24 June 2014 by Michael Cheng –
Some people may be curious for the ways to pray to God. Although there are no technical ways, we can use the acrostic ‘PRAYER’ for 6 principles of prayer.
The first principle we shall start with is the letter ‘P’, which is Praise and Thanksgiving.
Let us first look at Psalm 100:
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
The believer is exhorted to give thanks and praise to God each time he comes into God’s presence. Praise and thanksgiving go together like hand and glove.
Praise releases faith in God, His presence, and his power into our situation. This is because God inhabits the praises of his people. (Psalm 22:3)
But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. (Psalm 22:3)
Thanksgiving honours God because it shows that we are truly dependent on Him. We acknowledge His sovereignty, wisdom, control and works of grace in our lives.
Hence, when we praise and give thanks to God every time we pray:
- We take the focus off ourselves.
- We turn our attention towards God’s character.
- We look to Him as the source of our life, blessings, strength, help, and existence itself.
- We proclaim our faith in what the Bible says about Him, thus strengthening our faith.
- We are sensitized to the presence of God and His Power
It is easy to start our prayer with praising God as we have so much to exalt our wonderful God for. He is holy, good, kind, loving, faithful, compassionate, long-suffering, forgiving, and gracious; there is no end to the things we can praise Him for.
I am always inspired by the book of Psalms who blessed their Maker with exuberant exhortations and gratefulness, as God lift them from depression and gloom to bliss and tranquillity.
The last five psalms of the Bible, in particular illustrated this exuberate praises. For example, the psalmist commanded all believers, the Israelites, the angels, Jerusalem, the heavens and every being which has breath to praise God, the Creator of the Universe. (Psalm 145:10; Psalm 149:2; Psalm 148:2; Psalm 147:12; Psalm 148:1; Psalm 150:6)
While it seems easy to praise God during good times, what about the times we feel depressed and lousy? What about the times a loved one is terribly sick or we ourselves fall gravely ill? What about the times when we lose our job, our business fails, we lose a close friend, or we are slandered by our friends or relatives?
I am reminded that many people in the Bible also faced such tough time, particularly King David who wrote most of the psalms of praise unto God.
King David was pursued relentless by murderous King Saul, forced to live like a fugitive to escape Saul, betrayed by his close friends and even son who tried to usurp his throne, lost his best friend Jonathan in a battlefield, and lost an infant son born to Bathsheba.
In spite of difficult times, he could say:
Psalm 56:3-4
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
Another outstanding example is Joseph who was hated by his brothers and sold in slavery in Egypt. On top of that, he was accused with rape, imprisoned, and forgotten in prison. In spite of all the ‘bad things,’ he was neither bitter nor revengeful towards his siblings but he was able to say, “…you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Gen 50:20)
Apostles Peter and Paul sang praises and worshipped God for His goodness in prison.
What is their secret?
They knew that no matter what happens, God is in control and He is always good, faithful, compassionate and powerful. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purposes. (Romans 8:28)
Eph 5:20 tells us to give thanks always to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in spite of our difficult times. Let us look at the following passages.
David in Psalms 116 mentioned about offering a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord. (Psalm 116:12,17) And Apostle Paul mentioned offering up ‘a sacrifice of praise to God’ in Hebrews 13:15-16.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others,for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Heb 13:15-16)
When we are facing tough times or times of difficulty, we may find praising and thanking God something we cannot do easily. Rather, it is something we don’t feel like doing. Yet, we do it because it is pleasing to God, so it becomes a sacrifice. (Heb 13:15)
We can also personalize scriptures in our prayers of praise and thanksgiving. For example, this is my personalized version of a part in Psalm 23:
Thank you God that you are my Shepherd. The Creator of heaven and earth is my shepherd. Thank you, Lord for your guidance and direction. You make me lie down in green pastures, lead me beside still waters, you restores my soul, you lead me in the paths of righteousness for your name’s sake. I praise you Lord for your protection because I know that I’m always kept in safety wherever you lead me.
Yes, we are to give always give thanks to God! And there are many creative ways to do that, which the Lord will show us. These creative ways include praising and thanking Him in ‘psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.’ (Eph 5:19) or in drama and dance, musical instruments, or even in silence.
Thank you Lord!
Note: This reflection is an excerpt taken from the book ‘Man of the Hour’ written by Michael Cheng. Michael has held various management positions in the banking, educational, manufacturing sectors. He is a Founding Member and former National Secretary of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship Malaysia (FGBMF). Michael has also held various leadership positions in the local church and Christian ministries. Currently, Michael coordinates the Prayer Shield in FGBMF. He holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Economics (Honors) degree and is a Certified Trainer. Michael is married to Kim and they worship in Full Gospel Assembly, Kuala Lumpur.
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References for pictures
http://allsaintswritersblock.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/prayer.jpg
http://www.blackchristiannews.com/news/psalms_2.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/David_in_the_Wilderness,_with_sheep..jpg
http://donjohnsonministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/joseph.jpg
http://www.ambassadoradvertising.com/static/uploads/news_blog_images/lee/biblethanksgiving.jpg
http://images.forwallpaper.com/files/images/f/f24a/f24ae869/292002/jesus-the-good-shepherd.jpg
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