Sacrifice of Praise

Can I be so bold as to say that I believe, we as Christians, tend to be a little lackluster when it comes to offering God the sacrifice of praise?  I don’t know why that is.  We certainly don’t hold back when it comes to requesting prayer, and biblically speaking, God tells us to come to Him with our requests. We all know that prayer moves the mighty Hand of God. But should we really expect Him to exclusively grant all our requests?  Could it be that at times He withholds answering our prayers because there is something we are failing to do? Now, we’ve all been taught that God always answers our prayers.  Sometimes with a “yes”, sometimes with a “no”, and sometimes with a “wait.”  In reality, God does not need us to do anything in order for Him to answer our prayers.  The sheer essence of praying to God is for our benefit, not God’s.  It is so that we will develop a relationship with God and learn to depend on Him. In the process, our faith grows exponentially when we experience the God of the universe stooping down to help us in our time of need. We are filled with awe and thanksgiving for how He has answered our prayers, and then we go on to our next set of prayer requests. While there is nothing wrong with requesting help from our heavenly Father, lately I have been feeling like something is missing during my prayer life. Prayer is more than just requesting things from God, isn’t it?

Can it be that our minds are forever focusing on the difficult life issues that continually surround us?  Everywhere you look there are hurting, dying, and lost people. Just watch the news and you’ll get a mega dose of hard core reality. Ironically, very seldom do the media have any “good” news to report.  It’s not that there is no good news—they just choose not to share it with the rest of us. For some reason, it’s the bad stuff that grabs our attention. God offers us a solution as to what we should and should not allow in our minds.  “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” Philippians 4:8. This admonition enables us to not continually focus on the negative around us; however, when it comes to controlling our thought life, it can still be very difficult. We don’t need to listen to “bad” news to have “bad” or “negative” thoughts.  Through spiritual maturity and discipline we may learn how to hold our tongues, but the battle over the mind wages on.  Have you ever paid close attention to the meaning of 1 Corinthians 2:16? It says, “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” How can we possibly have the mind of Christ when our flesh and the evil one continually war against us in our private thought life?  You know, that part of you that no one else can see.  Sure, we can look pretty “holy” on the outside, and through practice we can learn to control what we say or how we say it, but taming the mind is an entirely different matter.

I recently read something in my daily devotional, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young that resonated with me. It was simple, yet profound. Why had I not thought about this before?  Written from God’s perspective it said, “Let me control your mind. The mind is the most restless, unruly part of mankind. Long after you have learned the discipline of holding your tongue, your thoughts defy your will and set themselves up against me.”  Wow! How very true. It went on to say that God risked all by granting us the freedom to think for ourselves, and this is what sets us apart from animals and robots. We are made in the image of God, precariously close to deity.  Wow, again!  Do you get that? We are close to deity!!!  That must be true or God wouldn’t have said, “But you have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). The reading ended with an exhortation to open ourselves to God’s radiant presence, letting His light permeate our thinking.

“Ok, Lord.  I want to do this.  I belong to you and you know I love you.  But I struggle here.  Just today I had thoughts that I know were not of you. There were unkind toward someone else, and I was instantly convicted by the Holy Spirit.” Then, I remembered this devotional reading and I immediately asked for forgiveness. This time I went a step further and asked God to control my mind.  I felt better after confessing my sin.  I reasoned if only I can take captive all the negative thoughts that whirl around in my head occupying needless space, I know God will help me to have the mind of Christ.  How?  Well, I wasn’t sure, but He is God, after all.

Interestingly, God wasn’t finished dealing with me on this topic just yet. He wanted to make sure that I fully understood. Then something beautiful happened during prayer time with my ladies’ leadership group.  God gave me revelation as to “how” He would control my mind. Although He surely didn’t need any assistance from me, He would require my activate participation in this process.  After our group openly shared our hearts and prayer requests, we began to pray as we always do. We lifted up our requests to the God who can do exceedingly more than we can ever imagine, but before long, the requests began to turn into praises. One by one, praises were being offered to the Lord.  Praises for the small, seemingly insignificant things, and praises for the big things He has done amongst our group. In the midst of the heavy burdens that we were carrying for ourselves, our families, and our friends, our time of prayer turned into a wonderful time of praise and thanksgiving. My emotions completely took over and it wasn’t long before the tears began to flow. The Spirit-filled prayer was so beautiful and pure. Innately, I sensed that this is precisely what was missing from my prayer life and what God longs to hear from all of His children. He already knows our every need, and He promises not to withhold any good thing from us, but He also delights in hearing our thanksgiving and heartfelt acknowledge-ment that we believe He is God; that we believe He is good; and, that we know with full certainty He is faithful, regardless of the pain and the circumstances we may find ourselves in.  In fact, if we don’t offer Him praise, even the rocks will cry out! (When the Pharisees in the crowd ordered Jesus to rebuke his disciples for praising Him, he replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” Luke 19:40). Have you ever considered a bunch of rocks crying out praises to God?  If we don’t do it, they will! Goodness gracious, may we never allow inanimate objects to come to life to praise Him, when we have been made in the very image of God. We are the ones who should be shouting from the rooftops with praises to our King!

