Friday, November 23, 2012

The Power of Praise-Praising God Continuously by Martin Wiles

Series: The Power of Praise

Praising God is easy when life runs smoothly; it’s a challenge when life repeatedly takes us down bumpy roads. Doing it continually is even more demanding.

Praising God is effortless when the kids get along but strenuous when they’re cantankerous. Having many children by multiple wives made David’s situation fragile. Especially when son of wife one raped daughter of wife two. And when son of wife three wanted the throne God promised to son of wife four.

Praising God is painless when the children are praising you for being the best parent but difficult when they sarcastically spout you deserve “dad or mom of the year” because you made a tough decision that negatively impacted them. David had a son who rebelled, stole the throne and escorted him out of town.

Praising God is undemanding when your spouse thinks you’re the best thing next to God but more difficult when she doesn’t-and even ridicules you for serving him as one of David’s did. Praising God is comfortable when everyone is singing your glory but challenging when back biters, conspirators and fair weather friends plot your downfall.

David mastered the art of praising God continually and pledged to keep it up until he died. I will praise the LORD as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath (Psalm 146:2 NLT).

God-honoring praise should be continuous and lifelong. Circumstances won’t dampen it, and others won’t steal it by unwarranted and unpleasant actions toward us. We’ll give thanks in all situations-whether good or bad. Recognizing God’s in control and is the permitter-or author, of everything touching our lives makes the practice easier.

Prayer: Almighty God who is worthy of our praise, we adore You for all things with confidence that You’ll use each one for our ultimate spiritual benefit.


1 comment:

  1. I agree that praise in all times in all places is hard, but essential to our relationship to Christ. I find that if I intentionally praise God, even when I'm feeling frustrated or down, I start to feel better. Simply the practice of seeking out things to be thankful for changes my perspective.

    ReplyDelete