Empowered by PraiseSample

The God Who Can Do All Things

Praise opens us up so that we can pray with greater faith and greater effectiveness. Praise reflects our acknowledgment of all that God is and all that God has done, is doing, and has promised to do. Praise sets the stage for prayer that is focused, specific, and powerful.

Jesus Himself established the priority of praise in our prayers. In the model prayer that He gave to His disciples, He taught them to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9-10).

When we hallow the name of God, we "make holy" His name. We reverence and praise God's nature and His presence with us. When we seek God's kingdom to come to this earth, we are praising all that God has done, is doing, and has promised to do in the future to conform our lives and the entire world to His plan and purpose.

It is only after we have praised God for who He is and what He does that we are to bring our requests before God. After praising the Lord, we ask Him for our daily bread, for forgiveness, for deliverance from times of testing, and for deliverance from the evil one (see Matthew 6:11-13).

Jesus also made it clear that praise is the finale to prayer. After we have made our requests known to God, Jesus taught that we should close our prayers by saying, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever" (Matthew 6:13, KJV). Prayer begins and ends with praise.

When we close our prayers with praise, we are asking God to edit our requests and to answer our petitions in His timing, according to His methods, and in ways that perfectly fit His will. We are yielding all authority to God, including authority over the way in which our prayers are answered. We are yielding all methodology to God, including the details of when and where and through whom He may choose to provide for us, protect us, or reveal Himself to us. We are yielding all honor to God, giving Him credit for any good work that is accomplished on our behalf, accomplished through us, or accomplished in us.

Consider the person who praises God:

"You are all-powerful, Father. You can do all things."

"You are all-merciful to Your children, Father. You desire to bless us in all ways."

"You are patient and forgiving, Father. You long to draw all Your children close to you."

"You are the Victor over the enemy in every situation and circumstance, Father. You have already won the battle against the devil."

After giving God such praise, what petition could we make that God isn't already supremely concerned about and fully capable of handling?

Remember what Jesus said to His disciples:

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?…

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:25-26, 28-30)

Jesus concluded,

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

Our prayers must always focus on God's eternal plan and His divine purposes. Certainly, the Lord desires to meet our practical needs, and we are not condemned by God when we voice those needs. We grow in faith and develop spiritual maturity, however, when we redirect our petitions to those things that truly bring a person to spiritual wholeness and deliverance from all evil.

 Praise leads us into God's intimate presence, and once we are there, we discover His will for us. Praise leads us to the place where we receive power from God to stand steadfast against Satan's temptations, oppressions, and assaults.

Scripture to think on:

Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.—Psalm 28:6-7