As I was driving home from the prayer meeting, God confirmed to my heart that He will partner with me in controlling my mind by using my sacrifice of praise. I felt strongly convicted that the next time I have a request, an urgent plea, or when something troubles me, I should pour out my heart to Him, but then I am to immediately offer up several praises concerning that particular request.  I was instantly reminded of a situation I was struggling with where my thought life certainly had a mind of its own. It’s not that I sinned outwardly by putting these thoughts into action, but I felt like I was sinning toward God just by having those unkind thoughts.  I asked God for help concerning that matter, but then I immediately offered up five praises concerning that very same matter. This was a simple exercise, but so relevant.  All of a sudden my prayer request didn’t seem so monumental or overwhelming to me. Instead, my mind focused on the blessings that had come as a result of this difficulty that God allowed me to go through. It felt like a “divine exchange” took place at that moment and I was able to look at my situation with the eyes of God.  I remembered Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

My impactful take away—I was reminded that good can come out of every single situation, but my perspective and attitude surrounding the difficulty is what must change. That must be how to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  Simply grumbling about a difficulty will never give us the mind of Christ.  But offering it up to Him as a sacrifice of praise will allow God’s immeasurable grace to flood our souls with His peace as He imparts to us His “divine vision.” In collaborating with God through our heartfelt praises, our outlook will change as God meticulously begins the process of controlling our minds. Glory, Halleluiah! That is certainly something worth praising Him for!

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”  Psalm 150:6.

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Hebrews 13:15

“Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”  Psalm 146:1-2

“How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!”  Psalm 147:1

“Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”  Psalm 145:2-3

Power of Prayer

Have you ever wondered if your prayers truly matter in the big scheme of things? How often have you told someone you would pray for them and then totally forgot to do so? I have been guilty of both wondering and forgetting. God has been showing me a lot about prayer lately. First of all, that praying IS a big thing, and that it DOES matter. And that He hears every thing we ask, and He is moved to compassion on behalf of our prayers for others.

I myself have been the recipient of powerful prayer lately. I know, without a doubt, that many, many prayers were offered unto God on my behalf. The last 6 weeks of my life have been filled with confusion, fear, and uncertainty. When a routine colonoscopy revealed that my colon contained a huge adenoma (polyp) that had to be surgically removed, I was dumbfounded. I was always the epitome of great health. I could not understand why this was happening. After all, I was having such a great year. A few months previously, my memoir was published, I had given numerous testimonies of God’s healing in my life, and I was filled with a holy passion and desire to fulfill the purposes He created me for. This certainly seemed like some kind of mistake. Or at the very least, a “divine interruption,” as my pastor would call it.

During these weeks, I have prayed longer and more fervently for physical healing than ever before. My health and God’s healing was foremost on my mind. I tried hard to just “Leave it with Jesus.” Day after day I would find myself having to trust again and leave my fears and concerns at the foot of the cross. After waiting for seven long days, I found out that the adenoma biopsy did not appear to be cancerous. Praise God! I had to undergo a few more very embarrassing tests which revealed that the only way this “thing” in body could be removed would be through a laparoscopic anterior resection. In other words, a foot of my colon would be cut out. As I prepared myself mentally and physically for this surgery, a peace began to fill my soul. The power of intercessory prayer was at work on my behalf.

The morning before my surgery my thoughts turned to Jesus, my Savior. Even though I still had some angst about the entire procedure, for once I thought not about myself, but about the suffering He endured on the day He was crucified for me and you. There was no anesthesia or morphine for Him. No, He walked that agonizing path of pain all alone for us. I cannot even begin to fathom the intense anguish that filled His soul that evening in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Matthew 26:37. He sweat drops of blood over what was to take place later that day. He sought out His Father and prayed fervently for this cup to be taken from Him. Then He prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” Matthew 26:42. He knew exactly what awaited Him--the humiliation, the pain, the torture, and the isolation. Not even His disciples would stay awake and pray for Him. How utterly alone He must have felt.

As I thought of what the Lord endured for me, I gained strength. I knew that He was not asking anything of me that He would not enable me to handle. Besides, He has given me a wonderful family and friends to support me. Best of all, He’s assured me that He would never leave me nor forsake me. He would be with me through it all. I believed Him. I asked God to use this experience to teach me something new and to draw me closer to Him. The surgery is all behind me. I am at home now slowly recovering. In His faithfulness, He has shown me the tremendous power of and privilege of intercessory prayer. I am forever grateful to all those who boldly went before the throne of grace on my behalf for my healing. I am thankful to the friends who came before my surgery to pray for my strength. I am thankful for those who visited me in the hospital, held my hands, and prayed over me. I am thankful to the others who used modern day technology and prayed to God while we are on the telephone. And I am thankful to those who silently whispered their prayers to God. Prayer unleashes the power of God. And this time around, I was the thankful recipient.

