When I pray, do I have my eyes on the big picture? Or, do I narrow in to the problem of the moment?
It's a question I ask myself as I ponder the words of a speaker at a conference I attended last weekend and of a book I was reading yesterday.
Both the speaker and the writer were talking about worshiping and praising God.
I loved the picture that Steve Wilkins gave at a "Deeper Life" conference at Circle Square Ranch in Arden, Ontario, near Ottawa.
Wilkins, a leader at All Nations Church in Ottawa, was talking about the whole universe joining in praising God.
He pointed to Ephesians 5:17-21 where the apostle Paul speaks of being filled with the Spirit. Paul calls on us to "sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ".
When we do that, we are effectively joining all of creation in praising the Lord.
Indeed, his point is biblical. In Psalm 148, the writer calls on the sun and moon and angels to join in a paean of praise to God. In Luke 19, Jesus tells the religious leaders that if his followers did not praise him as he entered Jerusalem, "the very stones would cry out".
In Revelation 5, we see the great picture of tens of thousands of angels singing their praises to God.
In effect, Wilkins says, "your worship makes you align with everything that's going on in the universe".
There are times, he admits, when we don't feel like praising God. But, like David, we need to say: "Praise the Lord, O my soul." The Lord is always worthy of praise.
When you praise, says Wilkins, things change. God's greatness and his attributes grow in your mind and heart and the daily issues diminish. You begin to tune in to where God is leading you.
When we are praising God, we are giving him glory.
This, says Charles Spurgeon in The Power of Praising God, should be our ultimate aim in everything we do.
"This should be the single desire of the Christian. I take it that he should not have twenty wishes but one. He may desire that his family be well brought up, but only so that God may be glorified forever."
Spurgeon adds: "May this [God's glory] be the foundation of every enterprise into which you enter and your sustaining motive whenever your zeal would grow chilly."
I needed to hear that.
It's a question I ask myself as I ponder the words of a speaker at a conference I attended last weekend and of a book I was reading yesterday.
Both the speaker and the writer were talking about worshiping and praising God.
I loved the picture that Steve Wilkins gave at a "Deeper Life" conference at Circle Square Ranch in Arden, Ontario, near Ottawa.
Wilkins, a leader at All Nations Church in Ottawa, was talking about the whole universe joining in praising God.
He pointed to Ephesians 5:17-21 where the apostle Paul speaks of being filled with the Spirit. Paul calls on us to "sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ".
When we do that, we are effectively joining all of creation in praising the Lord.
Indeed, his point is biblical. In Psalm 148, the writer calls on the sun and moon and angels to join in a paean of praise to God. In Luke 19, Jesus tells the religious leaders that if his followers did not praise him as he entered Jerusalem, "the very stones would cry out".
In Revelation 5, we see the great picture of tens of thousands of angels singing their praises to God.
In effect, Wilkins says, "your worship makes you align with everything that's going on in the universe".
There are times, he admits, when we don't feel like praising God. But, like David, we need to say: "Praise the Lord, O my soul." The Lord is always worthy of praise.
When you praise, says Wilkins, things change. God's greatness and his attributes grow in your mind and heart and the daily issues diminish. You begin to tune in to where God is leading you.
When we are praising God, we are giving him glory.
This, says Charles Spurgeon in The Power of Praising God, should be our ultimate aim in everything we do.
"This should be the single desire of the Christian. I take it that he should not have twenty wishes but one. He may desire that his family be well brought up, but only so that God may be glorified forever."
Spurgeon adds: "May this [God's glory] be the foundation of every enterprise into which you enter and your sustaining motive whenever your zeal would grow chilly."
I needed to hear that.
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