Time with the Bible
Please read Psalm 66.
Let me ask you a question: how good are you at praising? How often are you able to praise someone for what they have done? And when you pray, on your own or with others or in church, how readily do you praise God, as opposed to thanking Him?
In Psalm 66 the writer is joyfully expressing his gratitude to God: for example:
Psalm 66:1 - Shout with joy to God (notice that it’s vocal, it’s noisy).
Psalm 66:3 - Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds.’
Psalm 66:12 - We went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.
Psalm 66:19 - God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.
Psalm 66:20 - Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!
(Re-read the Psalm and find other verses here, where the writer gives praise for what the Lord has done and goes on doing. The psalmist is specific - and it is not the same as thanking God for things.)
I was reading about a church minister who was invited to be the temporary leader of a particular congregation. The difficulty for him was that it was the church of which he was a member. So he and his wife prayed about it, asking God to show them what he should do. One impression they received as they prayed was that God was saying, ‘I want my people to praise my name.’ This impression was confirmed as others prayed too. So he agreed to accept the position of interim pastor for four months, on condition that the church would centre on the theme of praise, and specifically focus on two Bible verses: Psalm 150:6 ‘Let everything that has breath praise the Lord;’ and Psalm 119:164 ‘Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.’
So he decided to get a new Bible and mark all the references to praise that he came across. Initially he wondered if he would find enough material to cover the full four months. But very quickly he was flooded with sermon ideas, and he wrote, ‘I could not have exhausted it in a year. My own life was blessed beyond my power to describe. I believe many more will testify to changed lives resulting from the study and the practice of praise.’ (Jack Taylor)
And so: let’s think about ‘Putting Shoe Leather on the Message.’
Will you:
- use your Bible &/or your hymn book to praise God each day
- aim to praise God seven times a day. As per Psalm 119:164 you can praise the Father, praise Jesus the Son, praise the Holy Spirit - for all they have done and keep on doing
- in your prayer meetings, in your times of worship, make sure that praise comes first, before your list of urgent requests!
- find someone to praise today and each day, for something they have done that you particularly appreciate
- if you’re really excited about this, find a copy of ‘The Hallelujah Factor’ by Jack Taylor, and absorb yourself in it.
