365 Days of Praise
Praise to Our HEARING GOD
âIn my distress I called upon the Lord. Yes, I cried to my God and from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help came into His ears.”
Do you have children or have you ever babysat? Think for a moment to when a child cried. Maybe they were in their crib. Or, perhaps you heard a thud; then the cry of a toddler who had fallen. What happened in the moment that they cried out? Their voice “came into your ears.” I love the way that David worded 2 Samuel 22:7, “I cried to my God and from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help came into His ears.“
In the same way that a child’s cry can be heard by us even if we’re in another part of the house, so God hears our cry from His temple. Our cries to God go into His ears. Our Heavenly Father is a HEARING GOD, not a deaf God. What do you need to cry out to Him about today?
Hearing Father, thank You for showing us that You hear us. You listen and answer. Help us be sensitive to Your voice in response to our cries.Â
Praise Jesus, Our HEALER
âHeal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, for You are my praise.”
February 28, 2002 God healed my mother. Bernice Ruth Taylor went to be with the Lord. No longer did she suffer the physical ailments that had ravaged her body. She was ready to be with Jesus. She took off her oxygen mask, smiled at us, and after we verbalized our love for one another, she closed her eyes. However, none of us were prepared for the next moment. Mama’s eyes flew open and she startled us with, “boo!” How long she’d planned that dramatic and joyous moment, I’ll never know; or if it was a spur of the moment idea. Regardless, she made her point. She wasn’t scared. She was, in fact, excited. Jesus was her HEALER, and she was on her way to Him. With that, mama closed her eyes a final time. The LORD is our HEALER. How can we not praise Him?
Lord God, You are our HEALER and we praise You!
Praise Jesus, head over ALL THINGS
âAnd He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,â
I recently heard a television anchor report on a well known religious leader whose viewpoint on a moral issue was contrary to the Bible. She then invited viewers to “weigh in.” “Let us know what you think. You can twitter if you agree or disagree.” As she continued with the next story, my mind lingered on her invitation. I wondered, did she know that it was not our opinion or the opinion of the religious leader that mattered; but only the opinion of Jesus, who is HEAD OVER ALL THINGS?Â
LORD, You are HEAD OVER ALL THINGS! Help us demonstrate that You are our LORD by following Your moral laws.
Praise Jesus, HEAD OVER ALL RULE AND AUTHORITY
âand in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;â
Do you ever worry about where our nation and world are headed? Although evil may temporarily prevail, the Bible tells us the end of the story. And it’s a good ending! God will prevail. Christ is the HEAD OVER ALL RULE AND AUTHORITY. One day every knee will bow before Him. In the meantime, believers have the opportunity to live under Christ’s rule and authority and to share our hope in Christ with others.
LORD, we praise You, HEAD OVER ALL RULE AND AUTHORITY!Â
Praise to Jesus, HEAD OF THE BODY, the CHURCH
âHe (Christ) is also HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH;â
Christ is the founder of the church: the body of believers. Therefore, Christ is the rightful HEAD.  And, as a body is lifeless without its head, so our churches are lifeless apart from Christ. We may serve in our church, but if we serve in our own strength, it’s just that – “ours.” What Christ seeks are people like Steven, a disciple in the early church. His job was to serve food to the widows. That might seem like an insignificant task that anybody could do. But listen to whom was sought for the assignment: men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom. (Acts 6:3) Acts 6-7 is a good reminder of how God uses Christians who are filled with the Spirit. Thank you for your service in the church. Be encouraged that as you prayerfully ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, He’ll use you to His glory.
Lord Jesus, we praise You, HEAD OF THE CHURCH. Fill us with Your Spirit and wisdom so our words and actions are done in Your power and strength; for Your glory.Â
Praise to Jesus, HEAD OF EVERY MAN
âBut I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man,….â
The word “but” is an important word and has significance. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, the apostle Paul encourages believers to imitate him in seeking the good of others over the good of oneself. However, he is quick to follow his statement by explaining that he is merely an imitator of Christ. Christ is the true HEAD OF EVERY MANÂ and is the one we are to follow. Isn’t it wonderful that we have Christ as our HEAD leader?
Lord Jesus Christ, HEAD OF EVERY MAN, we praise You, our leader and the one we can imitate!
Praise to Jesus, the GUILT OFFERING
“But the Lord was pleased To crush Him (Jesus), putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a GUILT OFFERING…“
Did you know that God distinguishes between when we sin unintentionally and when we intentionally sin? Yes, He notices. Yet, regardless of whether we were aware or unaware that our behavior was unholy and wrong, God still forgives us. Christ was willing to lay down His life as a GUILT OFFERING for our sin. What a great and wonderful God the Father and Son!
Lord Jesus, we praise You for willingly laying down Your life as a GUILT OFFERING so that we might be forgiven.
Praise to GOD, OUR GUIDE
âI will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will GUIDE them.”
Can you imagine being blind and not having anyone to guide you?  As difficult as it would be to be physically blind, so it is to be spiritually blind. But God does not leave us groping in spiritual darkness. Rather, He provides Himself as our GUIDE. He GUIDES us on paths of righteousness. He GUIDES us on paths of light toward heaven.
We praise You, our Lord and our GUIDE!
Praise to the GUARDIAN OF OUR SOUL
â…you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and
Guardian of your souls.â
Of the many ways God is described, I love Peter’s description of Him as the Guardian of your souls. What more could any of us want than to have God be the guardian of our souls? When writing about this attribute in Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion, I discovered that the word “guardian” is translated from the Greek word episkopos and means an “overseer, a man charged with the duty of seeing that things done by another are done rightly.” (page 98) I’m glad God is the Guardian of my soul. Aren’t you glad He’s the Guardian of your soul?
LORD, thank You for being the GUARDIAN OF OUR SOULS. Â
Thank You, GOD, for Your GREAT LOVINGKINDNESS
âThe Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and GREAT IN LOVINGKINDNESS.â
Many people have never felt that they were the object of someone’s love; and especially of their great love. But if we’re Christians, we must recognize that we are. God showed great lovingkindness toward us in sending Jesus to rescue us from hell. We’re the recipients of God’s GREAT LOVINGKINDNESS. That’s a reason to praise Him!
LORD, we rejoice and praise You who are GREAT in LOVINGKINDNESS! Thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your kindness. Thank You for Your GREAT LOVINGKINDNESS!Â
You can record your thankfulness to God for His GREAT LOVINGKINDNESS in the Meditations, Notes, and Prayers section of Prayers of My Heart.Â