Living a life of praise is not only the most enjoyable way to live, but it's also one of the most powerful ways to change your life. Praise isn't like the caboose that just follows what happens; it's more like the engine of a train that makes things happen. Your faith isn't complete without praise. Colossians 2:7 says that you abound in faith with thanksgiving. No thanksgiving equals not abounding in faith. Praise affects you, it affects the devil, and it affects God. It touches everything and every part of your life. Likewise, a lack of praise affects you in a negative way, turns the devil loose in your life, and doesn't bless God. You have to get this area of your life right. Nearly everyone agrees that praise is good, but very few feel any responsibility to praise God when they don't feel like it. I don't know anyone who wakes up in the morning and plans on being depressed. They would like to be happy and praise God, but they don't feel they have any control over this. They think that praise is just a response to what happens and that if everything goes right, they will automatically do it. That is definitely not the case. Praise is not the inevitable byproduct that comes when everything is going right in our lives; it is the driving force. Praise will get our focus where it needs to be: on God. If we start praising God in the middle of our problems, our problems will shrink so much that we'll hardly remember to bring them to God! We'll be so busy praising Him and thanking Him for His blessings that our problems will be an afterthought. Learn more about how praise impacts every area of your life in Andrew's teaching, The Effects of Praise. |