Blog 66 / Our High Calling

Praising God Before He Answers

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess His name” (Heb. 13:15 NIV)

We can do many things to excess. We can overeat, overwork, oversleep, overindulge, overreact – but we can never overpraise. Time is not long enough for us to declare the greatness of our God and praise Him for His mighty works. This is one reason why we need eternity.

While we want always to remember to praise God for His many answers to prayer and abundant blessings, it must surely please our Lord when we trust Him enough to praise Him before we see His answers. This shows that we have confidence in God and His promises.

A good habit is to season our prayers with praise in expectation of what God will do. Jesus demonstrated this when raising Lazarus from the dead. John 11:41 says, “And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.” Jesus thanked His Father before the miracle took place. The Father heard and the great deed was accomplished.

Paul and Silas loved Jesus so much that, even when in prison, praise couldn’t help but flow from their lips as they sang praise songs in their cell. This was before the earthquake struck that brought about their freedom. They would have sung God’s praises whether they saw His deliverance or not. Their praise was not dependent on their circumstances being pleasant, but on the faithfulness of God.

In Exodus 15 we read that Moses and the Children of Israel sang and danced on the banks of the Red Sea after their miraculous deliverance from the hands of the Egyptians. I love what GRN founder Joy Ridderhof once wrote: “Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if they had celebrated with singing and dancing before they crossed the sea? God had promised them deliverance and that should have been enough.”

What are we up against right now? Can we offer to God a sacrifice of praise if things are not going well for us? Can we praise Him without ever seeing His deliverance? Praise is all the more special to God when it flows from a life that is enduring many trials and where His benefits are being withheld. This kind of praise is possible only because of Christ in us. He is the One praising the Father through us.

 

 

Colin Stott
GRN Global Prayer Coordinator

read colin’s previous blogs:
Praying For God’s Glory Will Cost Us – blog 65
rejoicing over god with singing – blog 64
indispensable prayers of the church – blog 63
the glorious end God has in mind- blog 62
No Place LIke Home – blog 60
finishing well – blog 59
are we known as formidible opponents? – blog 58
Thy Kingdom Come – blog 57
A Life Lived in Pursuit of Knowing God – blog 56
The church triumphant – blog 55
we do not have because we do not ask – blog 54
exclusive property of god – blog 53
indispensable prayers of the church – blog 52
the battle is still the lord’s – blog 51
FOLLOWING THE LAMB – blog 50
nothing is impossible with god – blog 49
It is a wonderful life – blog 48
Listening for the master’s voice – blog 47
prayer and unbelief – blog 46
Our Motivation in Praying for the Lost – blog 45
demolishing strongholds – blog 44
overcome evil with good- blog 43
dealing with strongholds – blog 42
when our prayers go unanswered – blog 41
key to unanswered prayer – blog 40
prayer and The bride – blog 39
The Battle is the Lord’s – blog 38
praying for workers – blog 37
finding time to pray – blog 36
when the church is under attack – blog 35
FEASTING and FASTING – blog 34
OUR AUTHORITY IN PRAYER – blog 33
why ask for what we already have? – blog 32
is anyone praying for them? – blog 31
delays are part of answered prayer – blog 30
weapons of our warfare – blog 29
Keeping our spiritual fervor – blog 28
days of great harvest – blog 27
not i but christ – blog 26
what if – Blog 25
praying scripture – Blog 24
Prayer and obedience -Blog 23
the Prayer warrior – Blog 22
time alone with god – Blog 21
last resort – Blog 20
Prayer with rejoicing faith – Blog 19
travel the world through Prayer – Blog 18
lord, break me – Blog 17
ye have not because ye ask not – Blog 16
our Prayers reveal our heart – Blog 15
church of the living god – Blog 14
when we Pray for the lost – Blog 13
more than meets the eye – Blog 12
sugar cubes and  Prayer – Blog 11
it’s a wonderful life – Blog 10
the longings of god – Blog 9
praising god before he answers – Blog 8
no place like home – Blog 7
praying for god’s glory – Blog 6
are we known as formidable opponents – Blog 5
sugar cubes and Prayer – Blog 4
rejocing over god with singing – Blog 3
the indispensable Prayers of the church – Blog 2
the glorious end – Blog 1