Once when we were in Cuba, a friend and I were invited to a humble dwelling of a typical non-religious Cuban family. We were serve rancid pork and before we ate it, “I said let’s pray?” The adolescent son asked, “what does that mean?” We replied, “Pray means to talk with God.” The kid got scared and took off his hat immediately. Non-believers take God a lot more seriously than we, as confessed believers, do at times.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
New International Version
pray continually
I think the best prayer is praise.
When we pray, we are acknowledging the presence of God. God is omnipresent. He is always there, so shouldn’t we pray continuously? The Bible says we should. We should talk to God. We should pay attention to Him, and try to discern Him.
Have you ever notice how pray and praise sound kind of the same? I think it is because they are almost the same thing. Whenever we talk to God we should be doing so in an attitude of praise. We should pray without ceasing, so we should also be praising without ceasing.
If only I could remember to do that myself!!!
Psalm 100:4
New International Version
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
When I wake up in the morning, I want to start it out with prayer. Prayers are not lists. I used to have a list that I would religiously read every day, before God. It would take hours. No praise whatsoever in that. It was work. It was drudgery, and I still had lousy days. Now I find myself waking up and starting a conversation with God that lasts all day. I praise Him constantly, and find myself asking God which gas station I should stop at, which food to buy, how to respond to someone. The more I pray, the more I praise, and likewise. When I don’t I am in trouble. When I do everything is easy. For example, I’ve found that I don’t mind waiting in lines. I am more patient and my heart is more happy.
Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone. I find I laugh a lot more when my heart is talking to God, and praising Him in a seemingly continuous manner.
It’s a lot easier starting the day with praise than a prayer list. I know when I talk to other people, while I am praising God in my heart, things go better. Same thing goes when I am talking to God. If I begin the day with praise(pray), then my day goes well. If I forget to pray(which should be praise as well), my day goes bad.
Hebrews 4:16
New International Version
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
If I start the day without praise and prayer, I have less confidence, I am on edge more, and definitely not looking at the big picture. Why? Because if you don’t have a good line of communication with God in good times, you won’t be able to develop it instantaneously in bad times. Lines of communication are a fellowship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We can approach His throne with confidence, because we are used to approaching it. We can because we know that Jesus died for our sins. That is our confidence, and our source of joy. That is also our mercy and grace. God is worthy to be praised. Praise doesn’t have to be singing, but it sure helps…
Watch the little boy, in the video below, show you how it’s done, and bless your heart in the process!
Dean
