your hands up." It was when the burden of 2020 began weighing on many so his words just flowed from his heart.

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"May our thoughts be on how things should be" and what came out of his mouth live on the air sounded an awful lot like prayer: "Father God as we go into this week Father, we just ask that you keep our hearts pure and undivided. Protect us from our own careless thoughts."

"That’s the weirdest thing. I was the person like the people that may be watching this. I was the person that I would be like I can pray but I’m not the praying out loud person. At gatherings I’d be like don’t ask me to pray," Marcus laughs. 

So what changed? Well, along with the COVID-19 crisis came the cry for racial justice after the death of George Floyd, which moved Marcus to pray for unity, even if it meant praying out loud.

"We can re-build together. We still can love together and it started with that and then it started being prayer requests and that’s when it’s like, yeah we can pray for children. We can pray for your job. We can pray for anything," but even before that the Marcus In The Morning radio host didn’t know why he was working to become better at praying. "I said to myself 'man I start my car more than I do anything' and I wanted to make it a habit. Every time I would start my car I would say Lord guide me, be with me, watch over me and follow me."

Now every morning at 7:45 Marcus says, out loud on the radio, a daily prayer.

"Real talk, I’m not like a preachy dude. I’m a regular dude who just prays. I have no fancy words. I literally just open my mouth and talk to God."

This year this asthmatic has seen his share of all that came along with 2020, including testing positive for COVID-19 and being quarantined away from his family on Thanksgiving.

"It really got bad for me. For like three days I struggled to breathe."

Through it all and maybe because of it, Marcus says his trust in God has grown.

"I’ve been an introvert my entire life. I’m this shy, nervous dude, but if I turn it back to God. Look who God used to talk on the microphone every day. We can all agree that 2020 has been enough but when you really start looking at it you’re still here and that alone is just enough to be like wow you chose me to be here another day God."

91.7 NGEN Radio plays positive pop and hip hop music. 

By the way, Marcus Sullivan’s 31-day prayer devotional audiobook debuted on Christmas Eve. 

 Find it at www.BlessedBeatz.com.