Praise (In the Midst of a Trial – part II)

In the last article, I suggested 5 things to do to help get you through a trial.  These aren’t exhaustive but specifics that God taught me and put on my heart.

But the last suggestion is THE most important by far.  If you’re going through a trial of any kind, you are hurting.  That’s a given.  You are struggling.  You may feel abandoned, alone, misunderstood, neglected, depressed, anxious and hopeless.  But while you have all these emotions swirling around, and you’re finding it hard to do life, what’s the best thing you can do?  Pray!  Yes, but not just tell God what you need or give Him your laundry list.

PRAISE.  Praise the God of the Universe.  Praise Yahweh…the One True God!

It may sound simple and so basic – and counterintuitive.  But it’s what He has told us to do.

It’s one of THE most counterintuitive aspects of prayer.

PRAISE

Praise the Father for who He is.  Put your focus and eyes on the One in control…the Sovereign God of the Universe that knows it all.  He sees the tapestry of your life from the front, back and all angles.  Pause and reflect on His character.  And don’t just reflect, but actively name character qualities and attributes. 

I have a list that helps me do just that.  It’s not exhaustive.  Since I can’t do it as an attachment, I will post it as my next blog article.  It will just be a list.  But it’s a perfect jumping off point.  What do I mean by that?

Having the list of attributes available to you helps you zero in on certain aspects of the Lord’s character.

I choose one a day every morning when I have my quiet time with the Lord.  Sometimes I look up verses that have the attribute mentioned.  But other times, I just focus on what that attribute means…and try to pause and reflect or verbally tell God He is ___ or how God’s character displays that.  I PRAISE HIM for that specific trait.

Other days, I may choose two or three.

It’s a discipline to start my prayer time with the Lord in this manner.  There are moments and days when I want to cry out to Him and EXPLODE with my laundry list.  But discipline is definitely a huge aspect of the Christian life.

Why start the prayer off with Praise?

His Word, the Bible, reminds us at every turn to PRAISE the Lord.

“Praise the Lord!  Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.  Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness; Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.”  Psalm 150:1-6

Are we just supposed to Praise the Lord in church?  I don’t think so!!  What we do in corporate public worship is a snapshot of what should go on in our private devotional life.

Scripture doesn’t tell us to “praise God” in just church or his sanctuary.

Psalm 34:1 “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.”

When you’re hurting, when you’re experiencing some of the most difficult things that life or the enemy can throw out you, don’t focus on the circumstances.  That’s easy.  Anyone can do that.  A non-believer does that.  Look up and get your eyes off the circumstances and onto the ONE that made you and knows it all.

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

When I was watching the life slowly ebb out of my larger- than- life dad, when I was having to pray and ask God to give me strength as I helped him with basic life skills (and I knew it embarrassed or humiliated dad but couldn’t be helped), when I knew that life was changing for my parents and would never be the same again, when my mother was crying as I had to do for my dad and she couldn’t, I would pray and ask the Lord for help.  I would cry out to Him for wisdom, for strength, for perseverance…for Him.

But more than that, when I had moved in with my parents to care for Dad, I would get out and go for walks around their complex.  I did this for several reasons:

• I knew they needed some alone time without me underfoot.
• I did it to clear my head and get a change of scenery – and for exercise.
• Main reason…I did it to have that alone time with my Creator.  And I always started it by Praising Him.

I’ll be honest.  There were many moments and days that it took discipline.

Why?  It’s easier to whine, complain and cry out.  I wanted relief!  I wanted him to stop what was happening to my father; I wanted his health restored.  I wanted the pain my mother was experiencing to be halted.  I wanted, I needed, I expected….

But I paused.  Oh, believe me.  I got to those things.  I eventually cried out and asked God for the entire laundry list.

But first, I stopped to look up and reflect on the God who gave me life.  The God who was in charge.  The God I knew was still in control of all circumstances, even when I didn’t understand.

