Thanksgiving and Praise

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever,

his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalm 100:4-5 NIV

Some things just go together. Things like turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, hot rolls and butter, and pumpkin pie and whipped cream. Sitting down to a delicious Thanksgiving dinner certainly stimulates our taste buds into action. Be honest, if you are like me you want to wear your most comfortable pants or dress to this gala! Most of us have been waiting all year with wild anticipation for this dinner where all of our favorite, traditional foods will compliment each other in such a way that we will eat until we enter that state of feeling “stuffed”. At our house we always hope that everything will settle enough so that later in the evening we will have enough room in our tummy to have a turkey sandwich and just one more slice of pie! Gluttony, pure gluttony! Sometimes Thanksgiving seems to be a little too much about food. The fact is there are other things that should, without a doubt, be considered on this special American holiday. Things like our faith, freedom, family, and friends.

 

Another example of things that go together well is thanksgiving and praise. I have been in the company of many people who are indeed thankful for what they have but they seem to be completely void of praise to the One who is their supplier. They think that they are fortunate to have good health and that they are lucky to have met their soul mate. They think only their efforts have lined their bank account. They believe themselves to be their own provider.

 

As Believers, we do not believe in luck. We believe that God is Sovereign and has a plan for our life. Yes, we know that we are fortunate to have the things we enjoy, but we know that it is the hand of God that has equipped us with intelligence to do our work, and has given us the gifts and abilities to succeed in our jobs. If we happen to be among those who God has blessed with good health we give him thanks and praise. We believe that when we trust God and ask him for direction, it is God who brings our spouse into our life and blesses us with that special one who he has sent to be our helpmate.

 

The truth is, all that we own, all that we are, all of the spiritual benefits we are privileged to enjoy, all of creation, and every breath we take comes from our Creator, our Savior, our Sustainer. Our God is an awesome God. That is why those who follow Jesus Christ give thanks and praise to our Almighty God. That is why on Thanksgiving and every other day of our lives we are to “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100:4-5 NIV

 

We enter his gates not just when we go to church but every day during our time of prayer. God invites us into his courts every single day. He craves our praise and desires to see our thankful heart. The fact that God desires our gratitude and praise may seem that God is interested only in himself. This is simply not true. God never demands our thanksgiving and praise but he always deserves it! Why? Because he is good and his love endures forever. God deserves our thanksgiving and praise because he is faithful. Not only to us, but he promises to be faithful to all generations of believers in the future. God has promised to provide for the needs of his children. However, God is not a wishing well. Those things that come from the hand of God that are above and beyond our needs are additional blessings that he chooses to give us. We can ask God for anything but the bottom line is, he knows what is best for us and so we trust him to answer our request in a manner that is in line with our best interest. Gifts should not be ordered. They should always be graciously received.

 

It is God who blesses both the godly and the ungodly. We all receive from the same hand. Sometimes this seems extremely unfair. The truth is, God loves all of us and he uses his provisions and blessings as a tool to point all mankind to himself. It is his desire that someday those who pay him no mind will eventually see how much he loves them, through his provision. Narcissistic ideas of accomplishments are void of both thanksgiving and praise. Some people are thankful but it is so noticeable that they speak without praise. Thanksgiving without praise is somehow empty. It is only a follower of Jesus Christ, who gives both thanksgiving and praise. The object of our thanksgiving and praise is none other than our God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and his precious Holy Spirit that lives within us.

Questions:

1. Do you see how beautifully thanksgiving and praise go together?
2. Most of us are thankful, but how are you doing on your praise?
3. Will you purpose in your heart to enter the gates and courts of God everyday with a thankful heart and words of praise?
4. Will you make a conscious effort to offer up to God both gratitude and praise as you prepare for Thanksgiving?

Prayer:

 

Dear God,

 

Forgive me when my words and actions seem to mirror that I am ungrateful. Forgive me when I enter your gates and courts with only requests and then leave without offering even one word of praise. Thank you and Praise you God because your love endures forever. Even when I fail, still your love endures forever. Thank you and Praise you God because you are good all the time. Forgive me when I begin to think that just because I am going through a difficult time that you have ceased being good. I thank you and praise you God that you are forever faithful. Even when I am unfaithful, you still remain the same faithful God. You always pursue me, you always provide for me, and you are always waiting for me to enter your courts. Only an awesome God like you is deserving of my thanksgiving and praise.

 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

A Perfect Prayer

“Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.”

Psalm 113:2-3 NIV

 It is a bit chilly this January morning, so I must enter the garden of my heart from my overstuffed green chair in our great room. My afghan is cozy and my coffee is steaming. I begin reading Psalm 113 and I am caught up in David’s praise for his LORD.

