Why is it that when we need God the most we usually feel like approaching him the least? Many tough situations in our lives tend to drag with them feelings of bitterness, anger, and other various emotions that act as a roadblock on our journey towards spiritual health and wholeness. God knew this would happen, and so he offered us the following rule to abide by:
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Hebrews 13:15-16
Praising God no matter what is going on in our lives is so important for us to be able to have a close and personal relationship with him. James 4:8 says, "Come near to God, and he will come near to you." Ok, well when everything seems to be going wrong, and I feel like crying myself a pool of pity, (and possibly pushing someone into it) how in the world can I just praise God instead? Well, the answer I've found which has made all the difference in the world for me is in one word: passion
What do you love to do? If you can do it unto the Lord, you can praise him through the roughest moments of your life. Make it your back up plan to stay connected with him. For me, dancing makes me happy. So when something makes me unhappy, I have decided to turn on some worship music and start dancing until I feel better. It may sound silly, but so far it has worked every time. There are truly limitless possibilities here, but take a look at Psalm 150 for a few ideas:
Praise the LORD.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Hebrews 13:15-16
Praising God no matter what is going on in our lives is so important for us to be able to have a close and personal relationship with him. James 4:8 says, "Come near to God, and he will come near to you." Ok, well when everything seems to be going wrong, and I feel like crying myself a pool of pity, (and possibly pushing someone into it) how in the world can I just praise God instead? Well, the answer I've found which has made all the difference in the world for me is in one word: passion
What do you love to do? If you can do it unto the Lord, you can praise him through the roughest moments of your life. Make it your back up plan to stay connected with him. For me, dancing makes me happy. So when something makes me unhappy, I have decided to turn on some worship music and start dancing until I feel better. It may sound silly, but so far it has worked every time. There are truly limitless possibilities here, but take a look at Psalm 150 for a few ideas:
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.
I want to encourage you today to take that first step of faith to praise him despite all odds, and get ready to cross over into a deeper relationship with him than you ever thought possible. God is good..even when we aren't!!