By Marquisha Harden
Put down your running shoes, take a deep breath, and have a seat. Relax your mind and say a prayer to give thanks to God for everything you have right at this moment. Very often, we get busy chasing our next blessing that we forget to thank God for what we have right now. Our mind processes a million thoughts a minute, thinking of the steps we need to take tomorrow, next week, or years from now. The here and now is often a distant thought, until it has passed. We forget to enjoy the moments we have in front of us. However, we must praise God in our current state, before we can walk into the next blessing.
Running to your next blessing creates an anxious atmosphere and we are not supposed to be anxious for anything (Philippians 4:6). We take for granted the many blessings God gives us each day and hardly ever appreciate them because we are ready for the next one. We try to pray a little harder, do a little extra ministry work, and be nice to people we really don’t like. All of that is great! However, we cannot seek to do those things in order to expedite a blessing. It’s not going to work. God does things in His own time. Rushing the next blessing is only going to wear you out. It will really frustrate you because you’ll turn to God and ask if He’s forgotten you. You’ll complain to your friends and family that nothing is working out for you. You’ll start forgetting that God worked everything out for you before. You will forget that just today, He already blessed you. Yet, you were too busy to realize it because it didn’t look like the blessing you were seeking him for.
Ecclesiastes 7:14, “When times are good, be happy, but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.”
God just wants genuine praise.
Psalm 103:1-5 “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
God wants to know that no matter what your circumstances are, it does not change the way you praise him. He wants to know that your heart truly belongs to him. God wants to know that you appreciate the blessings He gives you regardless of when or how they come to you. He loves you, but He wants to be appreciated just as you do when you are constantly caring for someone else. He wants to know that your relationship is more than what He can give you; what are you going to give back to Him? We already know that there isn’t any work that we can do to earn his love (Ephesians 2:8-9); He’s going to love us anyway, but He doesn’t want to be taken for granted.
So how can you praise God?
Praise God in your obedience. Stop trying to do things your way and obey what you know He’s telling you. Allow him to guide you.
Praise God in your patience. Wait for him to move in your life; your waiting tells God that you trust him.
Praise God in your witnessing. Tell other people how God has moved on your behalf.
Praise God in your lifestyle. Allow your life to reflect how great God has been to you. Study and live the Word. Stop the drinking, clubbing, shacking, fornicating, dead relationships, and anything that is contrary to the will of God.
Unbelievers are watching and want to know why we serve. They need to know how He healed your body, took you off the streets, kept you, your children, family members, and friends from sickness and death; kept your lights on, gave you food to eat, and so much more! They need to know that your peace, joy, and love are evidence of God working in your life. They don’t understand that it’s just because of who He is. He’s our protector, creator, guide, strong tower, Alpha, Omega, redeemer, healer, deliverer, provider, and so much more. He is the only true God who deserves all the praise regardless of what our now looks like.
You can start praising God by telling Him Thank you, because He’s so worthy.
Godly Reminder
Psalm 40:3, “He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.”
Running to your next blessing creates an anxious atmosphere and we are not supposed to be anxious for anything (Philippians 4:6). We take for granted the many blessings God gives us each day and hardly ever appreciate them because we are ready for the next one. We try to pray a little harder, do a little extra ministry work, and be nice to people we really don’t like. All of that is great! However, we cannot seek to do those things in order to expedite a blessing. It’s not going to work. God does things in His own time. Rushing the next blessing is only going to wear you out. It will really frustrate you because you’ll turn to God and ask if He’s forgotten you. You’ll complain to your friends and family that nothing is working out for you. You’ll start forgetting that God worked everything out for you before. You will forget that just today, He already blessed you. Yet, you were too busy to realize it because it didn’t look like the blessing you were seeking him for.
Ecclesiastes 7:14, “When times are good, be happy, but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.”
God just wants genuine praise.
Psalm 103:1-5 “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits-- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
God wants to know that no matter what your circumstances are, it does not change the way you praise him. He wants to know that your heart truly belongs to him. God wants to know that you appreciate the blessings He gives you regardless of when or how they come to you. He loves you, but He wants to be appreciated just as you do when you are constantly caring for someone else. He wants to know that your relationship is more than what He can give you; what are you going to give back to Him? We already know that there isn’t any work that we can do to earn his love (Ephesians 2:8-9); He’s going to love us anyway, but He doesn’t want to be taken for granted.
So how can you praise God?
Praise God in your obedience. Stop trying to do things your way and obey what you know He’s telling you. Allow him to guide you.
Praise God in your patience. Wait for him to move in your life; your waiting tells God that you trust him.
Praise God in your witnessing. Tell other people how God has moved on your behalf.
Praise God in your lifestyle. Allow your life to reflect how great God has been to you. Study and live the Word. Stop the drinking, clubbing, shacking, fornicating, dead relationships, and anything that is contrary to the will of God.
Unbelievers are watching and want to know why we serve. They need to know how He healed your body, took you off the streets, kept you, your children, family members, and friends from sickness and death; kept your lights on, gave you food to eat, and so much more! They need to know that your peace, joy, and love are evidence of God working in your life. They don’t understand that it’s just because of who He is. He’s our protector, creator, guide, strong tower, Alpha, Omega, redeemer, healer, deliverer, provider, and so much more. He is the only true God who deserves all the praise regardless of what our now looks like.
You can start praising God by telling Him Thank you, because He’s so worthy.
Godly Reminder
Psalm 40:3, “He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.”
