Would you like for your life to change? Have you ever found yourself in a situation that did not go your way and you got angry, frustrated, upset? Did those reactions help? Maybe another response would be better. Praise God for your situation.
Praise is the music of heaven. Praise is the language of mature disciples.
Throughout the Psalms an emphatic ring and a resounding redundancy as the Psalmist’s soul or his inner being praises the God of the universe. The Psalmist said that he would praise God every day for everything forever.
In the dictionary the word praise means to extol, honor, acclaim, expressing approval. To praise, then, is to give positive affirmation, expressing our approval, of all that comes our way. Most often praise is expressed for the good that comes our way.
In the Bible, praise is more than just acknowledging God for the good that comes our way. Praise is accepting from God all that comes our way, both the good and the bad. That means that we, if we are obedient to this scriptural teaching, are to praise God for the bad, as well as the good, as a part of God’s plan for our lives.
The praise we offer when things don’t go our way is far more precious to God than the praise we offer when all is well.
Praise recognizes a Provider.
We are to praise God. The very fact that we praise God and not some unknown fate means that we are accepting the fact that God is responsible for what is happening. Praising accomplishes a wonderful thing: it takes our minds off our situation, and focuses our minds on God. It gives God the right to rule and to reign in our lives how he sees fit. It acknowledges that God knows more about what he is doing than we do. It accepts that God can take all the bad stuff of life, and make something beautiful out of it. It causes us to take our perspective off the earthly and put it on the heavenly. It causes us to consider and to appreciate God’s character.
Praise acknowledges a plan.
Here we acknowledge that God is weaving a tapestry of our lives. We don’t always see the finished product. Sometimes to get to the end, we have our fair share of bumps, bruises, knots, and difficulties. Consider Joseph’s story. He had to deal with disappointments, setbacks, times of despair, and frustrations, but God weaved a beautiful masterpiece in the end.
Praise accepts the present.
God has a plan for your life, but he cannot move you to the next step of his plan until you joyfully accept your present situation as part of that plan. When this happens God is able to unleash his power.
Praise is not a cure-all or a manipulative formula to get what we want. We praise God, not for the expected results, but for the situation just as it is. Praise is based on a total and joyful acceptance of the present as part of God’s loving, perfect will for us. Praise is not based on what we think or hope will happen in the future. We praise God, not for what we expect will happen in our around us, but we praise him for what he is and where and how we are right now.
Praise releases the power.
Any form of sincere prayer opens the door for God’s power to move into our lives. But the prayer of praise releases more of God’s power than any other form of petition. The Psalmist wrote, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3 KJV). God actually dwells, inhabits, resides in our praise. God’s power and presence is near when we praise him. When you enter God’s presence with praise; he enters your circumstances with power.
When we praise God for the present situation as a part of God’s plan, God’s power is unleashed. This power cannot be brought about by a new attitude or a determined effort of self-will, but God working in our lives.
We praise and then let God do the rest. It’s a great way to live.
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