Praise the Lord

Praise the LORD , O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name ... Psalm 103:1

Does that phrase sound familiar? Many a time, this phrase is used as a Christian way to greet people. Take a moment and dwell on this three-worded, but powerful phrase. It is more than a way to greet.

To praise the Lord means to
* Bless Him for His goodness,
* Thank Him for His faithfulness,
* Acknowledge that He is in control of every situation of our lives

Remember, there is power when you praise the Lord. Praising God can heal the sick, set the captive free, work miracles which you and I could not imagine and best of all, when we praise God He is right there in the midst of such praise ... because the bible says that God dwells in the praises of His people.

Praise the Lord when you are happy. Two guys, in the bible, named Peter and John, went to church to pray. There, at the entrance, they saw a crippled man asking for alms. Peter, instead of giving him some money, commanded him to rise up and walk in Jesus' Name and that man immediately got up and walked and the next thing he did was to Praise God.

Praise Him even when you are sad. Two other guys, in the bible, named Paul and Silas were thrown into prison. Their hands and feet were fastened with chains. But these two men didn't waste their time there weeping or having self-pity ... they started to sing praises to the Lord, even in the dark prison. And when they started to praise God, something shocking happened. God entered the place where they were praising Him from and the glory of God filled that place, so much so that even the fetters on the two prisoners fell off, the jail jus shook and the gates threw open, not being able to withstand the glory of God.

Praising God is the best thing you and I can do in our times of joy and sorrow. Indeed, it is easy to praise the Lord when things go well in life or when we are happy. But can you and I, like Paul and Silas, praise God in a time when all hope is lost, when our dreams seemed to have been shattered by the struggles we're facing?

My friend, let me reiterate that when we could just take some effort to praise the Lord even at such times, believe me, IT MOVES HIM. If you are reading this message with a heavy heart ... if there's something not going right in your life ... if you are expecting God to work a miracle in your life ... or if you are immensely happy about something good that's happened in your life today ... jus Praise the Lord. Tell Him how much you acknowledge His presence in your life. And when you do so, you will see the hand of God in every walk of your life, be it joy or sorrow.

Praise the Lord !!!

Have a blessed day!!!

Your friend,
Eshcol