Praise the Lord
Have you ever found yourself relearning something you have learned before? Lately, I have been relearning the power and importance of praise. Although, in 2017 I wrote a guest post for Deb Wolf over at Counting My Blessings, the post was on “Guarding our Thoughts”.
In it I said,
“The more you and I praise God the smaller we feel and when we are small, God is HUGE, He is GREAT, and He is ABLE!”
So clearly, I know that offering praise to God is powerful and important. It helps me remember how mighty He is. In comparison I am so small and my problems are minuscule.
“I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.”
Psalms 18:3
Relearning
Over the last few months life has gotten a bit crazy hard and so busy. We have found ourselves amidst another of life’s many storms. In this environment praise, other than the worship in church, has little crossed my lips. The praise that I so enjoy in my prayer life has vanished in the vast requests that fill my prayers lately.
Feeling very lost and confused, in David fashion I cried out to God. During this a thought started to fill my mind. “David still gave praise. Where was my praise?”
“Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
Psalms 29:2
Head Knowledge and Heart Knowledge
Have you heard about, “the 12 inches (some say 18) between your head and your heart” The idea is getting the information of Jesus and the Bible to travel the distance from our head to our heart. That is the difference of knowing and experiencing; knowing it and living it. Knowledge and wisdom are not always the same thing. We can know something and not use the knowledge when it is needed. We need knowledge to have wisdom, however we do not need wisdom to have knowledge.
In my case I had it in my heart, I know that I did. I love praying praise. It elevates my prayers. I believe praise is a key component to a good prayer life. As I explained in How to Pray and Why
Well then, you are probably wondering, what happened?
Distraction
The master deceiver, Satan, told me that I didn’t have time, things are falling apart, and I need to act now. Foolishly, I believed him.
I didn’t take time to be with God in prayer. My prayers were rushed lists of “needs,” requests, and pleas for help. Business and the craziness, along with the emotions of the raging storm distracted me. I allowed the enemy to deceive me, yet again. Letting the “needs” and urgency of situations take precedence over my time of resting in His presence.
Sometimes, I just need to remember that God isn’t in the earthquake, fire or raging storm of our lives. He is in the still small voice.
“And he said Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”
1 Kings 19:11-12
Taking time to praise Him regularly and continually is how we step out of life’s natural disasters and hear His voice.
The Importance of Praise in Prayer
I have known people that have a hard time reading through the Psalms, because they get sick of listening to David whine and complain. Until the first time I heard it I had never thought of the Psalms in this way, and I probably never would have on my own. Although, I have to admit that now that it has been pointed out, I can see where they are coming from.
Personally, I love that David whines and complains, and that it is part of the Bible. Simply because I occasionally need to whine and complain to God too. It is good to know that it is okay with God when I do and that He understands. I love David’s heart for praise. No matter how utterly distraught David starts a prayer he ends in such heartfelt pure adoration to God. David may not be shy with his complaints; he is also exceedingly generous with his praise.
We also see the importance of praise in our prayers by the example that Jesus gave us in teaching His disciples how to pray. The Lord’s prayer starts with
“Our Father which art in heaven, Hollowed be thy name”
Matthew 6:9
God is our Father our leader, we should look to up Him in every situation, and give Him the respect, honor, and glory due His name. God’s name is holy, as He is holy.
The importance of Praise in our Worship
David shows us the importance of praise in our prayers. He also showed us the importance of praise in our worship. It was important to David that the temple (the place of worship) had music as well as designated worship leaders. I am also reminded of the scene when David brought the Ark of the covenant. His wife Michal (Saul’s daughter) did not approve of David’s behavior, she believed it to be foolish, not at all how a king should behave. Although, David didn’t care what she thought.
“– and I will celebrate before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes.”
2 Sam 6:21-22
You can read the whole story in 2 Samuel chapter 6
Praising the Lord is a way of showing who is important to us. Do we praise the Lord without thinking about what we look like? Or are we more concerned with how we look, and what people might think? During praise all else should fade to an obscure background where only Jesus is present, and only Jesus matters.
I would love to know what is your favorite way to praise the Lord? And what is your favorite Bible verse or song of praise is? Please share one with us in the comment section below.
Grace and Peace
Debra Jean
I occasionally join the following link up parties! You should join me, I would love to see you at one or two!
Monday – #KingdomBloggers / Inspire me Monday / #LMM LinkUP
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I am living this right now as well. I’ve written about the importance of signing His praise, yet I’m currently a wreck for getting sucked into distractions. I’m so glad I visited you for this much needed reminder
I’m so glad you stopped by today. Praying we both keep praise in our every day lives.
