Praise God Anyway
We read in the Old Testament that Jehovah God expected the Israelite leaders and kings, before deciding to go into battle, to ask Him, “Shall we go up to battle?” then wait for His answer. Sometimes God would say “yes” and sometimes He would say “No.” In this way, they were certain of success and protection. But, whenever they chose to go ahead of God and do whatever seemed right to them, they were defeated in battle. Do we ever do that? Do we insist on doing our own thing, refusing to ask God, “Shall we do this?” and then wait and listen for His answer? Too often, we act without God’s instruction and force things into being, then wonder later why our life is such a mess. We say, “But LORD, we did the right thing. Why have things turned sour? Why are You not helping me? Why are you not answering my prayer?” I do believe that there is great power in prayer, but not in the sense that we can use it to order God around. Rather, it is through our humble surrender to God, and by developing a close, intimate relationship with Him that determines how our prayers will be answered. Psalm 62:1-2 -- David said, “Truly my soul silently waits for God: from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.” Psalm 25:4-5 -- David also said, “Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me: for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.” David had fully surrendered himself to God. 1 Kings 17:1-6 -- The prophet Elijah was silent before God and waited, knowing that God would take care of him. True waiting means to be silent before the LORD in expectation. Godly prayer is not constantly nattering in God’s ear, telling Him what we expect Him to do for us. We are to pray as instructed by the apostle John. 1 John 5:14-15 -- “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us: And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” How are we to know that we are asking according to God’s will? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 -- “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Ephesians 6:18 -- “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance....” The closer we draw to God, the more of His Spirit we have, and the more we understand His heart and His will for us. But sometimes our circumstances are overwhelming, upsetting and confusing. What are we to do then? How are we to know what God wants for us? Simply, by allowing Him to be God. By giving Him the right to open and close doors of opportunity as He wishes. By placing ourselves entirely in His hands through faith, and allowing Him to govern our lives. Who is our best example of this? JESUS. Matthew 26:39 -- “He went a little farther and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, ‘O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as You will.” This does not mean that whenever we place ourselves in God’s hands He will hurt us. No, it means that He knows best what is right for us. Had Jesus not followed through with his Father’s will, He would not have gone to the cross, and we would not have spiritual salvation. We would still be lost in our sins. Jeremiah 29:11 -- “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God has no plan to hurt us. We can fully trust Him to work everything out for His glory and for our good. The prophet Daniel displayed incredible characteristics. He was humble, he fasted and prayed, he refused to defile himself with the King’s food, he risked his life by refusing to bow to foreign gods, he consistently prayed to God three times a day on his knees, and he grieved over the sin and disobedience of his fellow Jews. Through his entire life, Daniel had proven his faithfulness to God, and God rewarded him for it. God gave Daniel visions and dreams. He protected him from the lions. He elevated and honoured him. And through it all, Daniel remained humble. His method of living was not to tell God what he wanted and then expect God to bless him. Instead, Daniel asked God what He wanted, and was then obedient to it. Sometimes our struggles in life make us feel as though we will be swallowed up by them. We see no way out, no solution. However, we must never lie down and give up. We need to follow the example of David early on in his young adult life. In Psalm 59 we read that while sitting in his house in Jerusalem, David was surrounded by men seeking to kill him. He pleaded with God to awaken, and defeat his enemies. Men full of pride, cursing and lying surrounded David’s house, growling like dogs. Believing in his heart that God would defeat his enemy and deliver him from their grasp, David sang praises to God for His power, His mercy, His defense, His refuge, and His strength. And God delivered him. What enemy is surrounding you at this moment? Sickness? Financial trouble? A broken relationship? Trouble at work? No work? Dissension in your family? Loneliness? An addiction? We need a “pioneering” spirit -- tenacity, determination, a “never give up” attitude, not giving in to despair. We need to follow the example of our forefathers who overcame difficult circumstances, not through their own strength or power, but by relying totally on God’s strength. Through meagre beginnings, they forged ahead, carving out a life for themselves from the dirt of the ground. Crops suffered from drought, grasshoppers, severe storms, and grass fires. Rustlers threatened to steal their cattle. Sickness and accidents took the lives of many pioneers. And yet, at the end of each long day of hard work, they read aloud from the Word of God, giving thanks to Him for His strength and provision. They knew Who to look to for their every need. They gave praise to God in the midst of their struggles before they could see an end to them. Ephesians 