Saturday 28 May 2011

Soulful Praise

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Malachi 3:6


Appreciation for who we are or for what we have done would encourage us to do better and greater things for the grateful receiver.
Also when we praise someone, there is always a reason(s) and motive(s) for our appreciation and praise; and that is to encourage the giver to do more for us in future.

We praise God when our hearts are filled with joy and gratitude for His goodness and mercy.
Praises to God flow from hearts and souls filled with gratitude to acknowledge Him for who He is and to express our appreciation for what he has done and what we believe He is able to do for us in our immediate and distant future.
"It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me".Daniel 4:2 (NIV)

Praising God for our good times and blessings ? That is easy.
But in the "valley" or during "down -times", what are our mind or soul-frames ?
What do we give God when we feel He has not responded according to our faith in him or rewarded us for our all our efforts and worship ?
In times of sorrow ,loss and in times of failed expectations do we give God the same measure of praise and even greater as we would give Him in times of our mountain-top elation?
Do I and do you praise him heartily in every situation?
Does God change with your situations? Why don’t His people praise God, heartily, in every situation?
It shall be well with us in the field and in our homesteads; we shall not be consumed ,ashamed or confounded ; for our God cannot change.
He lives and reigns forever more.
The volume and extent of our praise to Him would not change or be dependent on our situations. Amen!

I will bless the Lord at all times : his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1.
Praise to God is a sacrifice ; it has to be costly, pure and acceptable to God.
Only the purity in our praises is acceptable to God ; that is, a pure incense from an defiled altar.
Without Faith , it is impossible to please God. Hebrew 11:6
Genuine praise is a love song from a heart brimming with unconditional love.
The heart of the lover of God offers praise to God at all times; praising God in good times and in bad times ; in the time of plenty and abundance and in austere times; in victory and in defeat!
This is Soul Praise ;it is violent praise ; not by voice volume but by faith!
It is not a prayer “filler” ; used just to make our prayers sound “good” and “acceptable” before God!
Soul-Praise is the highest level of praise; it is the Faith-Praise level.
This praise is very pleasing to God and that is what He expects from us, at all times. This is the Faith that moves the hand of God.

Soul-Praise is imperative even when all our months and years of praying and praising God, have not yielded our expected results.
Faith-praising God is what we do when we have not SEEN or RECEIVED our miracles and even when all we hold dear seem to crash all around us!
When all hope is lost and there is no solution in sight ;yet we shall praise Him!
Whatever may be, our heart-felt praise should resound in His presence , at all times.
In times of joy and glory; in shame and sorrow; in sickness and in death!
Even in “barrenness”; when we have not borne fruit in our due seasons and we are asked , continually ;
“What is your joy , your pride and your hope?” “Where is your God?”
Yet we shall praise him , continually,in the presence our mockers and before all "kings and nations". Amen.
This shall be our response and our confession from our soul and spirit before all men , at all times:
"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places ". Habakkuk 3: 17-19

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