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Praise And Thanksgiving

Paul gives one of the greatest secrets of successful Christian living: praise and thanksgiving from the heart. Paul had times of intense ecstasy, like being caught up to heaven, and he had times of terrible distress, like the years he spent in prison. We all have times when we feel on top of the world and times when our world comes crashing down around us. Our emotions can drive us to delight or despair, but through it all, we need an anchor.

”Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Eph. 5:19-20

Faith in who our God is will keep us stable regardless of what is happening around us. It is said that in the eye of a hurricane is a space of perfect calm. Faith can walk in that eye. We see beyond the present and touch the eternal.

Praise And Thanksgiving In The Bad Times

That kind of faith is expressed in praise and thanksgiving regardless of the circumstances - good or bad. Sometimes, we think of praise only when the dark days hit us. We bring God a sacrifice of praise because we want Him to get us out of our troubles. Or we have grasped the principle that the only way to keep our head above water in a storm is to focus on Jesus. Distress drives us to God, and if we are going to enter His presence correctly, we must begin with praise and thanksgiving. We worship because God is God, even in our times of uncertainty and pain. We need to express praise and thanksgiving in our darkest hour, showing our faith in the care of God. But praise and thanksgiving are to be a lifestyle.

Praise And Thanksgiving In The Good Times

It is easy to forget about God when things are going well. Although we would never say it, we begin to think we can handle life without God. Joshua thought that.

So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord. And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them. Jos. 9:14-15, NASB

The Gibeonites successfully deceived Joshua and the leaders of Israel because they thought they could handle it themselves. They were fresh from victories over Jericho and Ai. Surely, they were smart enough to make this little decision! They ended up in a covenant relationship with the enemies of God.

Likewise, we feel independent and proud of our abilities when everything is going well. We think we can safely put God into a small corner of our minds or please Him with just our Sunday activities. God will show us how wrong we are.

man praying in jungle with cross in background

Some dark days are necessary, but at times, God has to put us through more than we would otherwise need to suffer to keep us in touch with reality. A stable Christian life is a disciplined life. In other words, we remain constant in our relationship with God regardless of what is happening around us. Neither prosperity nor pain will move us from our lifestyle of praise and thanksgiving. It has become an automatic habit.

As we move into taking our “Canaan” and taking possession of all that God has for us, we must be mature enough to face the giants with praise. When God grants us victory, we must be mature enough not to let our heads be turned with success but to humbly give thanks for all things. God wants to know we love and appreciate Him. Our praises build His throne in our lives so He can rule over the good and bad times.

That is not to say there are no times of sorrow and that we always go about with a plastic smile glued to our faces. Life is real. We do go through struggles and must be realistic enough to get help when needed. But the undercurrent of it all is a lifestyle of praise and thanksgiving. Even if sorrow brings us to our knees, we can still lift our eyes to God in faith, knowing that somehow He is working all things out.

I know this is nothing new for you, but a stirring up of your holy minds by reminding you of something simple yet easy to forget. Make sincere praise and thanksgiving the bedrock of your Christian life. If you do, you will have a solid foundation to face the storms of life.

If you have not taken our 90 Days Of Thanksgiving course, now would be a great time. It will show you, by example, how to turn the Scriptures into a personal declaration or song of praise. It's free, so sign up today. Click here.

For more information about Glenn Davis, see our About Glenn page or visit Glenn Davis Books.

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