Continous Praise...

“I WILL bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Psalm 31:1

If most of us were asked the question such as “do you give praise to God ?” Our answer most definitely will be “yes, of course I do”.

If they asked us further, "did you remember to praise God the last time you went through that fire, that wilderness, lost your job, your home, your wallet, or when the car broke down, or when you lost that contract, and so on? Our answer might just be... "oops... eerm, I’m not entirely sure, I did pause for minute, too consumed starring at the problem at hand to give praise all the time, but I eventually got back on the praise train"

I guess we have all been there (pointing finger to self), where at some point in time or the other, we have been too overwhelmed with what we were going through, that we forget to praise God, continuously. In the verse above, the Psalmist David declares that "His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” This teaches us that PRAISE, is and should remain a constant and continuous thing that we do.

The most important key that opens new doors,

closes old ones and advances us in our

walk with God is Praise.

I read a book the other week, and it taught and re-affirmed to me that praise indeed, is the lost key to victory. It is the most important key that can bring us out of any trials and tribulations.

Yes, there are times when we don’t even feel like praising God, and all we want to do is hang our heads down and cry. However, we must learn from the man who went through disasters most of us would not even wish on our worst enemy, disasters that we only experience from a very far distance. I am talking about Job.

In one single day, Job lost all his material possessions through unthinkable calamities. Yet he did not give up on praising God. Praise was still coming forth from his heart, and falling off his lips.

Let’s take a closer look at the great man, Job and his devotion to praising God, regardless his immediate reality. In one day...

• He lost all his oxen, sheep, servants, carmels and all life stock as we read in Job 1: 13 – 17.
  


• The same day, he lost his sons and daughters as they were eating and drinking in their eldest brother’s house. Job 1:18
  


• and in the process of them getting killed, he lost his house as well, for a great wind came from the wilderness and knocked that over killing his sons and daughters.

That entire calamity happened to Job in ONE DAY. In fact, bad news was queuing up at his very front door, each to deliver their message of doom. Yet, though deeply grieved, (which he displayed by shaving his head) he still found the strength from within, to praise, worship and bless God!!!

Job 1:20 - 21 reads: “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. Please read the whole of Job chapter 1 for completeness.

At this point, I must ask, how many of us will stare adversity right up in the face - eye ball to eyeball and keep confessing the goodness of God? Selah...

What did we loose that has suddenly stopped or kept us from praising God and giving him all the glory? Did we loose our jobs, houses, car broke down, even loosing a loved one? Whatever it is, no matter how difficult or heart wrenching or unfair the situation might be, I encourage us all NOT to give up praising God. It is that praise that is the key to the victory that we seek.

A few more reasons why we must praise are:

• Praise turns our focus to God: When we don’t feel like praising, that is the exact time to jump up and praise, for it turns our focus away from our circumstance, situations and problems and turns them towards God. When we focus on our problems, we focus on ourselves and get stuck at that junction. When we focus on God, being the good God he is, he elevates us from whatever we are going through.
  


• Praise helps to keep us to be humble: When we praise we humble ourselves to seek refuge at God’s feet. When we praise, with reckless abandon, we don’t care how we look to others or how they perceive us. We are humble enough to know that God is bigger than any of our problems.
  


• God inhabits our praises: The dictionary defines inhabit as thus: to live or reside in or to dwell in, or to exist or to be situated within. From that definition it is not surprising the devil will want to keep us busy with many distractions. He wants to keep us from giving God praise. When we praise, God resides within our praises, and in his presence, there is no sorrow, heartache or problems.

God wants us to turn our hearts, minds and souls towards him, regardless of our situation or reality. When we focus our eyes (physical and spiritual) on God, and not on our problems or on our blessings (being obsessed by them), we will see all the glorious and wonderful things God is has already done for us, is currently doing and that which he has in store to do.

We will see with our own eyes the victory we already have in Christ Jesus, which means... that problem or situation is a whole bunch of nothing, after all.

So, today, I encourage us all as we start the week and indeed every single day, to put on our garment of praise. Let us praise and Dance like the psalmist David, declaring that "We WILL bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in OUR mouths.”

"Let everything that has breath praise the LORD"

Psalm 150:6

Have an awesome time, loosing yourself with reckless abandon, in praise and worship to God, the king of glory, from first the mornings light and indeed, throughout your day, making him famous along the way.

Pssst... Thanks Believer for the inspiration to conjure up this post...

Much Love

Remi

***Pictures by photobucket***