Gratitude Leads to Praise
I wake up each morning cultivating a grateful heart. I started a “gratitude snooze” a few months back. I want to thank the Lord for a new day and then I start telling Him thanks for my wife, children, extended family, friends, co-workers, etc.… I know that I have 9 minutes or so to give thanks before the alarm goes off. It has really helped my attitude because I’m intentionally setting the tone for my morning. I have found that gratitude leads to praise. I read throughout the Word of God that God loves the praise of His people. The Psalmist writes that He loves it when everything He created praises Him. Check this out….
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you creatures of the ocean depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and clouds,
wind and weather that obey him,
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all livestock,
small scurrying animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all people,
rulers and judges of the earth,
12 young men and young women,
old men and children.
13 Let them all praise the name of the Lord.
For his name is very great;
his glory towers over the earth and heaven!
14 He has made his people strong,
honoring his faithful ones—
the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!(Psalm 148:7-14 NLT)
When I praise the Lord, He notices.
When I praise the Lord, He loves it.
When I praise the Lord, my perspective changes.
When I praise the Lord, my position changes – I’m humbled before Him.
When I praise the Lord, my heart is moved toward Him.
I believe I was “hard-wired” to praise the Lord. There is something that is completed in my heart when I praise the Lord. It is easy to praise the Lord when I take time to thank Him for the blessings in my life. It is easy to praise the Lord when I remember what it was like to be lost from Him. When I begin to thank Him, I’m not sure where gratitude ends and praise begins. He loves both a grateful heart and a worshipful heart of praise.
Pressing On!
Dwayne