Thank You Lord

'Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.  Be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good.  His mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations.  Psalm 100:4-5

Thank you Lord!  If I had ten thousand tongues I couldn't praise Him enough.  He's been just that good.  When I look back over my life and think things over, my soul looks back and wonders how I got over.  There are just so many things God has done for me.  I know that things may not be perfect right now.  But every morning the Lord wakes me up and I get another opportunity to praise Him, I am going to do just that.  What about you?

Sometimes it is just the little things that remind you of the touch the Master has had on your life. Waking up with activity of your limbs.  Praise Him!  Breath in your body.  Praise Him! A roof over your head.  Clothes on your back.  A car to drive.  A job to go to. Praise Him! Maybe you have survived a significant illness or maybe someone close to you has.  Maybe you have seen your marriage revived or maybe you survived a bitter divorce.  Maybe you were on the verge of losing your house or maybe you did lose your house but you still have a place to lay your head.  Maybe your job went through layoffs and you lost your job or maybe your job went through layoffs and your department didn't get hit.  Maybe you remember how bad you were and how nothing but God's grace and mercy has gotten you to where you are today.  Whatever the case may be, sometimes you just have to stop and say, "Thank you Lord."  If it had not been for God on your side, where would you be?  I am realizing every day that it doesn't take a whole lot to make me praise the Lord.  I look myself in the mirror each day and I know how unworthy I am.  I know that each and every day I fall short and He still forgives me.  He gives me grace each and every day.  His mercies are new every morning.  Just knowing this ought to make you want to be better.  To do better.  To live a life that is pleasing in His sight.  He is the one that matters.  It is not about putting on a show for others to see.  It is about your personal relationship with God.  He alone knows your heart.  It is not for me or anyone else to judge.  There is a saying that I am sure you have heard that says, 'people don't have to be nice to you, but when they are you ought to say thank you'.  God didn't have to send His only begotten Son to the world to die for our sins, but He did.  He hung on that old rugged cross for a sinner like you and me.  What a perfect sacrifice!  I don't know about you, but even as nice as I am I don't know if I could give my life for anyone.  That is why not a day should go by that you don't stop and thank the Lord, first of all for who He is.  Then stop and thank Him for what He has done.  It is never an inappropriate time to praise Him.  I know that things may not look the best right now but even on your worse day, God is still God and He is still good.

Most Gracious Heavenly Father,

I just wanted to stop and say, "Thank You."  Thank You for who you are.  You are holy.  You are faithful.  You are a righteous God. You are a forgiving God.  You are a just God.  I thank You because You look beyond my faults to see my needs.  Wherever I go You are there.  I just want to praise You.  I thank you for Your loving kindness and your tender mercies.  Each and every day, for as long as I shall live, I will continue to praise Your name.  In Jesus' Wonderful; Name Amen. 

Praise Him In Advance

'And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me." John 11:41

I found another interesting lesson in the gospel of John.  It was concerning the resurrection of Lazarus.  The interesting lesson was that Jesus began His thanksgiving before the miracle of the resurrection took place.  Jesus did not wait until the miracle was performed instead He thanked God simply because His prayer had been heard.  He had enough faith in the One to whom He was praying to know that something wonderful was about to happen. 

It made me think about me as a mother and how when my children come to me with a need they start to play as if they don't have a care in the world.  They know that they have told their mother and she will take care of it.  Now sometimes they ask for some outlandish things like my nine year old daughter who is about to turn ten next month.  She asked me for highlights for her birthday.  This is something that she is not going to get and I told her immediately.  But when she actually comes to me for needs such as food, supplies for school, a bigger pair of shoes, etc, she knows that her parents are going to meed that need.  Often times they say thank you even before they see the result. 

That is how it should be with you and God.  You pray for something, asking in faith, believing that you will receive.  After you pray, what should take place is thanksgiving.  Why?  Because you know the power of the One you are praying to you can thank Him in advance.  It should be second nature to thank Him for what you are about to receive.  Like the song says ' Don't wait til the battle is over, shout now!'  You may be going out to battle daily to a job where there are those who are out to get you.  You may be headed home to a battle in your house with your spouse or your teenage child.  Maybe you are faced with a life or death situation.  You have prayed about it.  And today I've come to encourage you to start praising Him, right now.  I read something the other day that said, 'Praise is really the most vital preparatory ministry to the working of miracles...Dr. Jowett.  If this is indeed true then you may have have been hindering  a resurrection in your life for lack of prayer.  And not just lack of prayer but lack of praise from lack of faith.  Is your marriage dead and in need of a resurrection?  Your finances dead and in need of a revival?  If so, praise your way through to your deliverance.  Start to exercise your extraordinary faith.  I know that part of my reason for not praising Him was because I didn't always believe that it would happen. I was sitting around waiting for results.  But Jesus had the utmost faith in His Father.  He knew that whatever He asked in according to the will of the Father, it would be done.  It's time for you to start having that kind of faith.  Just take a moment and look back over your life, where God has brought you from.  How he has performed miracle after miracle in your life and when you do, I hope that you will realize that you don't have to wait for the miracle to praise God, you can praise Him right now.

Most Gracious Heavenly Father,

I come to you in the humblest way that I know how, first giving praise, honor and glory to Your name.  I thank You for Your grace and Your mercy.  I thank You for forgiving all my sins.  I thank You yet again for the privilege of prayer.  I thank You just for taking the time to hear my earnest plea.  Lord, I ask that You help me to wait patiently and peacefully for the answer to my prayer.  Let me not become anxious but continue to put all my trust in You, knowing that whatever the outcome it will be what You have designed for my life.  In Jesus' Wonderful Name I pray Amen.