Have you ever read a passage of Scripture and have certain words just jump off the page? I firmly believe that happens when the Holy Spirit wants us to pay attention to the word(s) that keep jumping out at us. This experience happened to me after a dear friend with great enthusiasm placed her autographed copy of “90 Minutes in Heaven” by Don Piper in my hands and said, “You’ve got to read this!”
Because this book is Don’s true story of his 90 minutes in heaven, I couldn’t wait to read it. There are two chapters in which he goes into detail about his observations in heaven, and the Spirit used Don’s account to grab my attention around the most central thing we are supposed to be doing on a daily basis as a Christian, and that is praising God. The word “praise” and the phrase “praising God” refused to be ignored as I read them. Here are excerpts that kept pricking my heart as Don did his best to describe heaven when he arrived:
“They rushed toward me, and every person was smiling, shouting, and praising God.”
“Everyone continually embraced me, touched me, spoke to me, laughed, and praised God.”
“The praise was unending…”
“Each voice praised God…”
“Praise was everywhere…”
“Hallelujah!” “Praise!” “Glory to God!” “Praise the King”
“Hymns of praise, modern-sounding choruses, and ancient chants filled my ears…” (Here’s my one-sentence sermon: Apparently, God is pleased with all forms of music in His churches as long as He is being praised, so we need to quit arguing about it.)
“…all (hymns that filled the air) were praises about Christ’s reign as the King of Kings”
“He must be pleased and blessed by the continuous sounds of praise”
“Instead of just hearing the music and the thousands of voices praising God, I had become a part of the choir.”
I have understood that life has never been about me (though I wouldn’t mind and not that I haven’t tried!). I get that I am to glorify Him in all that I say and do. Sheila Walsh says, “Our life is one long worship service to the Lord.” I love that word picture. But the question is, “If life on earth is a dress rehearsal for the things to come, how I am doing in the area of praising God?” The answer is I have plenty of room for improvement, which probably explains why this phrase held my attention with the help of the Spirit. Praising God should be ongoing through everything I say or do. Either my actions, thoughts and deeds glorify Him and have eternal impact, or they don’t.
The more I focused on the phrase “praising God”, the more I realized how shallow my efforts are at praising Him. Praising God doesn’t just happen during a one-hour church service (though I think many of us lapse into that false mentality), but let me at least start there. Perhaps you can relate. How many times have you and I showed up for worship with the idea we are here to praise God, but just go through the motions of singing words on a screen? Or worse, we chat with our friends while songs are being played. How many times have we really showed up at church to “punch a clock”, yet our hearts were far away? How many of us really come to worship with an attitude of profound reverence for God and a desire to communicate our adoration of Him? Don’t many of us come to mainly hear a good sermon? Doesn’t praising God tend to take a back seat? What about our prayer life? Are our prayers top-heavy with praise or mainly petitions? When we get to heaven, praise is going to be continual as it should be right now.
It warmed my heart that music will permeate heaven and be a vital way that we praise God. After reading that Don became a part of the choir, I just smiled remembering Psalm 150:6 that says, “Let everything that has breath (not pitch), praise the Lord.” Though I have been blessed with some musical abilities and enjoy singing, it is fun to think that all followers of Christ will be in the choir whether you think you can sing or not, and you will blend in perfectly! By the way, for those who are already wondering if heaven will be boring because of all of this praising going on, I can only say read “90 Minutes in Heaven”, and as my Dad put it the other day, consider when we cast our crowns before Him that we will not be able to resist praising Him. It will be the most natural response to a holy God!
After reading this book, I can no longer read, hear, or sing any form of the phrase “praise God” and be casual about it or be detached. I will always think about Don’s encounters in heaven and the music he heard. If you are wondering what it means to praise God, praise is about celebrating and acknowledging WHO God is, while thanks is a response for WHAT God has done for us. I would also invite you to read Psalms 145-150. Let’s call Psalms 145-150 for the fun of it “Praising God 101” since these are specifically psalms of praise. These Psalms are good training tools to help us exalt His name by focusing on a variety of His attributes. In the meantime, if you were raised in the church and love hymns as I do, may you be blessed as you let me conclude with lyrics of praise from songs that come to mind that I can no longer sing casually:
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him all ‘bove ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”
“To God be the Glory, great things He hath done….Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear your voice. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice….”
