Sunday, July 31, 2011

This Week's Memory Text - Psalm 33:1-2

This week I made a conscious effort to spend more of my prayer time praising God. It was kind of awkward! I realized it's a lot easier to ask God for things I think I need rather than praising Him for things He's done.

Do you think there is a difference between thanks and praise? I suspect there is.

Thanks - "Thank you, Lord, for protecting me on the roads today as I drove to and from the grocery store."

Praise - "You are wonderful, God! You are strong and offer protection to your children as they travel the busy roads."

For me, the first type of prayer is easier to say, both out loud and in private prayers. David wrote many hymns of thanks and praise and he didn't seem to have any issues praising God. Maybe with time, it will become easier.

For this week's memory text, I'm going to add the verse following the one I learned last week. I think it will be great to learn an entire passage.

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous:
for praise is comely for the upright.

Praise the LORD with harp:
sing unto him with the psaltery
and an instrument of ten strings.
Psalm 33:1-2

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello Casandra,I was simply clicking "next" after reviewing my own blog post and ran across yours after several next clicks..Recently I had designated Fridays as my day for "only praising and thanking God". It became a delightful discipline. Well in some cases a difficult discipline really. Praying throughout the day becomes almost as natural as breathing in some ways. The Friday praise has made me realize though how much I ask for. Maybe also pay attention to what kind of asking I am doing; who for ect. I know we are invited to ask and even admonished to pray for others as well as ourselves (I know not amiss!!!!)but I have six other days to do that and even those days have a bit of designation to them. Monday is my family primarily. Tuesday extended family including church family. Wednesday our family business and those we know who are business owners. Thursday our community,nation and world concerns. Friday is praise and thanksgiving. Saturday our pastor his family and the various ministry departments and outreaches of our church. Sunday for the service itself and all attending to have hungry open hearts to heal to grow ect. Hope you don't mind my sharing all that. Your blog struck a chord. My blogs are
http://lea-walkingitout.blogspot.com
http://leaglennon.blogspot.com/

Rebecca said...

I like how you distinguish the difference between thanksgiving and praising. I think I do blur the lines too much and don't praise God near enough...something to be more conscious of.

Cassandra said...

Rebecca, even with being more conscious about it, I'm still struggling! It's easier when I pray by myself, but when I'm praying aloud with my husband, it feels even more unnatural. I wonder why that is?

Cherie said...

Good point, I hadn't really thought of that before. But David does set quite the example for us in praising the Lord.