Tag Archives: Praise

March 4, 2025 · 9:00 am

Thankful

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 

Psalm 100:4

We are commanded to be thankful as Believers in Christ. Thankfulness is not a suggestion, it is a command. How can we grow in thanksgiving? How can we increase in giving thanks to God? Try these three steps.

**Realize your blessings. Take a moment each day and realize just how much God has blessed you. Take a look at your material blessings, your physical blessings, and your spiritual blessings. Write them down and take inventory of God’s goodness. This first step will put you on a path of thankfulness as we become cognizant of the bounty God has heaped upon us.

**Focus on what you have been given. Too often we focus our hearts upon the things we don’t have. God’s has blessed us mightily, but, we tend to focus our minds on what we have missed. If you desire to grow in thankfulness, focusing on God’s blessings will help you to comprehend the goodness and grace of God.

**Make thanksgiving a daily part of your prayer life. As you pray each day, give thanks. Paul tells us we are to make our requests known to God “with thanksgiving.” (Philippians 4:6)  Praying with thanksgiving to God for His goodness multiplies our “thanksgiving quotient” as we grow in Christ.

Try these steps this week and it will make a difference. Let us strive, as Christians, to make Thanksgiving more than a season or a day. May we seek to make thanksgiving a way of life every day!

Tony French

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February 27, 2025 · 9:00 pm

Careful Worship

1 Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. 2 Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few. 3 For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool’s voice is known by his many words.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-3

Worship and generosity occupy Solomon’s musings In Ecclesiastes 5 as he considers life on this planet. This passage is filled with warnings and exhortations. Let’s take these seriously as we study this week’s lesson.

The first warning from the preacher deals with our worship. He exhorts us to be careful in how we approach and worship God. Evidently, many words and large-scale activities do not make for true praise. Worship is always a matter of the heart first. Prudence and wisdom are needed for effective adoration.

The same warnings apply to us. Worship can become mindless and routine if we allow it.  Our goal should be to come before God with longing and yearning to worship. Let us not allow our praise to denigrate into mere songs, words, and deeds which have no meaning. May our hearts, minds, and souls be engaged as we worship the one, true God.

Tony French

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September 12, 2024 · 9:00 pm

Prayer & Praise

13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.

James 5:13

Praise and prayer occupy the Apostle’s teaching in Chapter 5, Verse 13. These two spiritual disciplines are vital for Christian growth. Without them, maturity will come slowly if at all to the Believer.

When trouble comes, pray. Pray also when times are good. No matter the circumstance and no matter the situation, pray. God works through the prayers of His people. The Lord will not answer every prayer as we would hope. He will hear us and do what it is best.

Praise the Lord, Child of God. He has blessed you, protected you, and kept you in Christ Jesus. Praise Him when you feel like it and even when you don’t. Honor the King of kings and Lord of lords through praise each and every day.

Prayer and praise are a powerful combination!

Tony French

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August 24, 2023 · 9:00 pm

Sanctify

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace .8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment ,10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:6-11

Christians are also called to grow in sanctification. God began a good work in every Christian when He saved them and reconciled them through Christ Jesus. This fact led Paul to grow in love for the people of the Philippian church as He saw their spiritual growth and maturity.

God is working in us and through us to make us more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit is using our churches, the Bible, our circumstances, and many things unseen to grow us and mature us.  Our love for Christ and our love for others advances as we grow up into the fullness of Spiritual adulthood.

Ultimately, Paul instructs believers to be Spirit-filled. The Spirit of God lives in us and we belong to Him. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Therefore, God’s people should be pursuing growth in love, in wisdom, and in Christlikeness each and every day.

We Christians can have joy no matter our circumstances. Christ is with us and will never leave us. We have the precious promises of God. If Paul can learn contentment in prison, we can apprehend contentment in our lives as well!

Tony French

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August 14, 2023 · 9:00 am

Praise

Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is becoming. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite. The Lord supports the afflicted; He brings down the wicked to the ground.  Psalm 146:1-6

As Christians, we are commanded to praise the Lord. We should delight in worship and praise for all that God has done and all that He is. He is worthy.