Amen-Amein Sister in Christ-Messiah Jesus-Yeshua Debra!! Great Testimony and Holy Bible Verses that I Love and enjoy!!
Praise Christ-Messiah Jesus-Yeshua HE is KING of kings and LORD ( ADONAI ) of lords, HE is the ALPHA and OMEGA, HE is the BEGINNING and the END Hallelujah and Maranatha!!
“Happiness keeps You Sweet, Trials keep You Strong, Sorrows keep You Human, Failures keeps You Humble, Success keeps You Glowing, But Only GOD keeps You Going.”!! Amen-Amein Praise Christ-Messiah Jesus-Yeshua Hallelujah!!
Love you all Everyone through Jesus-Yeshua Christ, because HE LOVED EVERYONE FIRST!! 💕 Praise Jesus-Yeshua Christ-Messiah for Today and Everyday!!
GOD Bless All my Sisters and Brothers in Christ-Messiah Jesus-Yeshua and Your Families and Friends!!
Love 💕 Always and Shalom ( Peace ), YSIC \o/
Kristi Ann
Kristi Ann Thanks so much for bringing your bright light of praise today. Amen, “only God keeps me going” so blessed by your visit and input today. I hope you come by visit again. 😃
This is awesome! So important to include praise in our everyday lives!
It is, we don’t really know until we try! Thanks so much for your encouraging visit today. Blessings! 🙂
There truly is power in praise! Thank you, Debra, for this important and timely message for me too! I know that time with God is key to my daily walk, but I allow satan to steal the time too. Yes, I, too, must relearn and relearn lessons that I thought I had finally gotten clarified and set. BUT…NO! once again, I needed a lesson or twelve, maybe! I am grateful that He forgives and holds me near to Him no matter how far I stray. I am reading Hosea now and see the Israelites doing that over and over again too. Yet, God continued to love them and us too! Oh my!
Caring through Christ, ~ linda
Yes, God is never far, no matter how far we stray, He stays close. So grateful for your visit today. 🙂
Debra, Amen, sister! The Lord inhabits the praise of His people. Love all the Scriptures and points you make. Especially Matthew 6 and the Lord’s prayer. On insight from my friend and fellow-blogger, Lyli, I now start each day with a prayer (often before I ever step out of the bed) that says, “Father, hallowed be your name…holy are you, Lord!”
It seems to set the tone for my morning and day to start out acknowledging and praising the Lord’s name!
I love starting prayer with praise, and prayer to start each day – what better place to start. Grateful for your visit today, thanks for spending time with me.
I too forget to praise in the midst of busy life or stress. Going for a walk in nature helps me correct my focus as I see so much of God’s glory in His creation. Singing is a great way too. My favorite praise song lately is “We Believe” by Newsboys. Just declaring the basis of my faith and who God is and what He has done, fills my heart with gratitude and praise and comfort.
Amen! I love taking walks too. Great song, I like the News Boys. Thanks so much for visiting with me today, such a blessing. 😁
Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels; Psalm 148, just a little of it.
Amen! Thanks for sharing Rebecca, so glad you stopped by.
Debra, I am constantly re-learning things! All my life God just keeps patiently teaching me the same lessons over and over and over again. GRACE!
Praise is so important to our overall spiritual health. I often remark that my favorite part of the Sunday service is the song serve because it is so full of praise to God. I love that! I can hardly wait to get to Heaven and sign praises to God with that big choir up there! But praise is not just for Sundays. We know that. It’s for Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday… It’s for every day of the week. It’s what gets up back to Sunday so that we can refill our spiritual tanks with more corporate worship! 🙂
Thanks for linking up at InstaEncouragements!
Yes Patsy, praise is for every day! It is a vital part of our connection with God. Grace is amazing! Thanks for visiting today! 🙂
As a new believer who had rarely prayed before my 20s, my sponsor/ mentor mentioned the ACTS way of praying: Adoration, Confession Thanksgiving and then offer our Supplications/ Requests. Excellent reminder; thanks!
I prefer the PRAY Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield, both are very good to aid our prayers and remind us to praise God in our prayers. Thanks for visiting today and taking the time to comment. Greatly appreciated! 💜
I love David’s Psalms because it shows that it is ok to be honest with God, but he is a great example of praise too, and I love that so often he starts by complaining about a situation but then ends in praise as he focuses on God and reminds himself of who God is. Music is my favourite way to praise and to focus on God. It’s hard to pick one particular song but 10,000 Reasons is one of my favourites.
Yes, music is a great way to praise God. I love to wake up to 10,000 reasons, such a beautiful song. Thanks for stopping by today Lesley! 😀