 

Immediately my heart whispers, Lord, I don’t praise you enough. How can I do this better? The Master Gardner responds, “Praise me and worship me all day and all night. Speak of your love for me and tell others why you love me. Just as you praise all those you love, just add me to your list and praise me as well. Worship and respect me and lift my name on high as you walk through your day. Take care not to move so fast because when you do you forget to look up. Look up into the sky and praise me! Worship me by your obedience. Whisper your gratitude in the marketplace; sing to the top of your lungs, songs of praise to me and worship me while driving to and from your responsibilities. Work at home and with others outside of your home in ways that bring honor and glory to my name. This, my child is “living” worship. Remember, your attitudes, integrity and character should be a reflection of me. Make sure I am honored as a result of your choices. Bringing honor to my name is an act of worship. Also, go alone to a quiet place and offer up your praise and worship to me. Paula, in my eyes this is a perfect prayer.”

 

As many times happens, during my quiet time God reveals things to me that I have previously been missing. I know in my head that I am to praise and worship God but in my heart this action has shallow roots. To say the least my praise and worship of my Creator, my Lord and Savior is often found lacking. Many times when I write a letter, I often add a postscript. I am ashamed to say that this is often the way I approach God in my prayer life. My beginning prayer is always about what I want, what I need, what others need, and then comes the afterthought. Oh by the way God, I praise you and I worship you and I love you. After this morning’s prompting from the Holy Spirit, I am considering the very real possibility that I love myself a bit more than I love my God.

 

So today Lord, I kneel in your presence in awe remembering that my prayer time is my intimate time alone with you. I know that I usually rush into your presence with many requests. Some requests are for others, but most of my prayer focus is on asking for favors from your gracious hand that will benefit me. I ask you for provision, my personal desires, good health, and happy endings. Forgive me Father for failing to speak words of gratitude, worship, and praise. I know you are pleased when I bring my concerns and requests to you. However, today let me ask for nothing, neither for myself nor for another. Let me only praise and worship you. Today I want to offer up a “perfect prayer”. Not perfect in man’s eyes but perfect in your eyes. A prayer that brings you joy!

 

God this PRAYER belongs to you alone:

 

God, I’ve been studying your names. This is a perfect way to guide my words of prayer in praise and worship. The significance of each of your many names begs for my praise and adoration of you. Your attributes are awe-inspiring springboards for my praise and worship every day. God, all of your names reflect who you are. You are the Mighty God, who is powerful. You are the Everlasting Father, and you are the Creator of the universe. You are the Most High God, and Sovereign Lord. You are the God Who Sees. You are the All Sufficient One; you are a Jealous God who calls me to have no other gods before you, because you want all of me for yourself. God you are my Lord and my Master. You are the Great I Am, who is self-existent. You are my Provider, my Healer, and my Banner of protection from Satan. Lord, you are my Sanctifier and my Prince of Peace. God you are the Lord of Hosts, the mighty commander of heaven’s armies. Still you are my gentle Shepherd and you are my Righteousness. You are the King of Glory who is coming again for your bride. I praise you and I worship you! What a magnificent package you are, all wrapped up in One! There is none above you. I praise you because I love you. I worship you because you alone are worthy. I speak words of gratitude because without you my life is meaningless.

 

It is in your Son’s name I pray. Amen.

 

As I continue to linger in my mind’s garden I observe in the distance a field of trees clapping their hands in adoration. Then I notice that the stones along the garden path are crying out in praise. Flowers of every species raise their heads and shout “hallelujah” to their creator. The lush green ferns prayerfully whisper, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The birds in the garden sing songs of never ending praise. Then all is still. There is a musical “grand pause” of silence. Selah. This too is a silence that radiates meditation and marvelous worship.

 

“Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty,

he is the King of glory.”

Selah

Psalm 24:10 NIV

 The Sonshine is warm; I am enveloped in God’s arms of love. I do not want to leave this place. The moments I have spent in pure praise and worship have been indescribable. My heart cries out for more worship, and more praise. If indeed praise and worship belong alone to God, then why do I feel so blessed and so loved? Could it be because I am full, my cup runs over, I have no need for asking the one I worship for anything. As my praise and worship goes up to the throne of God, he in return showers his love and peace on me falling down like a refreshing rain and I am blessed.

 

Questions:

1. Have you ever experienced sweet praise and worship?
2. Do you relate to offering your praise and worship to God as a postscript?
3. Would you consider sitting with Jesus in prayer and refraining from asking him for anything?
4. Do you realize that God created us to worship him?
5. How is praise and worship played out in your life?
6. What are the benefits of praise and worship?
7. Would you consider making a “selfless” list of why you love him?

Practice Praise!

“Praise the LORD!

How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him.”

