Praise is an act of faith.
I read a story this morning that really challenged me and this is what the author has to say :
When Becky Harling was diagnosed with cancer over ten years ago, she begged God for healing. A friend of hers had another idea. She challenged Becky to spend twenty minutes a day in praise. Becky thought, What if I’m not feeling thankful? But as she intentionally praised God, she began to experience new joy—and her relationship with God has never been the same. She took a step of faith.
Now, in The Thirty-Day Praise Challenge, Becky guides you in praising God for twenty minutes every day for one month. Arranged topically, the book includes music selections to enhance your praise journey and creative ideas for continuing the habit of praise.
Let’s praise Him.
As Becky writes, “If you take this challenge, your faith will grow more than you dreamed possible. You will experience more joy, less insecurity, more courage, less anxiety. Thirty days of praising God. Are you ready?” Taken from ‘The 30-Day Praise Challenge’ available on Amazon
Discover the Power of Praising God
We are commanded to praise Him continually: Hebrews 13:15 ‘Through Jesus we should always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, words that acknowledge him’. God’s word translation: ‘Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name’. We need to respond in obedience to what we read.
We are not just commanded to praise, we are commanded to do it constantly and at all times. It should also be verbally expressed. It is not just something you think about. Praise takes attention away from us to the Creator. it helps to recognise there is a higher authority above us, we have just appeared on this earth by chance. There are steps to follow for our lives to have meaning.
Something has to happen for us to have that connection. We need to make Jesus the Lord of our life by believing in Him and confessing Him as Lord and saviour. As I mentioned above, we are commanded to offer a sacrifice of praise ‘through Him ‘Through Him means we have access to God through Jesus. As long as you believe in Jesus, you have access to God to offer your sacrifice of praise.
We should be glad we no longer have to offer animal sacrifices in order to please God as was the case in the old dispensation. Our approach to our Creator has been made easy by one sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Praise is indeed for us not for Him. We are the benefactors. It is difficult for many to understand this as it seems too simple.
There are barriers to our offering that praise. Some of these are anger, Discouragement, Unbelieve, fear, unforgiveness or holding grudges, fear, unforgiveness. These can all be overcome by surrender of our concerns to Our Creator.
It never ceases to amaze me that God’s timing is perfect. The fact that I read this post today right after making a decision yesterday that I need to start obeying what God tells me to do through His word.
I love this idea of spending 20 minutes a day praising God. It is a bit like keeping a gratitude journal – it helps us to focus on what we can be be grateful for and then the next step is to show that gratitude through praise.
As with many things in life, we attract more of what we focus on. I am definitely going to add this to my daily routine. I have a feeling that this is just what I need right now to bring me closer to my Creator.
Hi Lesley
God speaks to us in numerous ways and I don’t doubt that this is one of them.
Praising Him is best thing we can do for our Creator and as His word says, we see increase. I have read of many testimonies on the power of praise.
Try it and you will see the results.
Kav
Hi Kav,
There are some difficulties in life that often cloud our vision and hold us back from praising God, which I have been thinking strongly about for some time now. It is amazing that your website has shown up today. Despite feelings and circumstances, it is important to take that first step to help us grow in faith. You offered a great way to ease the mind and heart and I think the 20 minute a day praise challenge will renew and refresh a sad spirit and remove all obstacle that hinders one from walking in in the right path. Today I remembered how to pray for today and that I do not stand alone! Thank you for such an inspirational website.
Hi Dana
You are so right about difficulties in life preventing clouding our vision. I’ve been there I understand what you mean. It’s important to recognise those moments and not allow our circumstances to overtake us as you mentioned. You nailed it by saying we have to take the step to grow in faith. Faith is a powerful force and many of us don’t fully understand it’s operation. We are all on a journey.
Thanks for the encouraging comment, I really appreciate it.