The Importance of sending up praises and not just petitions.

Currently, I am working as a Student Attorney for a public defense office here in Minnesota. Yesterday, one of my clients was an older gentleman in his sixties. As his attorney my job is to make sure that I communicate his interests to the court and to try and obtain a judgment that meets/exceeds his interests or one that comes close. Of course, like with most of my clients their main interest is getting out of jail, as was his. However, the judge decided otherwise. She weighed the evidence against him, took into account his prior record, and sentenced him to jail.

As his lawyer I was upset because I could not satisfy my client’s interest. After he appeared before the judge I met him in the back holding area and he was distraught, asking if I could do anything else. Unfortunately, I could not. I kept replaying the case over and over again, trying to think of a way I could have obtained a better outcome for him. In the end, I did all that I could do, there were no other avenues to pursue. However, I kept asking myself “was this my fault”; did my client have to go to jail?

So, this morning as I was beginning my prayer and worship time, I heard a tiny voice in my heart. The voice simply said, “is it My fault; is it My fault?” The voice was so pure and gentle; I knew it was not my own conscious. I immediately knew who was behind the voice, my heavenly father. Astonishingly, I knew somehow what the question was referring to without even having to ask, “is what Your fault?”

Usually, when I am going through challenges I hear a question presented. God usually presents a question about Himself to me so that he can teach me a lesson about myself. However, this time was unusually different. The manner in which this question was presented was not in a manner that I am accustomed to. This time I felt a genuine sincerity behind the question, I felt the question was not presented for the sole purpose of just teaching me a lesson.

As all of this was taking place I felt my heart begin to be immersed in grief, so much grief that I just wanted to weep. Continuous revelations behind the question rushed into my mind. My Father was asking me is it His fault that the people of the world are in such dire straits? He began to share what was on His heart, questions of “why did I create it all”; “should I have not gone forth with My creation”; “why do people die every day without knowing My grace and mercy when they don’t have to.” He was asking “is it His fault?” He allowed me to experience and understand the grief that was in His heart at the time.

I then knew that this prayer and worship time was not going to be about me asking God to make me a better person, to bless my house financially, to give me more wisdom, to make my cat stop scratching up our carpet, etc . . . I knew during this time I was going to bless my Father with my praise; to uplift His heart; to tell Him that He is worthy and awesome; to acknowledge the goodness of His presence in the world; and to affirm that He has done enough and it is not His fault.

You see, we were made in His image; therefore He experiences some of the same emotions that we experience. Just as we need encouragement from time to time, so does He. Just as our hearts grieve from time to time, so does His. It is our duty to understand the reciprocal nature of a true relationship with God. We often fall into the routine of always asking, asking, and asking, our Father. Rarely do we ever bless, bless, and bless, our Father. The first thing that is highlighted in the Lord’s Prayer is praise from us to Him (Matthew 6:9-13). Once we understand the power of declaring our praises to Him, we will then begin to realize that we will no longer have to ask for so much; because the blessings we seek to come down are naturally manifested through our praises we send up.

This was a powerful experience for me. God allowed me to see that even though the price has been paid and we all have access to salvation, His heart is grieving for those that do not know Him and those who die without knowing Him. His heart yearns for them. His desire is that we all be saved and come to know Him intimately. He has equipped all true believers with the tools to administer His grace to a perishing world. So, go forth and be led as Ambassadors for Christ.

Proverbs 16:24- Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Hebrews 13: 14-16-For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Pastor Daryle Houston II
Kingdomvizion Christian Center
www.kingdomvizion.org