Psalm 118:28-29 (NKJV)
28 You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You.
29 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
“Praise the Lord!”
This is a phrase that is common in our Christian circles today but what does it really mean to praise the Lord? We thank God for what He has done but we praise Him for who HE IS! He is the creator of everything that exists. The one who created us, the one who was who is and is to come. He is the all mighty God who is everywhere at the same time and who knows everything that there is to know, He is GOD!
To praise Him is to lift Him up, it is to give Him the recognition that He deserves. He created us so that we would declare His praises.
Hebrews 13:15 (AMP)
15 Through Him, therefore, let us 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 are to offer praises to Him continually because this is the fruits of our lips, a fruit of thanksgiving. We praise Him with our lips, our words. Words that are coming from a grateful heart because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. According to psalms, we are to praise Him with all sorts of instruments.
Psalms 150:3-5
3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Many of us only do this when we go to church for service but Hebrews tells us that we are to this at all times, praise God for who He is, offer up a sacrifice of praise. I guess it boils down to who God is to you as an individual. It is easy to go through the motions on Sunday morning and to just sing along because most people are doing so, but what about when we are all alone? Does the sacrifice of praise still spring forth from our lips.
This week I am taking you through a praise challenge.
5 DAYS PRAISE CHALLENGE.
•For the next 5 days, commit not to complain or mummer. When the urge to do either comes, switch and take some time to praise God instead.
•Commit to take at least 15 uninterrupted minutes every day to praise God for who he is. Do not pray for needs or any other thing during these 15 minutes, just praise God.
•Every day read the allocated psalm and think about what it is saying.
•Write down some of the things that really speak to you as you read the psalm allocated for the day.
•After your session of praise and psalm reading, write down at least five things you are praising God for. Use those 5 things to write a praise prayer to God.
•Share your daily experience and praise prayer
5 Days of PRAISE, DAY ONE
READ PSALM 150
