the sacrifice of praise

Wednesday, February 4, 2015 (8:28 a.m.)

Holy, Blessed God,

For two hours I've been searching Your Word, hymnals, commentaries trying once again to learn how to praise You. The deeper I look, the more confused I become. How hard does this have to be? Not really, right? Remember when I told You how easily I can complicate the simplest of things?

I woke up truly wanting to praise You. I was even singing the songs. ♫Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heav'nly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.♫

The more I sang, the deeper I looked. Authorship. Details. Bible verses. And more songs. ♫Praise God♫; ♫Rise and Shine♫. I read and sing of giving You glory and my head swirls. I don't know how to do this.

You deserve our best. Time and again I give You what's left. Not my finest. Work in me, I pray. Teach me obedience. Empower me to Your glory. And with that, more songs!

Holy Father, clear my mind. My heart. All that I think I know. After all this time and all these words, take my soul where You want it to be. Teach me what it truly is to bring You the sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15).

I find myself unable to think straight. There's excitement. Eagerness. A genuine desire to get this right!

I started by singing ♫Let There Be Glory and Honor and Praises♫ but mistakenly [?] turned instead to ♫Let There Be Praise♫. Right across the page, under the topic OPENING OF WORSHIP is the hymn ♫We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise♫.

The Life Recovery Bible (NLT) says, “With Jesus' help, let us continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by proclaiming the glory of His name” (Hebrews 13:15). In the comment for this section of Scripture it spells Jesus out as “totally consistent and trustworthy”, “always there for us no matter what”, “that kind of God and friend”.

I can't praise You as You so rightly deserve. I ask Your power, strength and ability to do in and through me all that I am unable on my own. I love You. I thank You. And I praise You. Feeble as it stands right now. Thank You for Your work in giving me that desire to do better. Praise You, Father. Praise You Jesus. Praise You Holy Spirit. Praise and thank You. Amen.

(407 words ~ 9:51 a.m.)