We should praise God for building us up. When we are down, He is there. He strengthens us and helps us to persevere in ways that are seen and unseen. He carries us through and enables us to keep going when we would rather cease.

We should praise God for His healing power. He heals us and binds up our wounds through Christ. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross provides the healing power we need that forgives us, cleanses us, and justifies us for all of eternity. We will still suffer in this life and we may not receive physical healing at all times. However, we acquire ultimate healing when we see Jesus in heaven.

We should praise God for His strength, His sovereignty, and His abundance. He is in control of all things even when it doesn’t seem to be the case. Our goal should be to praise Him, serve Him, and enjoy Him forever. He is worthy. He is worthy!

Tony French

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April 10, 2023 · 9:00 am

Risen Indeed

“He has risen!” (Luke 24:6)  That simple, powerful phrase changed the course of history and eternity at once. Jesus death, burial, and resurrection had been predicted throughout His ministry. And now it was fulfilled just as He had said. He was no longer dead, but alive forevermore.

The resurrection is the heart of the Christian faith. Without it, Paul tells us our “faith is vain and we are yet (still) in our sins.” (1st Corinthians 15:17)  The resurrection, though an audacious claim, proved the veracity and truthfulness of the Messiah. It serves as verifiable evidence that everything He said was truth and that He was indeed the very Son of God.

What a difference the resurrection of Christ makes in our lives. Without it, we are lost and hopeless. Through the finished work of Christ, we are brought near to God through the wonder of reconciliation. (2nd Corinthians 5:18-19) The resurrection gives us “the hope that our sins are paid for (Romans 4:25), death has been defeated (Hebrews 2:14), and the hope of eternal life when we repent and turn to Christ, accepting what He has done for us.”[1]

How should we as believers respond to this hope? I would imagine that there would be many responses, but praise and sharing are two that come to mind. Our worship and praise should be centered on all that Christ has accomplished for us and in us through His completed work of sacrifice and resurrection.

Given that we have received so much, how can we not share it? Those early disciples centered their witness on Christ’s death and resurrection. We should do no less today.

He has risen indeed!

Tony French

 http://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/april-2011/the-resurrection-myth-or-history/

[1] http://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/april-2011/the-resurrection-myth-or-history/

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March 2, 2023 · 6:00 pm

Model Praying

In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13

In this Scripture, Jesus gives us a model for how we are pray. The prayer is called the “Lord’s Prayer” and it is also referred to as the “Model Prayer.” Let’s examine the four aspects of this prayer and how it should be a model for us in our prayer life. Our prayers should contain the following elements.

**Praise  

Our prayers should be overflowing with praise and adoration to God. He is our Father and He rules and reigns. He is our King and we genuflect in praise of His greatness, power, and grace. We await the day His Kingdom is fully revealed in power and might upon this earth. Let us praise God in prayer at every opportunity.

**Petition

Praying for the needs of others and our own needs has a rightful place in our prayer life. Praying for needs is one of our greatest privileges as a Believer. Pray for needs knowing that God knows us better than we know ourselves. 

**Pardon

This component is two-fold. We are to ask for forgiveness and confess our sins when we pray. (1 John 1:8-10)  We continually need the cleansing from sin so that we can continue to grow in the faith.

We are also taught to forgive others in this example. As a matter of fact, God’s forgiveness of us and our forgiveness of others go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.

**Purification

Jesus ends His model prayer by praying for our holiness. We should be pursue holiness by seeking to become more like Jesus every day. We are not saved by our works, but, we are saved for good works.  (Ephesians 2:8-10)

It is not wrong in any sense to recite the Lord’s Prayer as written in Matthew (Luke).  However, the point of Jesus’ teaching seems to be more about form and element as opposed to strict recitation. Our prayer-life should contain elements of praise, petition, pardon, and purity.

Every prayer may not contain every element every single time. But as we incorporate these components into our regular prayer time we will grow in knowledge, grace, love, and hope!

Tony French

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