Recently I came across some quotes about praise and prayer. Then I also read a devotional by my pastor on prayer. It got me thinking: I know I don't spend enough time just giving God praise for all He's done for me; and praise should be an integral part of my prayer time. So I decided to do sort of a topical study on praise and prayer.
I'm going to try to put my thoughts on this into some sort of a meaningful meditation.
Hebrews 13:15 by Him therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.
Psalm 100: 4,5 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 147: 1 Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise Him!
Psalm 150: 6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
So I have decided I need to make a conscious effort and habit out of giving God the praise and glory He so rightly deserves. I came across this quote: "Forget the troubles that are passed away, but remember the blessings that come each day."
Another quote I found sort of ties these two topics together. It said, "Nobody has so little that there is no room for praise, or so much that there is no room for prayer.
It is still beyond my understanding that a Holy God, Creator of the universe, truly desires fellowship with me. It is overwhelming. My pastor did a devotional on John 14: 13,14 And I will do whatever you ask, in my Name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything, in my Name, and I will do it.
I don't think I had ever considered this verse in exactly the way that Pastor Joel wrote about it. He said, "The promises regarding prayer in John 14 are given in the context of maintaining relationship with Jesus. The promises are not some magical incantation we repeat to get what we want. Rather, prayer is a method to share our heart with Jesus and to listen to His heart. ...Notice in vs. 13 Jesus gives the correct motive for prayer, "so that the Father might be glorified", in other words, prayer is to be for God's glory. ...I don't claim to have the complete answer on prayer...I struggle with prayer as much as you do. But it is the means by which I can maintain an ongoing love relationship with the Savior. "
I could go on much longer with all that I've found that has impressed me. But I just want to add a couple more quotes.
Put everything in God's hand, and eventually you will see God's hand in everything.
He who is thankful for little things, enjoys much.
Get your soul in tune with God before the concert of the day begins.
I have one more quotation I found, which just gave me such a vivid word picture. It goes along with the picture at the top of the blog. (I wanted to have the picture closer to the quote, but I had technical difficuties.) The quote said this:
Faith does for living what sunshine does for stained-glass windows.
My paraphrase: Praise and prayer do for living what sunshine does for stained-glass windows.
5 comments:
Good post...i find it easier giving praise then to pray. I read some where that our praise surronds his throne.
{surrounds} his throne...i for some reason, when i leave comments, do not hit the keys correctly, and click publish way to quickly.
I need this reminder - constantly! I love that last quote about faith to life being like sunlight to a stained glass window. Word pictures REALLY help my aging mind hold on to concepts and truth!
Love the quotes, especially the last one; I had to think about it a bit. The concept of "faith" seems to be hitting me from every angle these days.
"Faith does for living what sunshine does for stained glass windows"...
Makes the colors more brilliant ... more vivid ... more transparent and more likely to catch my notice!
Beautiful piece on prayer, Donna. I think it to be one of the most vital tools we carry in our faith belt.
peace~elaine
I remember that you said that you were "praying the Psalms". That is a good exercise for me as well. I know that you have been thinking about this for awhile now. Your post had lots of good insights. I liked your stained glass window quote as well. In an introductory meeting with our single parents, one of my coworkers has used the illustration of stained glass windows--showing how when God puts the broken pieces together, they may a beautiful picture. I will share this quote with her to use.
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