TargetPoint Vol 4 of 31Today's Verse/Thought: PRAISE-A Few Final Thoughts
Psalm 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
Life Implication:
To enter His COURTS is to be enclosed inside a fenced in or safe place. What better place to be! For the last few days, we have been learning the mystery of beginning our devotional time of prayer with PRAISE.
Praise sets us FREE OF SELF.
Praise SENDS THE DEVIL RUNNING.
The scripture itself tells us that God INHABITS the praises of His people (Ps. 22:3). Think of it! When we begin our time of prayer with praise, God COMES AND SITS DOWN with us; He DWELLS with us; and He REMAINS with us. That is the actual meaning of the word inhabits in Hebrew. Wow! What more could we ask for than the real, abiding presence of our Lord and Savior with us as we approach the next aspect in prayer of learning how to WAIT upon Him.
Life Application:
Along with the themes we discussed yesterday, of praising God for His NAME, and then for His RIGHTEOUSNESS, another theme could be to dwell upon His INFINITE CREATION. It is important here to praise HIM for His creation, rather than to praise the creation itself. Perhaps you can recall sitting by a beautiful clear stream, or you've climbed to a mountain top and viewed the grandeur of the vista: GIVE GOD honor and praise for the beauty of His handiwork.
And finally, take time to PRAISE GOD FOR HIS WORD. Like King David, even in his moments of deepest depression, he wrote, In God will I praise his word (Ps. 56:10).
As you select one of these themes for praising God, DECLARE VOCALLY all that God is. EXPAND your theme as much as possible. ALLOW GOD TO REVEAL new themes for worship as your time of praise develops.
Early in prayer TAKE TIME to recognize all that God is. DON'T be in a hurry. Allow God to come sit down with you as you adore Him with your words of worship!
Tomorrow In TargetPoint:
Waiting, The Act of Soul Surrender