I will praise the Lord at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
I will constantly speak his praises.
I will boast only in the Lord;
let all who are helpless take heart.
let all who are helpless take heart.
Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
let us exalt his name together.
let us exalt his name together.
I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears...
He freed me from all my fears...
In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
he saved me from all my troubles. Psalm 34:1-4,6 NLT
he saved me from all my troubles. Psalm 34:1-4,6 NLT
You notice the order David put these verses. He does not start with verses 4 and 6 by crying out to God. He starts out by praising the Lord. He doesn't stop there either but continues on saying that he constantly speaks praises towards God.
The key is when we approach God with situations that never seem to go away or constantly making you feel alone or anxious, we need to praise Him for what He has done already. The whole idea of even praying and wanting to releasing this to Him in the first place should be a sign to you that He is working in your heart. Hold onto that and praise Him. He is faithful and working even if you don't see it. It is all about your focus being on Him and not the circumstances.
This also reminds me of two other verses that I hold onto when it comes to praying and focusing on praising God and what He has done.
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and FEED on His faithfulness.
Dwell in the land, and FEED on His faithfulness.
Psalm 37:3 NKJV
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done
Phil 4:6 NLT
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus
1 Thess 5:18 NLT
Last night I was listening to a video by Ann Graham Lots on prayer and she reminded us that we need to look outside our own unanswered prayers to see at work all over the world. If we reside only in our unanswered prayers we will be continually discouraged as if He is not doing anything. good post.
ReplyDeleteAmen! I know that God has also showed that too me a lot lately by showing the people around me who I maybe need to pay more attention to and be a blessing to them. Thanks for stopping by
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ReplyDeleteHi Kristina,
ReplyDeleteExchanging our worries for prayer is so hard, isn't it? When all the hard things crash into our day -- small or large -- trusting is sometimes the most difficult act, yet it's the most powerful! Yes, he is working even when we can't see it -- I wrote about similar sentiments this week, too!
I actually was about to go over to your blog and see what you have for this week. I love how God is so faithful that if we do focus on Him and the things that He does which then helps make the worries go away. See ya over at your blog
DeleteSo true! I experience with praying about my daughter's sleep. I spent long periods not praying about it at all as it was so discouraging. I'm still working on that but this is a great reminder to change how I pray. Thanks for linking up with Thankful Thursday.
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