To Praise Him
I've been horrible at updating. Here I am trying to become more diligent in writing and it seems as if I fall further and further from where I want to be. Not for lack of motivation, but more, lack of perseverance and discipline. Plus, it's been a rather tumultuous past month. I keep telling myself that I'll wait until life returns to "normal," but then, most times I'm left wondering what "normal" really looks like and if life will ever become what my perception of what that most elusive word should be. Instead, I'm working on being content, no matter what the circumstance. In working on contentment, I'm learning that it also goes hand-in-hand with praise. Praise, because unless we are training our eyes on Christ, it's nearly impossible to do so. The circumstance in question becomes too distracting and I find it easier to let the difficulty cloud my view of a most Holy, gracious, and powerful God. A God who despite our unfaithfulness, is so very, very faithful. If I am looking only at my circumstance, I forget to worship, forget that in God all things are held together, forget that to God, nothing is too big for Him. I forget to praise Him, and as I do, my heart becomes heavy, burdened, almost unbearable. It becomes discontent. I have been enjoying reading Ruth Meyer's "31 Days of Praise." Here is an excerpt from that book entitled, "Acts of Praise, Your Most Basic Act of Worship";
"Lord, I'm Yours. Whatever the cost may be, may Your will be done in my life. I realize I'm not here on earth to do my own thing, or to seek my own fulfillment or my own glory. I'm not here to indulge my desires, to increase my possessions, to impress people, to be popular, to prove I'm somebody important, or to promote myself. I'm not here even to be relevant or successful by human standards. I'm here to please You.
I offer myself to You, for You are worthy. All that I am or hope to be, I owe to You. I'm Yours by creation, and every day I receive from You life and breath and all things. And I'm Yours because You bought me, and the price You paid was the precious blood of Christ. You alone, the Triune God, are worthy to be my Lord and Master. I yield to You, my gracious and glorious heavenly Father; to the Lord Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me; to the Holy Spirit and His gracious influence and empowering.
All that I am and all that I have I give to You.
I give You any rebellion in me, which resists doing Your will. I give You my pride and self-dependence, which tell me I can do Your will in my own power if I try hard enough. I give You my fears, which tell me I'll never be able to do Your will in some areas of my life. I consent to let You energize me...to create within me, moment by moment, both the desire and the power to do Your will.
I give You my body and each of its members...my entire inner being: my mind, my emotional life, my will...my loved ones...my marriage or my hopes for marriage...my abilities and gifts...my strengths and weaknesses..my health...my status (high or low)...my possessions...my past, my present, and my future...when and how I'll go Home. I'm here to love You, to obey You, to glorify You. O my Beloved, may I be a joy to You!"
And to this prayer I utter the words AMEN! May I seek this in my life. May I learn to trust my God, may I seek to be a joy to Him. You see, life will continue to be unpredictable, continue to be hard. It will have it's ebbs and flows, but God never changes. He is constant. Nothing is too big for God!
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1 comments:
I "AMEN" that prayer too! It has ministered to me time and time again. I'm thrilled to see it here! BB
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