There are a few things I have learned about intercessory prayer.
1. God commands us to pray for others.
2. God’s power is unleashed on their behalf when we pray.
3. We pray for others out of love for them and out of love for God.

Don’t ever think for a moment that your prayers don’t matter. They do. They don’t have to be long and eloquent either. They can be simple, yet heartfelt. I have found one of the best ways to pray over others is to pray Scripture. Just insert their name and remind God of His promises. For instance, "Lord, you promise that you will cause all things together to work for good for (insert name). I pray that you would strengthen my friend according to the riches of your glory, with power through Your Spirit in her inner person, so that Christ may dwell in her heart through faith."

Can you commit to praying for just one person for a few minutes each day? It can be your spouse, your children, a friend in need, or someone you don’t even know. Your prayers will make all the difference in the world. It may not change their situation, but God can change their outlook or attitude. Remember, that He may not always answer in the way we desire, but He will answer in His way and in His time—Always. God is the only One who is all-sufficient and can supply the deepest needs in seemingly impossible situations. For truly nothing is impossible with God.

Next time God brings someone to your mind out of the clear blue, pray for that person by name. There is no coincidence that they are so strongly on your mind. They may need prayer. Our prayers move God deeply. He always listens, and He always answers. He promises.

“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let Him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.” James 5:13-14

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16

“With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27

“Then the Lord answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.” 2 Samuel 24:25

.”…then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.” 1 Kings 8:49

“This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you.” 2 Kings 20:5

Unceasing Prayer

As Christians we know that Christ lives within us. That means he is in the very center of our physical being. He is in the midst of our brain, and in the midst of our nerve centers. He dwells within us physically and spiritually and the more mindful we are of His presence, the more prayerful we will be. Prayer is nothing more than keeping company with God. Far too long I have limited my prayer time with God to routine morning devotions. It always felt wonderful starting my morning with God and I felt energized and empowered to live a life worthy of Him. However, more often than not, by the time late afternoon arrived, I would find myself becoming impatient, annoyed and quickly falling into that slippery slope of sinfulness. It always bothered me that I could spend such wonderful communion with the Lord and yet by the end of the day all visible traces of any godliness were totally absent. It is becoming apparent to me that not only is setting aside time each day for solitude with God imperative, I must learn to walk “moment by moment” with Him. Only then will I be able to truly live out the Christian life God desires for me. How do you keep company with God like that?

The Bible gives us the answer… pray unceasingly (1 Thes 5:17). But how on earth can we pray unceasingly? We have jobs to do, places to go, people to meet. I believe I found the answer this morning in my quiet time with the Lord. Unceasing prayer means keeping company with God all the time. It is conversing with Him frequently throughout the day because we realize that He is with us all the time. There is never a time we are apart. We become so conscious of God that we begin to include Him in every detail of our lives. And yes, it means we inquire of Him before we make decisions…both big and small. It means knowing He cares so much about us that He desires to help us in making our choices. Lord, is this the right time for our family to own a pet? Lord, what type of washing machine should I purchase? Lord, I need help in managing my finances. Lord, should I apply for this job? God wants to be in every facet of our lives. Not just our morning devotions! Yet, how often do we just leave Him there, forgetting to invite Him into the rest of our day? I have been guilty of doing that over and over and then I wonder why things just didn’t turn out quite right. I prayed to you this morning Lord. Wasn’t that enough?

Corrie ten Boom, a wonderful and dedicated Christian, once said, “Is prayer your steering wheel or is it your spare tire?” Wow! That is powerful. That is a challenge for all of us. I know there is more of God to discover. Deeper conversations to be had. More secrets from His Word to be revealed. We have to remember though that prayer is not some “magical formula” that will grant us all our wishes. Prayer is an integral part of our relationship with God. Prayer is simply talking with God. It is pouring out our soul to Him, telling Him our deepest desires, our hurts, and our concerns. One of the primary ways God speaks loudly is through the pages of the Bible. It is our job to listen, to meditate and ponder on what He says. He will comfort us, encourage us, challenge us, convict us, and show us a larger view of Himself if we but take the time to immerse ourselves in His Word. But when He speaks, He also requires a response from us. We communicate that response in prayer. It may be silent reverence, it may be thanksgiving, it may be repentance, it may be commitment, or it may be a yielding of our own will to His. The Bible will change our prayer life and lift it to new heights.

I have a challenge for you (and me)--next time you find yourself worrying, immediately begin to pray. Tell God what you are worried about and let His peace flow through you. You must always remember that He is in control. Worrying does not help us one bit. When you find yourself not knowing what to say to a friend in need, quickly ask God to whisper to your heart and give you the right words. When you need to make a quick decision about something, step away for a moment, and ask the Lord for guidance in making the right choice.

As we begin to live a life of prayer in fellowship with our Lord, we will begin to experience a peace that is independent of feelings or circumstances. This is one of the many blessings God gives to His children. And always remember, we are never alone. God is with us always, beckoning and wooing us to come to Him.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thes 5:16-18

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God; And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5