Praise Is Powerful
When we praise the Lord, it’s much more than singing a happy song. In the spiritual realm, praise and worship is also a weapon of warfare. Satan and his minions can’t stand it when we exalt the name of Jesus and praise the Lord. They have no choice but to flee.
Praising and magnifying the Lord’s name causes bondages to break loose, strongholds to come down, and chains to fall! It increases our connection with God, fortifies our spirit and brings freedom.
And praising God should not be something we only do on Sunday mornings, no, our lives should be saturated with it!
Praise Him when you awake.
Praise Him before you lay down to sleep.
Praise Him in the car on your way to work.
Praise Him while you cook dinner.
Praise Him in the shower.
Praise Him when you’re standing in line at the checkout.
Today, carve out time to lift up praise to God! He is worthy!
Praise God!
Ingratitude with Honesty
In Luke 17:11, ten lepers dare to approach Jesus. They are unclean. They are contagious, at least in close quarters. Jesus sends them to the priest, and on the way their disease is healed. No more disfigurement. No more pain. They can return to their jobs and families. Imagine their joy as they danced into the temple, showing the priest their restored fingers and skin as new as a babe.
One, a Samaritan (foreigners whom Jews considered total outcasts), returns to thank Jesus.
Only one.
There is no doubt the other nine are just as elated, but only one is grateful enough to return and thank Jesus. Nine people are healed on the exterior, but there’s some inner work that still needs to be done.
Sometimes our greatest heart work takes place when we acknowledge where we are the least thankful.
It’s easy to get distracted by life, day in and day out. Whatever your daily distractions are, What if we stepped into our ingratitude with honesty?
Dear Lord, today I saw the mess and heard the noise but failed to be grateful. Let me pause for a moment and point out all the reasons I’m thankful.
Perhaps you’ve been busy at work.
Oh Lord, I gripe about my workload, when just a year ago I was praying for a job. Have I stopped to thank You for provision?
I just celebrated another birthday. When I look in the mirror, I see those years adding up.
Father, I see wrinkles and years gaining, but I failed to thank You for another day. I’d like to change that.
When we step honestly into areas of ingratitude, it has the power to change us. We run back to Jesus, aware of the immense gifts we’ve been given.
Today, let’s listen to our words. Let’s look for the miracles and write them on our hearts.
Father, sometimes I take my miracles for granted, or I think You already know that I’m grateful. For whatever reason, I haven’t expressed that, and I want to do it today. I’m falling to my knees to say how grateful I am. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
When I read this it challenged me to stop and be honest with myself about the areas of ingratitude in my own life that I fail to give God thanks for because I assume He already knows I’m grateful and that’s not okay. I am choosing to fall on my knees today to say how grateful I am, it is so easy and yet so vital that we stop, take a moment, run to Jesus and just say Thank You. Lets make time today to praise Him.
Today’s Reading is 1 Thessalonians 5:18