Praise the Lord!

One of my favorite scriptures comes from Psalm 150, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” I feel like this is a command. God is saying, if you can wake up and breathe, then you should praise the Lord.

Have you ever noticed that there is something mysterious that happens when we praise God in spite of our circumstances. It shows trust in Him and obedience to His Word.

The last few weeks, we have been talking about “How to Choose Joy.” When you choose joy, you actually choose God. We even discussed what to do when life gets harder. Because we all know, life does get harder from time to time. It is hard to choose joy when things get rough.

We even learned a formula to help us, in the verse, “Pray Continually, Give Thanks, for this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.” But there is a piece of this verse that I failed to mention, a critical part.

“Rejoice Always.” 

The first part of the verse reads, “Rejoice always.”  Rejoicing is praising. When we praise God in the midst of our circumstances, we are trusting God even though things might not look great.

My family and I experienced this in our own lives lately. Many of you know, my father has been in the hospital. Things were not looking good. But we continued to praise God for the big things, and especially for the small things. I remember this one day when nothing seemed to be going right. We were all pretty down. A friend reached out to me with the text, “God is with you.” It reminded me, “Yes He is!” And I praised God for friends praying for us.

When I got to the hospital, nothing was going right. But I remembered the text, “God is with you,” and I praised God yet again. Then, my mom put some praise music on in the room. Mysteriously, things began to shift. As strange as it might sound, I felt a shift in the atmosphere. The heaviness was lifting. Something was happening.

By the end of the day, my dad was up on the side of the bed. Therapy had begun and our spirits were lifted.

Praising the Lord is a key ingredient in the formula.

The secret ingredient is praise! 

How do you choose joy? You Rejoice always, pray continually and give thanks in all things. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

There is power in prayer but there is power in praise as well! The combination makes for strength, resilience and joy beyond measure.

Never underestimate what God can do through our prayers and our praise!

So the next time you are feeling low, turn up the music. And not just any music, praise music. And then, spend some time praising the Lord.

Remember that Psalm I love so much, “Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord!”? I’ve linked a praise video that sings that very verse. Check it out below.

Let us pray;

God of all that is, show us your power through praise. When we cannot pray, remind us that we can praise. Amaze us with who You are and what You can do! In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

P.S. check out this YouTube below. If you cannot see it, open this message in your browser. Take time now to Praise the Lord! Forward this message to a friend, post on Facebook and leave me a comment below, because I love hearing from you! Until next time, turn up the music and praise the Lord! -M