Plethora of Praise!

Every time I read the Psalms of David I stand in awe of his flow of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. He gives Him praise for who He is and thanksgiving for what He has done. As I go before the Lord to pray, it is my desire to give praise and thanksgiving to Him. It all sort of dries up in a hurry. I get a few things out and sit and think and then move on to the rest of my prayer which is full of petitions, petitions for others mostly, but full of petitions.

Then there are those times when we are invoked to give praise and thanksgiving to the Lord during times of worship or any gathering of God's people to pray. How often do we see that the room becomes quiet and all of a sudden our tongues are tied. When invoked for prayer requests we can go on and on. Those are very uncomfortable times for me because many times I find myself just as quiet as others.

James McDonald in his book "Lord, Change My Attitude (Before It's Too Late)" gives an exercise in his chapter on thanksgiving in which you take a little notebook and list five things you are thankful to the Lord for at the end of the day. He suggests doing it nightly. With excitement I bought a 4"x4" notebook to do this exercise. I used the first 5 pages and now confess this little notebook has turned into a place where I keep my passwords. Is praise and thanksgiving difficult for us because we are so full of ourselves and continue to look for what we can receive from Him?

This morning I read 1 Chronicles 16:7-36 where David gives a plethora of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord after the ark is placed in the Tabernacle. "Oh give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!" If praise and thanksgiving does not always come easy for you, read these verses and give Him your own praise and thanksgiving. He ends with "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting! And all the people said, "Amen!"and praised the Lord."