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation…”
“Hal-le-lujah! Hal-le-lujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Ha-le-lujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth…”
“Praise the Lord, Oh my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.”
“O Worship the King, all glorious above; O gratefully sing His power and His Love. Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise… ”
“Joyful, Joyful, we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love. Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above…”
“O Lord, Our Lord, how majestic is your name in all of the earth…Oh Lord, we praise your name. Oh Lord, we magnify your name, Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Oh Lord God Almighty.”
“All creatures of our God and King. Lift up your voice and with us sing, Alleluia! Alleluia!....”
“Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands hath made…”
“Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord God, Almighty. Early in the morning, our song shall rise to thee. Holy, Holy, Holy, Merciful and Mighty, God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity.”
Blessings,
Lee Ann
Thanks for the abbreviated worship set Lee Ann! I know there is no substitute for regularly getting into the Word, but as a part of my morning routine of heading to Starbucks, I turn on either K-Love or the Message…..to help begin my mind to focus on melodies of praise.
I have to admit that I feel my life is more like a polka than a ballroom dance when it comes to reflecting God’s goodness. I’m so glad that we are not graded. However, I was reminded this week that “everything” we do…is spriritual, and hence, if it is spiritual, then we likely do offer a fragerance of praise more often that we tend to give ourselves credit for.
Like listening to a person chatter non-stop, not allowing others to barely get a word in, I wonder if God sometimes has this same experience, when he hears Believers sing away at the 9:45 “worship service”, when what He is really wanting is a early morning humming excercise. Thanks for the reminder! …..
and just for the record, I think God smiles…..when Lee Ann writes…
Just me,
Thanks for your thoughts, Cavin. Sheila Walsh’s description that “our life is one long worship service to the Lord” has stuck with me over the years, so I certainly agree that “everything” is spiritual, and I may be selling myself short as anything we do that pleases Him could count as a fragrance of praise to the Lord. I, too, like to listen to K-Love, but I mostly listen to it through my computer at home!
Thanks so much for taking an interest in my ponderings, and may the Lord continue to richly bless you, Cavin.
Blessings,
Lee Ann
Just this week I picked up Louie Giglio’s book, The Air I Breathe (worship as a way of life). He referred to Hebrews 13:15 “Through Jesus then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God.” Giglio said “God wants our lives to be a seamless cord of worship. God wants our worship to be a way of life.” Every moment we should be looking for ways to glorify Him.
Thanks, Lee Ann, for sharing your insights on praising God. I don’t think I’ll ever sing those songs flippantly again!
Annette
Giglio’s book sounds wonderful. I will go get a copy as it appears to be a good follow up read for me! Thanks for sharing those thoughts, Annette.
Blessings,
Lee Ann
Lee Ann thanks for your post. I copied it to my blog and wrote again about it on day two. (http://scandalousmath.blogspot.com/2010/09/prayer-of-praise-because-we-are-all.html)
My comment is about your quote “If you are wondering what it means to praise God, praise is about celebrating and acknowledging WHO God is, while thanks is a response for WHAT God has done for us.”
I agree there is a difference in giving thanks and offering praise. However, there are times we can do both but I think it takes training our hearts.
An example. Most days, I thank God that my 14 year old dog has made it another day. That is thanksgiving. But on the days when I am more focused on praise, I say, “Thank you God for giving us another day with this wonderful creature you created and thank you that you are a God who gives such wonderful gifts to his children. Some people would see not see an abandoned puppy as such a gift, but God, I see him as a personal example of your character. A God who loves me so much that you not only give me air and water and food but adds to it other blessings that are like a dessert at the end of a good meal. You are a God of the extras. You give your children more than the necessities of life and delight in doing so.”
