What if God filled out a monthly report card for each of us—and His sole grading criteria was how much we praised Him? Would He have plenty to comment on in your life?
"Of course!" you answer. "Every Sunday, our church leads us in a powerful time of worship." Great! But what about when you're not at church? Do you praise God, then? How often? Under what circumstances?
Do we praise Him only when He provides the parking spot, the cure for our cold, or the raise for which we prayed? How likely is God to hear our praise when the wheels fall off everything?
It’s easy to sing praise songs in church. But it’s pricey to praise—really and truly praise—when we’re in agony. Picture Paul and Silas beaten and in chains.
But there's a flipside to praise you may have already discovered. At the very moment we least feel like praising God—when we are most down in the dumps—the act of giving Him praise has a way of lifting our souls (remember the miracle that happened to Paul and Silas!).
In his book, Practicing Peace, Glyn Evans declares, “Praise forcibly drives out doubt, suspicion, jealousy, bitterness, anxiety, depression, and other dark moods that often result from our difficulties and that hinder the coming of joy in our lives. In short, praise relaxes us. We cannot fume and fret and praise at the same time.”
Who knew—praise relaxes us! And there’s more.
Evans adds, “Praise doesn’t deny pain. It displaces it. It displaces it by exercising faith in God’s healing and restoring power….Praise and negative feelings cannot cohabit the same mind.”
I have a feeling God might very soon offer us all a test or two to prove we’re serious about learning to praise. Here’s to better grades!
When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust;
Psalm 56:3,4a
