PRAISE
GOD ANYWAY!
“Because
of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV)
I have been reading a book by Anne Graham Lotz
entitled, “My Heart’s Cry: Longing for More of Jesus.” Do you long for more of Jesus in each day? Do
you desire more of His presence in your life? This past Saturday, we received
word that a teenager with leukemia that we had been praying for had died at the age of seventeen. Alex had leukemia since he was twelve years old. Instead of
being angry at God, I found myself praising Him for Alex’s life, and for the five years God gave him to live despite
the leukemia.
Do you spend time daily just praising Jesus for who He is,
and not because of what He is or isn’t doing in your life? Lotz says: “When have you praised Jesus for no other reason than the fact that He deserves
your homage, simply because of Who He is? …if He never answers your prayer,
if He never heals your disease, if He never solves your financial crisis, if He never reconciles your relationship, just exert
your will and praise Him for who He is!”
When we praise God, we invoke His power into our
lives. Great spiritual battles are won when we praise God and magnify Him. David knew what it meant to praise God despite his circumstances (Ps. 13:1-6). Obviously, in this Psalm, God had not yet delivered David from his anguish. David
knew it often takes an act of the will to praise God anyway. “But I
trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation. I
will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me” (vs. 5-6).
The prophet Jeremiah also knew what it meant to praise
God despite his horrible circumstances. Because of Jerusalem’s great sin and refusal to heed the prophets’ warning, God had delivered them into
captivity. Surrounding Jeremiah was utter desolation and death. Yet in the midst of his sorrow, Jeremiah was able to affirm that God is still merciful and faithful (Lam.
3:21-24). What a great example for us to follow!
In our pastor’s message yesterday about prayer,
he reminded us that our hearts should always be in a posture of prayer. I would
add that our hearts should always be in a posture of praise. If we spent more
time thanking God for the multitude of blessings He has given us, we would have no time to complain. Make it your heart’s desire to praise Jesus today just because of who He is.