Lee Ann- It is not often that I can get in the right frame of mind and pray the second way but isn’t that a way of praising God in the middle of a prayer of thanks?
BTW, we are taking care of Carrie Rogers for you. Thanks for everyone in Kansas loaning her to us. She is a treasure. (A republican but a treasure!!!)
Bob
Hi, Bob:
Thanks so much for the insights that you shared! I wholeheartedly agree that we can integrate both praise and thanks in a prayer as you beautifully illustrated above, and it does take training our heart as we go along. If I may, I will ride your coattails for just a minute.
Let me start with the obvious. WHAT I think, say or do flows out of WHO I am. As I go through life, it is my heart’s desire to say and do things the best way I know how to bless others with God’s love and encourage people in their walk with God whether I am teaching, or praying, or lending a hand. And I truly hope that I am glorifying God in that process!
What I have learned about myself over the years is that my love language is words of affirmation. Any message sent to me that conveys that God has somehow used a sinner like me to make a difference in someone else’s life or touched them in some way meets my emotional need in a powerful way. Because I am still in the flesh, when the things I say and do go without any acknowledgement, I feel frustrated. I will confess that I desire to know that I matter and make a difference to the people with whom I share my life. I have to work hard at making sure that a “desire” does not become an “expectation” because the lack of acknowledgement doesn’t change WHO I am, and it shouldn’t change how I interact with others without any affirmation.
Thus, after reading “90 Minutes in Heaven”, it was important for me to be very intentional about differentiating praise from thanks because I found myself pondering that God continues to be WHO He is and continually loves us unconditionally, even when we don’t acknowledge Him. We often take Him for granted. I wonder if that frustrates Him as much as it frustrates me! The irony is that the very thing I desire, i.e. words of affirmation, is what I believe God desires from us, only we call it “praise”. I believe that praise is God’s love language. I get thanked for the things I do, but the small percentage of what I receive is a true affirmation, e.g. “Lee Ann, you are a blessing, or you are (fill in the blank).” That is different than, “Lee Ann, I appreciate when you (fill in the blank).” I can certainly extrapolate from the thank yous I get that people appreciate WHO I am, but there is power in the spoken word, and it ministers to my spirit to hear it out loud.
“90 Minutes in Heaven” has been a wake up call for me, and I am being intentional in adoring God simply for WHO He is because I think separating my “praise” from my many “thank yous” matters to Him. This leads right back to what you said, i.e. “we need to train our hearts”. When you are saying, “Thank you God for giving us another day with this wonderful creature you created “, you have to train your heart to distill from that “thank you” that you are “praising” God as the Creator, which takes a little work. It is clearly implied, but I want to train my heart to come right out and say, “I adore you as being a wonderful Creator as seen in this puppy.” God can certainly figure out my heart without me saying it out loud, but it is an act of love to speak the words to Him and clearly acknowledge Him.
The bottom line is I am being intentional to separate “praise” from “thanks” because He wants to be adored and is worthy of all glory and honor and praise, and I have short-changed Him for way too long.
Blessings,
Lee Ann
P.S. Thank you for taking care of Carrie Rogers. She is a gem of a person and a wonderful godly woman. You should be so lucky! We did try “Red Rover, Red Rover, let Carrie come over (back to KS)”, but she loves her family and grandkids and is right where she needs to be. I also look forward to checking out your blog!
I’ve read 90 Minutes in Heaven and came away with some of the same reactions you had, Lee Ann. Oh, that we might praise Him continually–vocally and in our hearts and lives! He so deserves our praise! Won’t it be great when we all are in heaven and singing in our own language! What a praise service that will be! I’m looking forward to it! Thanks for sharing, Lee Ann!
Amen, Norma! I am more in tune now to whether I am praising Him through my life than I ever was before. I look forward to eternity as well and just praising Him I miss you.
Blessings,
Lee Ann
I love those hymns. Thanks for the reminder.