Thank you for joining me on this new adventure that I’m setting out on! Please feel free to comment / ask questions in the Comment box provided – but don’t forget your contact details if you hope for an answer….! 😅
Talk about a learning curve! I’ve never had any experience of the inside working of a website – in other words what you have to learn to be able to make entries in the various sections that have been set up. I’ve learned that, by comparison, it’s easy to enter things when you’re visiting someone else’s website….
‘Praise Life’
How is your ‘praise life’ these days? I think many of us would probably admit to having been asked at some stage about how we were getting on in our ‘prayer life’, but I don’t ever recall being asked about my ‘praise life’! And yet, I really believe, ‘praise’ plays a vital part in our lives and in our daily walk with Jesus.
Any one who knows me is probably aware of how much I value praise and worship in my life, although I feel I have so much more to learn. There is such power in praise, both in giving thanks to our God as well as a weapon against the enemy – and he definitely doesn’t hang around when we’re praising and worshipping the Lord!
Those who follow me on my new Author Facebook page (Author Linda Herbert), or The ‘Blessing’ pages – Tribe / Church; will hopefully have read my post the other day titled: “Sing Praise!” I want to expand a little more on what I shared in that post…..
Power of Praise
There have been times in my life when I have felt the Lord take me through a season of learning more about the power of praise. My first lesson of all was back in the early ‘70’s when He made me part of a family who taught me a great deal. Amongst it all was realising that praising the Lord, in and through everything, needs to be part and parcel of our walk with Jesus. There is such truth in what Paul says to the Thessalonians about thanking God in all circumstances – no matter what is happening.
Another time was during the time my friend was terminally ill with cancer (summer of 2014), and after she went to be with the Lord, He took me to a greater depth of learning about the power of praise. And I’ve shared more about these times in my first book published last year: “The Turning of the Tide”.
Most Recent Challenge
I have been challenged recently concerning my personal responsibility in ‘praise’ and to not be so dependent on praising with others and being ‘led’ in a meeting – great as that can be. It’s wonderful to join with others and lift our praise and worship to the Lord together – and I’m so blessed when that is possible. But what is our responsibility, and our choice of action, when we aren’t able to join others?
I’d like to encourage you, and myself as well, to ask the Lord to take us deeper in the realm of individual praise – for Him to show us individually what He desires for us. I believe the result will be deeper times of praise and worship, not just when we are on our own – but even more so when we come together….. after all, we’ll be spending eternity together doing exactly that: praising and worshipping the Lord together with all the saints! Hallelujah!!
At some point during this time of being challenged (not sure exactly when!) I was reminded that when I was at the Rise Up ladies conference at the end of March – as well as saying I needed to be more open in sharing what He’s given to me (see the Opening Blog) – the Lord also highlighted Psalm 100 to me. I felt I should go back and look at it again, and this time I saw something new that I hadn’t seen before….
It was one of those times when the Holy Spirit lights up the Word, that you’ve probably read many times before, and it’s like reading it for the first time. It so resonates in your spirit that you have no doubt whatsoever that the Lord has spoken directly to you! I was reading Psalm 100 in the Passion translation and, in verse 2, I read this: “Sing your way into his presence with joy!” I really felt there was a connection with this command to sing my ‘way into His presence with joy’ and my responsibility regarding ‘personal praise’.
There is! The more I sang my way into His presence with joy – the deeper I felt He took me into joy and the greater the depth of praise and worship I experienced in His presence….
Challenged, Encouraged and Willing
So I’m praying, if you’ve read this blog through to here – that you’ll be both challenged and encouraged in your ‘praise life’! Challenged to ask / talk to Father about where you are with it; and encouraged with what He shares / shows you. And that you’ll be willing to share with the rest of us (in the comments) what you may have learned through it all.
I’d love to put together a blog made up of your comments (obviously only with your permission) so we can all learn what Father is teaching us individually….
Be blessed and have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend. God bless 🙏❣️