Death, Encouragement, Forgiveness, God's Glory, Praise, Prayer, Struggles, Thankfulness

Praise and Thanks in the Middle of Trial

As we continue our study on prayer, we are using the acronym PRAY. The first letter, P, stands for praise. R is for repent, A is for Ask, and Y is for yield.  It’s easy for us to praise God when things are good, life is going at an easy pace, and we are happy. However, when we run into difficulties or when circumstances have us in a dark place, it is not easy to offer praise in the middle of the struggle.  Psalm 106:1 says, “Hallelujah!  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever.” (CSB)  Notice that it doesn’t say to give thanks or praise to God only when things are going well for us. We are to always offer praise and thanksgiving; one reason is that His love is faithful, and it endures forever.  That alone should be the reason to give Him praise! 

David, who wrote this psalm, went through a couple of difficult seasons in his life and yet he was able to lift his voice, in praise in song and spoken word, to God.  David endured being hunted down by King Saul, then David’s son, Absalom, tried to overthrow David’s throne and kill him. Despite all this, David was giving praise to God for His goodness, protection, and faithfulness.  The Psalms are filled with David’s heart cry and praise.

Now, you may say, “Am I supposed to praise and thank God when bad things happen?”  Yes!  We must remember that even when it seems as if the whole world is falling apart, we are to praise and thank the Lord in the middle of it all because we know that God is working behind the scenes, even when we don’t see Him working.  Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (KJV)  That doesn’t mean that all things are good in themselves, but they will work out FOR our good because God loves us and His plans for us are good. (Jeremiah 29:11)

My husband and I recently heard of a dear friend who passed away unexpectedly.  Our hearts are in deep sorrow, but we still praise and thank God for the time we got to know our friend.  When we are grieving for a loved one, we don’t see how their death could be for good, but God’s reasoning is not ours, and we can’t see the rest of the journey.  His plans for us are for our good, and He sees our whole journey, and we are to praise and thank Him even when our hearts are broken.

We are even to praise Him when we need to repent of sin.  When we read further in this chapter of Psalm 106, David reminds the Israelites of how God was faithful, and of His goodness, despite their rebellion.  Matthew Henry, in his commentary on this chapter, says,” The foregoing psalm was a history of God’s goodness to Israel; this is a history of their rebellions and provocations, and yet it begins and ends with Hallelujah; for even sorrow for sin must not put us out of tune for praising God.” (from the Blue Letter Bible) 

We are to offer a prayer of praise and thanks for all things. (1Thessalonians 5:16-18) The Bible reminds us that we will go through trials (John 16:33, Matthew 5:45) and so we should not be surprised when circumstances don’t always go our way. Praise and thank Him anyway.  Give Him the glory and honor that is due Him.  We should begin our prayer with praise and thanksgiving.  As we lift our voices in prayer or song, praising and thanking Him, our hearts are lifted, and we remember how He has carried us through difficult times before and He will do so again.  

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Donna Knuth Rice

I am trying a blog for the first time in my life, and frankly, I feel like I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing! But, here goes. I work at a Christian Television network in the Correspondence Department, where I write letters and emails to our viewers, pray with them for their needs, and send materials they request. I am a Christian. I was saved at the age of 11 during a youth meeting at my church. My pastor led me to the Lord, and to say the least, my life has been an adventure. I am a widow. My late husband, Allen, passed away after 34 1/2 years of marriage. He had been sick the last seven years of his life, and it was a struggle, for him and for me. We met as part of a singing group that was affiliated with a Christian Radio station, and we sang together all through our lives together. We both worked in television and radio all through our married life, mostly for Christian stations. Besides singing I also play flute. I had the luxury of having parents who started out as music teachers...so music was in our house constantly. Some people describe me as being a loud-mouthed lime type...can't disagree with that. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count! I also have a tendency to say exactly what's on my mind...which is why I get myself in so much trouble! LOL! Trust me, that's something me and God have been working on for a very long time. I have no children here on earth, although I have a baby in heaven. My baby here is my dog Jack. He's a black lab/ chow mix. He's a big boy....thinks he's a lap dog! Can't think of much else to say. The reason I started this blog is because a few months ago in church, a guest pastor came and delivered a message, and when he asked for those of us who wanted prayer to come forward, I did. When he came to me he asked me if I did any journaling. I told him no 'cause I wasn't very good at it. He told me to start, and prophesied over me that my journal thoughts would impact other people. I wasn't sure just how I was to go about doing this. In fact, I was a little hesitant at first. I started journaling at home, and our assistant pastor's wife asked me to submit something for our Senior newsletter. I didn't the first edition, but something I had heard on Christian radio a long time ago and has stuck with me all these years, came to mind so I submitted an article. That article will be my first post. I don't claim to have all the answers, and my thoughts may seem a little "out there", but I feel God has been prodding me to do this, and so here I am. I hope what I post will bring encouragement, and "Something to Think About".

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