“Offering a sacrifice of praise” as it says in the scriptures lifts your head, your focus and all of you to praise your Maker.  To focus on His character and goodness vs the mess surrounding you.  Somehow by doing this, God gives you peace and helps you cope.

I can’t explain it, but I’ve experienced it enough to know it might seem like THE most counterintuitive thing to do, but once you do it once, you WANT to keep doing it.

In addition to church, two ministries I’ve been involved in for numerous years have impacted my life as a believer and disciple of Jesus.  These two ministries have taught me much and so influenced my life.   One is Bible Study Fellowship.  It’s an international interdenominational ministry that’s been around for 50+ years.  Anne Graham Lotz (one of Billy and Ruth Graham’s daughter’s) cut her spiritual teeth in this ministry.  The other ministry near and dear to my heart is Moms In Prayer. It was started by Fern Nichols, a California mom whose oldest child was going into junior high.  Fern asked God for one other mother to join her in praying for her child and the child’s school. From this simple prayer, a ministry was birthed.  Both of these ministries have been such a blessing in my spiritual journey.

More importantly, both of these wonderful ministries taught me to PRAISE.  Praise is different than thanksgiving.  In thanksgiving, we are recalling specifics; we are acknowledging and expressing gratitude for providing, giving, answering prayer, protecting, etc.  But Praise is focusing on HIM.  His character.  As someone has said, “It’s focusing on the Giver and not the gifts.”

I was blessed to pray each week when I lead a MIP group for Nathan’s school.  The format we followed when we prayed was Praise, Confession, Thanksgiving, Intercession.  Why Praise? And why begin with this?  This format is modeled after the Lord’s Prayer.  Think about it, “Our Father, who art in heaven.  Hallowed be thy name” — and in this ministry, it keeps women on track.  We need a format as we pray for our kids or we would be all over the place.Throughout scripture, God tells us repeatedly to “praise Him”.  Here are just a few verses that remind us God WANTS us and CALLS us to PRAISE.

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”  Psalm 68:19Praising God is one thing during a “normal, routine” prayer time.  But Praising Him during a storm is truly “offering a sacrifice of praise”.  You may not FEEL like doing it.  But trust me.

• It meets a need – a need that He created inside of you
• It is being obedient to scripture and what He tells us to do;
• It provides peace;
• It’s Biblical…and frankly, once you do it, you realize the benefit in doing it.  

But during my quiet time with Him…when I walked, I would praise Him.  Did I always want to?  No.  But did it help?  You bet?  As it says in Psalm 3, He became the “lifter of my head”.

As you praise, it takes your eyes off your immediate problem and puts your gaze on “Him who is able” (Ephesians 3:20).

Praise looks beyond the circumstances.  It doesn’t mean you pretend that all is well.

ALL of us can praise God when things are going well.  It’s easy to tout and tell him how grateful we are for his goodness, holiness and mercy when everyone is healthy and the family is cohesive and everyone getting along.

But when the diagnosis is cancer, when the prodigal son doesn’t seem to be returning, when the teenage daughter is spiraling deeper into an eating disorder or the grown daughter/wife/mother can’t function because of her anxiety, when the middle-aged son can’t quit drinking or when the granddaughter is making unwise choices or when finances aren’t there to care for a parent with Alzheimer’s, that’s when it becomes truly a SACRFICE of praise.

It costs us something.  Because that’s when God wants us to get our eyes off the circumstances and look up.

As Paul reminds us in Hebrews 13:15, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” 

Remember.  Even during the most excruciating and trying times, He is still Faithful.  He is still a Redeemer.  He is still Father God who is Sovereign, Good and in control.  He can be trusted.

We can still trust His character and His motives.  He is trustworthy and reliable.

“It is better to trust (or take refuge) in God than to trust in man.  It is better to trust (or take refuge) in God than to trust in princes.”  Psalm 118:8-9

The other morning as I walked, it was quiet and peaceful.  I typically don’t listen to music when I walk.  It’s too much of an opportunity to have a meaningful prayer time with the Lord.  But what I did hear were several birds chirping.  It was pleasant and soothing.  But one stood out.  His “chirps” were louder and more consistent.

