In Praise of Him

Scripture: "Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours O LORD is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name." (I Chronicles 29:10:13)

When I feel distant from God, if there is one thing I've learned that draws me back to Him, is sharing with Him a heart of praise. I put all my needs aside, I put all my prayer requests for others aside. I stop a while, and I spend time thanking him for individual things in my life. My health, finances, the church I belong to, my truck, my friends, my home ... and on and on it goes.

There is something about putting aside your own needs and giving the Lord a heart full of praise that restores the soul. If there is one thing I fear, it is treating Christ like a vending machine. I enjoy taking time out to hold off on requests and praising Him for Who He is, and what He has done in my life.

I have memorized the above scripture, but I also found Psalm 150 that I would like to memorize as well. It is a Psalm full of nothing but praise. "Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD, Praise the LORD."

What a joyous Psalm, a wonderful prayer! As a aspiring drummer, I particularly like "...praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals."

We serve an awesome God. Stop and give Him praise for all He has done in your life!

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for being in our lives. We thank You for all You have done, for the trials You have helped us overcome, the churches You have led us to, the friends You have put in our lives who help us to walk the walk. Help us to continue to have a heart of praise towards You at all times, even while we ask for our needs and desires. THANK YOU, LORD! Amen