Unless you believe in divine revelations, what I'm saying will sound like nonsense, but I believe that when God created the world, he created everything, so music is something that already exists.  You just have to be very still and hear it.  Plato believed that was the case.  I'm not being over-pious if I say to God 'Guide me, help me.'  It's a kind of prayer, so therefore writing music is a kind of prayer.

-- Sir John Tavener