Psalm 147:1 NIV

For me the garden of my heart is a very special place. I love this place because it is here that I am able to speak my concerns to God in prayer. I have noticed that most of my prayers are for my own breaking heart, my fears, and my personal material needs. I also bring before God the needs of my family and friends. Prayer is the place that I ask for mercy and guidance for our country and its leaders. This place of solitude is where I pray for my church and for missionaries around the world. It is here that I ask for favors and blessings. All of these requests are usually first on the agenda. To my shame, some days I rush into God’s presence with my list of needs and wants and forget to ask God to search my heart and show me any wicked ways that may be lurking in my life. I am so self-centered in my prayers that I forget to confess my sin. Just as I am about to rush out of the garden and on to my responsibilities for the day, I quickly offer up a quick sentence of gratitude for all of the countless blessings God has given to me. Many times I forget to speak even one word of praise or worship to my God and Savior.

I don’t know how this happens but time and time again I forget to offer up my praise to my wonderful Lord. I forget to worship the God of the universe and the Lord of my life. I forget that the reason I even exist is for me to enjoy God and for him to enjoy me. This is only accomplished thorough praise and worship. How is it that I can repeatedly forget to worship God? I rush into his presence like a greedy child and then back out again. Wasn’t that the greatest sin of the Israelites?  They were worshiping useless idols who couldn’t hear or speak let alone answer their prayers. Is it possible that my most dangerous idol in this world is myself?

One of my very first reasons to praise and worship God should be because of the many ways God continues to take care of me and all those I love. Intercession for others is very important and because God’s power is released when we pray he listens, hears, and answers my prayers for others as well. He does all this over and over again with or without my praise and worship! I am certain that God wants me to bring before him all things but I know that he is especially happy when I praise him.

So why then is it important to practice praise? Praise is a part of my worship. The Bible says, “Praise the LORD! How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him.” Psalm 147:1 NIV Praising the Lord is good, pleasant and fitting. Today I am thinking that praise is my sweet sacrifice that I should offer up to God everyday, all through the day. Praise brings him pleasure. How amazing is that? Me, a mere mortal, I am capable of pleasing my creator simply by offering up words of praise.

Why is this so hard for me to grasp? For one thing, I have a very short attention span and I forget that I should do this. This is why I need to make an effort to practice praise. The more I practice praise the more spontaneous my praise will become. Eventually praise will become a natural, loving response.  

Personal praise often makes me uncomfortable, but it is still nice to receive, especially when I have spent a lot of time and effort doing something for others. Praise is one way that others affirm to me that I am appreciated. Who doesn’t like that? I think that sometimes praise makes me feel uncomfortable because it really does not belong to me. You see, all praise really belongs to God. He is the one who has made me. He is the one who as gifted me. He is the one who gives me the strength to serve. He is the one who continues to give me breath so that I might be used by him. It makes no difference if I am writing or praying, cooking meals or folding clothes, none of this would be possible without God supplying me with all I need to accomplish my tasks.

The Bible is full of words of praise for God. Since God has inspired all the words that have been written in the Bible it seems to me that he is giving me a written example of how I am to respond to him in praise. I may as well face it, God wants my praise. God deserves my praise.

God has also given us a beautiful world to enjoy. The beauty of his handiwork is his special gift that often leaves us breathless! Romans 1:20 tells us that God has given us nature to invoke our praise, leaving us without excuse when it comes to knowing him. I had to learn to pay attention to nature. I was surprised to discover that nature summoned great levels of praise within my spirit. Praising God as I enjoy nature outside of the garden has become free and easy for me, yet praising God in the garden seems to still be severely lacking.

Today I am recalling that when I do remember to praise God when I enter the garden I seem to experience a more joyous time of prayer. Instead of my usual pattern of constant requesting, my time now becomes a sweet time of fellowship. My praise to my Father is what fosters our relationship. Praise frees up my heart to express gratitude, praise positions me for submission, and praise helps me take my focus off myself and places my eyes on God.

Why is it that when I position myself correctly before God it always comes back to me a thousand fold? Just as we love our parents, our mates, our children, our friends, God loves us. When we hear words of affirmation that are free of requests we then bend over backwards to do more and more and more! Why would I give my Lord and Savior any less? As I reflect on this truth I am challenged to be more diligent about practicing praise.

Questions:

1. Do you sometimes feel inadequate in expressing your praise?
2. How do you feel about knowing that your praise is a pleasing sacrifice to God?
3. Do you see advantages in making praise a significant part of your prayer time?
4. As you grow in your walk with the Lord do you find yourself praising God more throughout your day?

Prayer:

Dear God,

Sometimes I feel totally inadequate in my ability to praise you. Words escape me. So from your Holy Word I want to pray prayers of adoration back to you. God, today and every day hear my praise. I pray that it will be a sweet smelling sacrifice to you.

“I will praise you, O LORD with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9:1-2 NIV

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” Psalm 115:1 NIV

“I praise you, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14 NIV

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Isaiah 6:3 NIV

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is, and is to come.”

Revelation 4:8 NIV

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”  Revelation 5:12 NIV

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,” Revelation 19:1 NIV

God, with all my heart I praise and worship you!

In the name of Jesus Christ I praise and worship you. Amen.