Unplanned Praise

Let praise be what you breathe and God will use you to bless, challenge, comfort, and grow the people around you (not to mention how good it is for you own soul when you verbalize your adoration of God).

I wanted to offer this simple encouragement to abound in praise because I got to experience the goodness of such unrestrained love to God this weekend.

Here's how:

Saturday night I was thinking about calling up an old friend. I realized I no longer had this friend's phone number, so I called another friend, Merea, who I was pretty sure had it and wouldn't mind sharing it with me. While she was flipping through the phone book in her phone, Merea sang "Come Thy fount of every blessing tune my heart to sing thy grace." My thoughts, which were on myself and leading toward discouragement, were directed toward God, toward his grace and led me to hope. My mind was immediately filled with images of God's gracious work in the life of a believer: a heart bound to God by His goodness, a heart sealed for heavenly courts where pure praise is unending, a mind fixed on and fascinated with God's redeeming love. I don't think Merea intended all that, I think she was simply enjoying God. I do, however, think God intended it; worship draws people to worship. As God captivates your heart and mind, don't restrain your lips from overflowing in praise to him, and see how God uses you to draw others to look to God the fountain of every blessing.

I hope this post encourages you to consider how the fruit of your lips will draw others to consider God's goodness (check out Hebrews 13:15). More than that I hope it encourages you to continued (or renewed) passion for knowing God. I don't think this kind of praise will happen without intimate knowledge of God. This kind of praise is what we breath out when we take in the beauty, goodness, majesty, splendor of God as seen in His word. Psalm 119:171 - "My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes."

God give us hearts humbled by your grace, filled with your love, captivated by your goodness so that we could say with David, "O Lord, open my mouth, and my lips will declare your praise." (Psalm 51:15)