Something I have learned recently – Praise is a choice. God, in all His infinite wisdom, made us to be unique individuals and allowed us to make our own decisions – we are not robots.
This means praise is a choice.
“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.” Psalm 150:6
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, Rejoice!” Phil 4:4
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thess. 5:18
He does tell us to praise, to rejoice, to give thanks – but in the long run, this is for my benefit. The three verses above are common verses (there are many to choose from, these are just the ones I remember) – I find it interesting that both Rejoicing and Giving Thanks are stated as commands, but Praising is stated as an allowance. “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.”
I believe this is because when I choose to obey by:
- Rejoicing always | Choosing Joy, whether I feel like it or not; and
- Giving Thanks in all circumstances, not necessarily for every circumstance (there are plenty of circumstances I wouldn’t have minded detouring around)
…but when I choose to Rejoice & Give Thanks to Him in spite of the circumstances I am experiencing, I can’t help but shift my focus and then I can feel praise in my heart towards Him. When I verbalize this Praise, the praise grows and consume my thinking, making my rejoicing and giving thanks even easier. It becomes a cycle – I choose joy. I choose to give thanks. Praise comes out. He wants my praise.
There is nothing I can do/have done to make Him love me less, and there is nothing I will ever do, or can ever do, to make Him love me more.
He loves me simply because Jesus died on the cross and rose again for me. Because I chose Him, He sees me through the filter of His Son’s blood.
So …
- Rejoicing|Choosing Joy, I do out of obedience;
- Giving Thanks, I do out of obedience.
- Praise, I choose. He wants my praise, but I can’t get there if I don’t first change my focus to rejoice/choose joy and give thanks. Praise is a choice.
The amazing thing – once we start to praise it’s hard to stop. We want to praise, we were designed to praise, we can’t help but praise. The only question is: will you praise Him or something else? I have found Praising Him fills the aches, the loneliness, the holes in my life. These places and longings are filled to overflowing and everything looks different – when I praise Him.