I couldn’t help but think of that verse, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6

To me, that piercing song from the one lone bird was a reminder from the Lord.  He has made ALL of creation to PRAISE HIM.  I want to do just that…and be heard above all the rest.  Even when the circumstances of life are at their worst, I want to still lift my voice in Praise to my Maker!

My desire is to Praise Him continually – and for that to be the normal pattern of my life.

Do you like it when someone else gives you praise?  Does it lift your spirits and motivate you when someone praises you with no hidden agenda?  Where did we learn that trait?  I think it’s from the God of the Universe.  And with Him, we have numerous reasons to Praise a Perfect and Holy God who loved us enough to give up His most precious Son, Jesus.

Just recently, I was studying and reading for “Kingdom Divided” in Bible Study Fellowship.  I was reading the account of King Jehoshophat in II Chronicles 20.  I hope you will read the entire chapter.  But in a nutshell, King Jehoshophat had followed the Lord and led the people of Judah to rely on the Lord as well.  He wasn’t perfect and had compromised several times.  But in this instance, he learns that 3 vast armies are about to attack.  Does he assemble the army?  Does he try to quickly fortify the troops?  No, he turns to the Lord.  Then, he has all the people fast.  Lastly, he gathers everyone together (men, women, children) and he leads the entire assembly in prayer.  Just listen to parts of the prayer from II Chronicles 20:6, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven?  You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations.  Power and might are in your hand, and no can withstand you”.  He goes on to name some specific things God has done.  He closes with this line, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”  I’ve used that in my prayer constantly since reading.  When he is in crisis and about to be attacked by a vast army, he doesn’t panic.  He doesn’t run to the battle plan.  He doesn’t trust his own instincts.  He doesn’t melt into a puddle of tears.  He praises the Lord; he recounts all God has done; and then, he acknowledges God’s might and his helplessness.

In addition to this prayer, read on in Chapter 20:20-22 as Jehoshophat has men of Judah sing and praise God. Read for yourself to find out what God does on behalf of the people of Judah.  It is truly stunning and will strengthen your faith!! 

Please don’t think I’m saying that if we Praise God, then He will answer all our prayers. He will always rescue; He will always heal; He will always “fix” all the circumstances. I don’t mean to imply that.  But I KNOW from experience that Praising Him does get His attention and is being obedient to what His Word tells us to do. 

I’ve witnessed it in numerous Moms In Prayer groups.  When we have an especially meaningful praise time, walls are broken down and God answers!!  It doesn’t mean everything is perfect and all is resolved.  But there is certainly a strong connection.

Even as I write about Praising the Lord, several special songs come to mind.

Casting Crowns, “I Will Praise Him in the Storm”

This next one is an oldie but a goodie; it takes me back to college days.  It’s a song by Evie…Back then the song and lyrics ministered to me, but they mean even more today as I’ve walked longer with the Lord and experienced more heartache in this life.

“When you’re up against a struggle that shatters all your dreams,

And your hopes have been cruelly crushed by Satan’s manifested schemes,

And you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly cares,

Don’t let the faith you’re standing in seem to disappear,

Praise the Lord – for our God inhabits praise

Praise the Lord, for the chains that seem to bind you serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you when you

Praise Him”

This song basically sums up what I’ve been trying to convey in this article.

And a list of songs about praise wouldn’t be complete without the Doxology. Most churches have gotten away from singing old hymns such as this one.  But I grew up singing it.  The other week my husband was playing with an orchestra that accompanied over 250 ladies singing.  It was an evening of unforgettable worship.  But, the concert was closed with the Doxology sung acapella. And the congregation joined it. It was such a worshipful gathering, and the most fitting way to end the evening.  I use it to close out this article on Praise as well.

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts;

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost

Amen”