Sometimes simple is best.

I was driving around southeastern Texas last week, where the roads are long and straight and the scenery is an endless expanse of rolling plains. After a few hours, it can be pretty boring.

My rental car came equipped with Sirius Satellite Radio. 185 channels of music to suit almost any taste. No commercials.

So I started scanning. When I got to channel 65, my ears perked up. Sirius channel 65 is all bluegrass, all the time.

Now for those of you who don't know, bluegrass is a southern American musical style that uses the sort of simple, acoustic instruments the common people used to own. It grew up in the mountains and farms of the rural south before TV, before radio, back when entertainment consisted of a few friends gathered together on a porch, inventing their own music for the pleasure of anyone who would listen.

Sometimes bluegrass is all instrumental: guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, string bass and maybe some spoons for percussion. Sometimes it has lyrics. The two most common bluegrass themes are the hardships of life and the hope we have of salvation through faith in Christ.

When I was younger, I sang in a rock band. We would arrive at our performances hours beforehand with a truck stuffed with all sorts of gadgets. Speakers, microphones, cables, amplifiers, instruments — everything had to be lugged on stage and connected to a power source before we could make music.

But a bluegrass musician lives a blessedly simple musical life — one instrument, one musician and music. Just find a comfortable place to sit, take out your banjo and play what's on your heart.

When the disciples asked Jesus in Luke 11:1 to "teach us how to pray," it was a short lesson. Prayer isn't complicated.

But we have a tendency to make faith complicated. We have a tendency to put up all sorts of hurdles, entry requirements, proficiency tests, rituals, and pretty soon there's a whole truck-load of complex stuff in the way of our making music with God.

All it really takes is me and my instrument, sitting on the porch with Jesus. Remember what Jesus said to Martha in Luke 10:41?

My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details! There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it — and I won't take it away from her. (Luke 10:41,42, NLT)

The practice of faith is a simple thing. Just me and Jesus and a few good friends picking out some songs. And in that simplicity we can make some great music.