top of page

Prayer without praise



Lets' admit it, our prayer life is mostly made up of us asking for things, praying for miracles and prayers of healing. Here and there it might include a sprinkle of repentance and dash of thanksgiving. But where is the praise? Where is the selfless devotion? A time where all we do is give God praise. The praise that he deserves for what he has done, is doing and will do. The praise for not just in the ups but also in the down. The praise not when we've just received our answer but also when we're unsure. We love to give people praise and receive praise for mediocore acts. How much more does our God deserve praise. Not only for the extravagant but also for the miniscule, not only for the supernatural but also for the natural. Give him praise for it all. Give him praise because he is the alpha and omega and without him we are nothing.


To give praise means to give glory.


Hebrews 13:15

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name



Isaiah 25:1

LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.



Daniel 4

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.



Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,

47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.



For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.



Sing the praises of the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.



Psalm 28:7

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.



Pslam 34:1

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.



Psalm 42:11

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.



Psalm 63:3-4

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.



I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.



Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds ; rejoice before him—his name is the LORD.



Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.



My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you— I whom you have delivered.



Psalm 100:4

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.



Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.



I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.



The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.



I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.



Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.



Psalm 134 - A song of ascents.



Psalm 136 - A Hymn of Thanksgiving



Psalm 145- A Psalm of Praise of David



Psalm 146 - In Praise of God the Savior



Psalm 147 - In Praise of God the Almighty



Psalm 148 - A Call for the Universe to Praise God



Psalm 149 - A Hymn of Praise



 
 
 

The dangers of a routine

Updated: Jul 8, 2024



We all know having a routine is good for us. We allocate time in our day to workout, to do chores, a time to sleep and so on. We even try to do the same in our walk of faith. We set a time to fellowship, to bible study and so on. All this is great but there’s also a downside to having a routine.


When it comes to our daily devotion, we squeeze this in somewhere in our day. Your routine may be to read your bible first thing in the morning and have your prayer time just before bed. Others may choose to read on their commute to work and pray on their lunch break. That is how most of us operate. We dedicate a specific part of our day to Christ. So, what’s the problem? I’m reading and praying, that’s a good thing right? Praise God that you are, but what happens when your prayer time is in the morning but you've woken up late for work and are now in a rush? Are you able to fit your normal prayer time in, or do you find yourself caught up in a hurry putting prayer on hold and most likely forgetting. Another example, your reading time is just before bed but you've had a long day and fallen asleep on the sofa. What happens then? Well you end up missing out on quality time with God because life has gotten in the way.


Routines are a great way to stay on top of things, get yourself organised and make sure your day/life runs smoothly. However, God shouldn’t fall in our routine. He should be our lifestyle. Regardless of how busy your day has been, just as we don’t go without fleshly necessities we shouldn’t go without Christ. This means that throughout the day we should be able to pray, throughout the day we should be able to look at our bibles, throughout the day we should have Christ on our mind. A constant hunger to spend some time with the Lord in worship and devotion. If we choose to plug God in at a certain time of the day, at some point we're going to choose to unplug him. Not because it's intentional but because there is always going to be a distraction.


Jesus is who we face and aspire to be like. His time on earth did not consist of a routine, his life was devoted to his Father, his ministry, his people. Nothing got in the way.



Pray without ceasing,



Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.



Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.



In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.



And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.



Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.



About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,



This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.



Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.

 
 
 

Fear of dying



If somebody said they’ve never been scared of this thought, they’re probably lying. At some point we have all most definitely been scared of the idea of ‘death.’ How can we not, it means separating from your loved ones and not being able to do the things you enjoy. It’s finite.


Then we have some Christians, who aren't scared at all but instead are full of joy and anticipation. So how can it be, that some Christians dread the day whilst others await it? Well, how can you be ready to meet someone you’ve never known? What makes some Christians not fear death is that they believe in Jesus Christ and understand that they will be resurrected to live with him forever. To fear death is a normal feeling as it is a difficult thing to mentally process. Those Christian that are anxious may be be living in compromise or not fully believe in Christ. They may have doubts about what happens next or doubts about whether or not they will make heaven their home. Sometimes people think it's something they must continually work towards hence they cannot be certain where they will go after death. But Christians should have full confidence of where they will go as faith in Christ is all that is required.


We fixate on this life not understanding how short it is. Let us not be blinded by wealth, titles, people etc. Our main goal is the next life because death is not finite, we have afterlife and we must choose where we want to spend eternity.


If you are that person who questions where you will go next, it means you must spend more time with God, praying for a true revelation of who he is, for an encounter with him. It’s also a good idea to use the bible to study what happens after death. This will give you a better understanding of what is to come.


The bible talks about death and how as Christians we should anticipate the day.



Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”


But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.



For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.



Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”



And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”



John 8:51

"I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."



John 5:24

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."



1 Corinthians 15:21-22

"For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."



Romans 8:38-39

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

 

And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”



And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.



He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”



So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.



For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.



For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.



“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

 
 
 
bottom of page