Monday, February 08, 2010

Lord, Teach Me to Pray- Ch.5


-Chistians cannot grow unless their lives are characterized by praise.

-Proud people don’t praise God- they are too consumed with themselves.

-Praising God gives Him glory.

-According to the Bible, praise involves three elements:

-naming God’s attributes

-naming God’s works

-offering thanks

NAMING GOD’S ATTRIBUTES

-Scriptures powerfully and extensively reveals the character of God enabling us to praise HIm better.

-It is a good habit just to review God’s character when you pray and remember that He is a God of infinite love, glory, grace, majesty, mercy, and wisdom. He is invincible!

NAMING GOD’S WORKS

-God’s attributes are manifest in His works.

-The psalms are filled with the record of the great things God has done.

-Whenever we have a problem we don’t know how to solve, we should praise God for His wisdom and might, as demonstrated in biblical history.

-As we recite the many things God has done, we affirm HIs worthiness.

-Praise bolsters confidence in God because He has proven Himself trustworthy in the past.

OFFERING THANKS

-Naming the attributes and works of God easily leads to thanking Him for all He has done, is doing, and will do.

-At the heart of all praise is thanksgiving.

-Thanksgiving is the antidote to worry.

-God’s providence- which is His sovereign overruling and arranging of all of life’s contingencies into a divine plan for the blessing of believers - should cause us to be thankful for anything that happens in our lives.

-Because God actually uses all difficulties for our good, there is nothing we cannot thank Him for.

-Give every situation over to God’s sovereign control, trusting Him because you know His history of wisdom and power and you understand His promise to supply all your needs (Phil.4:19).

-Nothing about you escapes Him (Ps.139:3)

-You know He cares about you (1Pet.5:7), and He has the power to overcome every difficulty (Ps.62:11)

-But He uses suffering to perfect you to be like Christ (Phil.1:6), and His power and understanding are infinite (Ps.147:5).

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