Some time ago, I subscribed to The Carnival Of Beauty 
and if you’ve ever browsed through all the stuff on my sidebar, you’ve seen it’s icon. The carnival is pretty cool. It was started back in 2005 by Sallie, and has since been passed on to Amanda. Each week there is a new hostess and a new theme. This week’s carnival is all about “The Beauty Of Praise”. When I got the email that this was this week’s theme, something stirred in me and I decided to participate. I sent my entry to this week’s hostess, who just happens to be Sara from Stones Of Remembrance, and then this morning I felt an urge to post it on my blog so here it is. After you read my post, head on over to Amanda’s blog and check out how you can become a part of the Carnival, and as always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback.
The Beauty Of Praise
You hear it all the time, “Praise God”! Like when you tell someone your testimony, they’ll answer back, “Praise God!” Or how about when you share a victory over an illness, there’s sure to be someone right there with a “Praise God!” And you heard it here, the next time you receive a financial blessing, I’m sure there’s bound to be a “Praise God!” Now don’t get me wrong, I’m the first one to give God a shout out! I don’t begrudge anyone and their praises, I’m all for it.
But what about when you are faced with a trial, do you or anyone else say, “Praise God!”? Are our first thoughts to give Him thanks – probably not? It’s easy to praise Him when we are being blessed with healing or money or the job we want. We even say “Praise God!” when we get a good parking space at the store or catch a sale we didn’t know about, but where is our praises when things aren’t going so well? We’ve heard it said that we should give thanks and praise at ALL times. Doesn’t that mean in the hard times as well as the good? I know some of you are thinking, she’s out of her mind saying we should praise God when things aren’t going well, but hear me out.
Psalm 23 tells us that, “yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me!” Notice the part where it says we walk through. We don’t get stuck in the valley forever; God tells us we are going to walk through it. He also tells us not to fear any evil, and why is that? It’s because He is with us. We aren’t walking through that valley alone, He is there with us. I’ve heard it said, “If He leads you to it, He will help you through it”. If he led us into that valley, there is a good reason for it. Perhaps He wants us to learn something to help equip us for a future endeavor. Or perhaps He wants us to stop a behavior that is harmful to us or He wants us to overcome something that has kept us from being closer to Him. Whatever the reason, there is good on the other side, there is victory at the end of the journey, there is someone waiting to shout “Praise God!”
I say, don’t wait for them to shout – we should shout “Praise God” while on the journey! Let God know that whatever His will for us is, we are willing to submit to it. I think if we praise Him in the hard times, they don’t last so long. Our praise releases His anointing and power. God inhabits the praise of His people so if we keep His praises on our lips and in our hearts in good times and in bad, the good times will be that much better and the bad times will be fewer.
They say we use more muscles to frown than to smile – that makes me think we use less energy being happy than being upset. So, remember to praise Him in the good times and when the bad times do come, pump up the volume on your praise!
Take care and God bless you all,
Briggie
There is Power in Prayer through Yeshua Ha' Mashiach! 