Meditation is the first step towards prayer, but it is not in itself prayers. Meditation is the quieting of our mind to God. Prayer is actually talking to Him. As we come to Him, the first element of prayer we encounter is praise.
Praise is the celebration of God’s attributes. Praise tunes our heart to God’s heart. When we play a guitar, the first thing we must do is to get tuned before we can make any music. If our strings do not make the right noise, we cannot make the right music. Praise is taking time to get in tune, so we can truly enjoy our time with God.
Prayer is a little like astronomy. Anyone can look up at the night sky, but when we know where we look, and we know precisely what we are looking at, it mean much, much more. Anyone can admire the pretty lights in the sky, but when we know that they are spectacular sons, planets, gas clouds and galaxies that we are seeing, it means so much more. A telescope focuses one portion of the sky so we can see much more. When we engage in prayer, knowing the majesty and power of the One we are speaking with, realizing His divine glory and infinite love, then our faith and joy increase, as we contemplate the Creator of the Universe. Praise is how we focus our attention on Him.
Meditation is the first step towards prayer, but it is not in itself prayers. Meditation is the quieting of our mind to God. Prayer is actually talking to Him. As we come to Him, the first element of prayer we encounter is praise.
Praise is the celebration of God’s attributes. Praise tunes our heart to God’s heart. When we play a guitar, the first thing we must do is to get tuned before we can make any music. If our strings do not make the right noise, we cannot make the right music. Praise is taking time to get in tune, so we can truly enjoy our time with God.
Prayer is a little like astronomy. Anyone can look up at the night sky, but when we know where we look, and we know precisely what we are looking at, it mean much, much more. Anyone can admire the pretty lights in the sky, but when we know that they are spectacular sons, planets, gas clouds and galaxies that we are seeing, it means so much more. A telescope focuses one portion of the sky so we can see much more. When we engage in prayer, knowing the majesty and power of the One we are speaking with, realizing His divine glory and infinite love, then our faith and joy increase, as we contemplate the Creator of the Universe. Praise is how we focus our attention on Him.
This week, in our times of meditation, we will be focusing only on praise. For this week, do not pray for anything. Do not confess—God already knows what you are going to confess, as well as what you and others need. Those are separate kinds of prayers we will discuss late. For this week, just praise Him. Once we have begun to master praise, we are ready move on to other things. For now, we will concentrate only on the most important part of prayer-praise.
Remember, this week, ask for nothing nothing. Let’s just celebrate the attributes of the God we serve. As we go through the week, we will be using different way of praising Him, Everyone has their own methods of praise. Here are a few.
Singing or music.
Reading, especially the Bible.
Listing the attributes of God.
Psalm 150 is a call to universal praise. Begin by reading the psalm aloud to yourself, The act of speaking aloud causes us to reflect upon the words we read. read it more than once. If you can, read it in more than one translation. When you are finished, write the answers to these questions.
Who does the Psalmist say should praise God?
What does the Psalmist say makes God worthy of praise?
What instruments does the Psalmist use to praise Him?
God, when I turn my eyes to the Heavens, I know your majesty. When I turn my eyes to the hills, I know your beauty. When I see the ocean, I know your power. But when I turn my eyes to the Cross, I know your infinite, majestic love. Thank you, God, that one as majestic, powerful, and beautiful as You would remember someone like me.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
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