5:18b-20 “..but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Hebrews 13:15 tells us, “Therefore by Him, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” Okay, let’s just stop here and think about this. Why would God ask us to do this? To our human intellect, thanking God IN difficult circumstances is difficult enough to do, so why would He ask us to also thank Him FOR difficult circumstances? Is that not evidence of being a little strange? How can we give thanks for pain and grief? How can God be loving and still ask us to do such a thing? Peter and John, disciples of Jesus, were arrested and thrown in jail for preaching in the temple and for healing a lame man sitting outside the temple. Then they were brought before the High Priest and were threatened to not speak or teach anymore in the name of Jesus. Upon their release, they returned to their group. Together with one voice, they gave praises to God and requested even more boldness to speak and minister. As a result of their praises to God, His power filled the house, they were filled with an even bigger measure of the Holy Ghost, “and they spoke the Word of God with boldness” (Acts 4). Then in Acts 16, we read where Paul and Silas were severely beaten and thrown into prison for casting a demon out of a young woman. Bleeding and suffering, with their feet locked into stocks, they began to pray to God and sang praises to Him “in and for their situation.” As a result, God sent an earthquake upon the prison, throwing all the doors open and loosening ALL the prisoners’ stocks. By seeing God’s mighty power, the prison warden and his entire family accepted Christ as their Saviour and were water baptized. Do you see what happens when we praise God IN and FOR our circumstances? 1. God is glorified. Psalm 50:23 -- “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me.” Psalm 150:2 -- “Praise Him for His mighty acts” [for what He does]. “Praise Him according to His excellent greatness” [for who He is]. Our chains fall off. When we praise God, He either removes the problem, or else He gives us more courage and boldness to endure the situation so that it no longer defeats us. 3. He gives us more of Himself (Holy Spirit). He also does something else. When we choose to praise Him, He in turn helps us to re-evaluate life’s priorities. Our spiritual eyes are opened wider so we can better understand the situation. We now have a new perspective--God’s perspective. Praise draws us closer to God, and in so doing, He gives us a knowledge and understanding of His will for our life. Our stress and anxiety changes to an inner calmness and peace, knowing that God is holding us securely in the palm of His hand, and that all will be well. Psalm 66:10-12 -- Though God tests us, refines us, and brings us through the fire and through the water, He brings us out into rich fulfillment. Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” To expect all things to work together for our good, we must first learn how to give thanks to God in and for all things. That is the key. But how does this key work? A key is used to unlock something. We first need to acknowledge that God controls ALL things. There is a dangerous teaching today in Christendom that tells us, “Satan has the power to restrict God from working in our lives, but Christians have the power to ‘release’ it.” I have heard Christians say, “I release Satan’s hold over your finances. I release God’s answer to your prayers. I release a positive self-image into your life. I release God’s favour into your life.” That type of teaching tells us that Satan can overpower God, and that Christians can then call down the power of God for themselves. This makes them equally powerful as God. That is the same lie that Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden, that by eating the fruit, she and Adam could become gods. Remember, Satan needed to ask God’s permission to afflict Job, and Jesus told Peter that Satan had asked for permission to have control over him. God alone is all powerful! Once we are solid in the belief that 1) God controls all things, 2) that He promises in His Word to give us a future and a hope with no plan to hurt or harm us, 3) that all things work together for good to those who are His children, then we must realize that these things are being allowed by God for a good reason. God allows difficult circumstances so we will draw closer to Him in prayer. He also allows them to burn away the impurities in our lives so we will come forth as gold and silver in His sight. Through praise IN and FOR what happens to us, we hand over control of our situation into His hands. We turn ownership of it over to Him. Once we fully surrender our situation to Him through praise and stop struggling with it, God either removes it, gives us mastery over it, or shows us a good reason for why it must be. Praise unlocks the door. Through praise, we take our hands off the situation and give it to Him. Through our praise that draws us closer to God, He also gives us spiritual eyes to see the things He wants to reveal to us--things in our lives that need to be changed--things from the past that we need to let go of. Praise to God frees us from the things that hold us imprisoned. It gives us new freedom and joy in our inner being. Have you lost your joy? By praising God, it will be returned to you. By offering praise to God in and for your struggles, you surrender them to Him so He can in turn release you from their control. Praise to God brings freedom. Praise to God brings answered prayer. Praise to God gives us wisdom and understanding. Praise to God glorifies God and results in our good. In what situation do you need to praise God “in” and “for” today? Maggie Greenfield © 2009 |