A Lifestyle Of Praise

A Lifestyle of Praise

Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! . . . Let everything that breathes sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD! Psalm 150:1-2, 6

That day when Anne, the missionary with China Inland Mission, suggested that I focus on God instead of on the mountains of problems my husband and I were facing—an empty checkbook, the effect of a collapsed real-estate market on my husband’s building projects, and the loss of our family car, hit head-on by an out-of-control motorcycle—I thought, Praise is the last thing I feel like doing. “Praise God even when you don’t feel like it,” Anne said. “Don’t trust what you see, feel, or think; trust God and his Word. He’s faithful even when we’re not.”

Why praise God in difficult times? Because praise gets our eyes off the mountains and onto the Mountain Mover, and among other benefits, it dispels fear. Research shows that fear and gratitude or praise cannot exist at the same time in our minds. Living with an attitude of praise means that we choose to focus on God’s unequaled greatness in the midst of our situations. It doesn’t mean that we deny our real feelings.

If you are experiencing fear or deep sorrow, it’s possible to honestly express your feelings to God and still keep proclaiming who he is, turning to him in spite of how things look and not waiting until you feel better to do so. Drawing near to the Lord instead of pulling away from him in your distress develops faith that goes beyond your feelings.

At first you may praise God in little trickles, as I did after my conversation with Anne. But if you persist in praising him, even in the darkest of places, you will begin to see those trickles of praise becoming a fountain. You’ll begin to perceive that God is still in control, even though your situation is beyond your control. Your focus will be drawn from the complexity of the problem to the sufficiency of God’s infinite resources. If you’re under a cloud of adversities today, tell God about your desire to praise him and ask him to give you a heart of praise. That’s a prayer he loves to answer. —CHERI

Lord, I admit I’ve had my eyes more on my problems than on you. I want to praise you for your mighty works and unequaled greatness no matter what’s going on in my life. Your Word tells everything alive to give praise to you, and that includes me! So grant me the grace to focus on you, for you are worthy of praise.

Praise can heighten your awareness that distressing circumstances are God’s blessings in disguise. Your trials rip away the flimsy fabric of your self-sufficiency. This makes room for God’s Spirit to weave into your life a true and solid confidence.

—RUTH MYERS, AUTHOR