Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:17):
Welcome to the
Recovered Christian Podcast.
This is Suzanne, and todaywe're going to talk about praise
.
There is nothing morelife-transforming or powerful
than praise Not the praise ofourselves or the praise of
others.
I'm talking about praising ourFather, living a life-centered
ungratitude and thankfulness.
(00:38):
One of my favorite verses aboutpraise is Psalm 28, 6-7.
Praise the Lord, for he hasheard my cry of mercy.
The Lord is my strength andshield.
I trust Him with all my heart.
He helps me and my heart isfilled with joy.
I burst out in songs ofthanksgiving.
(00:58):
What a wondrous thing that weworship a Father who hears our
cries.
Not only does he hear us, buthe helps us.
One thing I try to practice inmy daily life is to reach out to
Him when I need help, insteadof trying to do it on my own.
When I start to feel confusedor concerned, I'm making it a
(01:19):
habit to stop and talk to God.
My prayers are more likeconversations.
I talk to Him about all kindsof things.
I ask Him if I should beworried or concerned about
something or if there'ssomething I need to do about a
particular situation.
Sometimes I just ask Him foradvice.
Then I stop and quiet myselfand listen.
(01:41):
There's lots of times that Iget a very clear thought as an
answer.
Sometimes I get a very strongfeeling, and sometimes I don't
get anything, and that's okaytoo.
I usually figure that ifsomething important needs to be
told to me, it will be.
I trust that he will tell mewhat I need to know through the
Holy Spirit that abides in allof us who truly believe.
(02:04):
Praise, gratitude andthanksgiving are woven
throughout the Bible.
They're not just actions,they're transformative attitudes
that shape our hearts and minds.
Praise is like a healing balmfor the holes in our hearts, the
empty spaces that we fill withall the wrong things.
Words of gratitude and songs ofpraise will fill those holes
(02:26):
faster than anything.
Life often leaves us bruised,uncertain or empty.
Yet when we turn our heartstoward praise, something
remarkable happens.
It's not about denying thestruggles or pain, but
acknowledging the presence ofGod in the midst of it.
All the Psalms, especially,have so many verses about praise
(02:47):
.
Psalm 100, verse 4, says Enterhis gates with thanksgiving, go
into his courts with praise,give thanks to him and praise
his name.
There's a connection betweengratitude and intimacy with God.
When we approach him with aheart of thanksgiving, it opens
the door to a deeperrelationship, and the Father
(03:09):
wants nothing more than a truerelationship with us.
It's why we're here.
Consider Paul's encouragement in1 Thessalonians 5, verses 16 to
18.
Always be joyful, never stoppraying, be thankful in all
circumstances, for this is God'swill for you who belong to
Jesus Christ.
We are called to be thankful inall circumstances, not just
(03:34):
when things are easy orfavorable.
It's easy to be thankful then.
It's far harder, and a realchallenge to be thankful when
things aren't easy, when life isthrowing rocks at us and
everything is seemingly fallingapart.
Those are the times we see themighty power of praise.
And then we have the favoriteverse of everyone graduating
(03:56):
from high school ever.
Philippians 4, verses 6 through7.
Don't worry about anything.
Instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need andthank him for all he has done.
Then you will experience God'speace, which exceeds anything we
can understand.
His peace will guard yourhearts and minds as you live in
(04:17):
Christ Jesus.
Or Colossians 3, verse 17,.
And whatever you do or say, doit as a representative of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanksthrough him to God, the Father.
Or Hebrews 13, verse 15,.
Therefore, let us offer,through Jesus, a continual
sacrifice of praise to God,proclaiming our allegiance to
(04:39):
his name.
How do you praise?
Is it through words or songs,acts of kindness, silent prayers
?
There's no right or wrong way,but my absolute favorite way to
praise is through music.
I love going on long walks andlistening to praise music,
prayer walks that's what I callthem.
I take in the beauty of theworld that the Father gave us
(05:01):
and let my heart open wide totake in his love and kindness,
and I offer him the joy of mysoul.
If I start a prayer walk on aday I'm feeling discombobulated
or weary, by the time I'm done,I feel so much happier.
If you spend 45 minutespraising our sweet Father and
letting his goodness wash overyou, of course you're gonna feel
(05:22):
better.
It works for me every time.
As we go throughout today, let'stry to be grateful and thankful
for our lives, the big thingsand the little things.
Let's try not to grumble orcomplain.
Turn off the news, get offsocial media.
I stopped watching the news afew years ago and it has made
(05:42):
such a humongous difference inthe way that I'd go about life
and the things that occupy mymind.
It just really has.
Open your Bibles or turn onsome music and let him fill all
the empty, lonely, hurtingplaces inside you.
He will do it, but you gotta beopen to it.
(06:03):
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we come beforeyou with hearts full of
gratitude.
Thank you for being ourstrength, our shield and our
constant companion.
Help us cultivate a spirit ofpraise and thanksgiving even in
the midst of challenges.
(06:23):
Help us to be grateful forevery blessing you bring us, as
big or small as it may be.
Let our lives reflect the joyfound in knowing and trusting
you, and let us always have aheart full of praise In Jesus
name, amen.
Thank you so much for joining metoday and remember, praise
(06:44):
isn't just a response.
It's a way of life thattransforms us from the inside
out.
May you experience the joy andpeace that come from a heart
filled with gratitude and praise.
Hope you have a wonderful dayand I'll see you next time.
Thank you so much for listening.
I hope your bite-sized devotiontoday was very satisfying.
(07:06):
If you enjoyed this episode,I'd be honored if you'd leave a
review or a rating.
We are new, so every little bithelps me bring the word to the
world.
I'd love to get to know youbetter.
At our Facebook group, theRecovered Christian.
I'll put a link to it in theshow notes.
So thanks again for being hereand I will see you next time.