Psalm 63:3-4
“Because Thy lovingkindess is better than life, My lips will praise Thee. So I will bless Thee as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Thy name.”
We all are pretty aware that it is quite simple to praise the Lord for the obvious things, the things that “feel good” and are pleasant. However, what about the “this feels horrible” or rather unpleasant blessings from the Lord? Yes, you heard me I said blessings, and I did mean to type it. Right there, has been one of my greatest challenges from the Lord, truly being thankful at all times, just as the Word tells me is away I can demonstrate Christian conduct (1 Thessalonians 5:17). This is a place for me to worship Him with a thankful and grateful heart, and encourage you to do the same. The harder it is to thank Him for something that is in our lives, the more we will be sanctified! It is never easy to embrace, but a thankful heart shifts our eyes from focusing on our discomfort to looking into His beautiful face.
Longings for the Eternal-December 2, 2013
Life is just full of quirks and with that comes loads of adjustments, heartache, change, stress, fatigue, fight against confusion, loss, and all in all a reminder of how much we need YOU!
I find myself longing for ease, simplicity, relational unity, godly love, children, a legacy, peace with indwelt Christians, and no longer the temptation to sin and the ability to walk after my flesh.
Then I stop and say, "Isn't my soul just longing for heaven? Am I not just crying out for the new earth and all the blessings my Triune God has stored up? Is my heart unsatisfied because I long to consummate my marriage to Jesus Christ?"
- Thank you Lord that I will never be 100% satisfied here on earth
- Thank You for the valley's that are more frequent then the mountain tops and cause such depth and growth in our lives
- Thank you for some areas of life where you say, "Wait".
- Thank You for taking home beloved saints, and the legacy that can leave behind through Jesus Christ
- Thank You for the life of those I love, and that You are about a continued work in their lives
- Thank you for providing for orphans, widows, and all those in need. That you work in ways that I cannot see.
Blessed be Your Name because...YOU ARE
*Jessi's Prayer Journal*
*Jessi's Prayer Journal*
Finding Praise in Times of Discouraging Choices-October 15, 2013
Lord Jesus,
When I choose to walk after my flesh and find myself smack dab where I don't want to be...choosing sinful choices, this is where the FINISHED work of the cross astounds me! The place where forgiveness, mercy, and grace seem to grand to fathom. I want to do penance, "make up" for my sinful reaction, to try and prove that I am not my sin.
But You say...
That thousands of years ago upon the cross, you crucified my old man, and knew all my sins before I was born
That my price was paid in full, and I have no works to prove who I am
You cleansed me once and for all, Your blood was my atonement-past, present, and future
I come before you as the Bride of Christ~ I am no a sinner. I am not who I was. I've been redeemed, and seen through the blood of Jesus Christ atonement, a saint.
Lord, I come now confessing in agreement with your Word that I am already forgiven my sins when I walked after my flesh today. I agree that the Holy Spirit within me is greater then he that is in the world. I agree that Jesus paid it ALL, and I can bask in Your forgiveness. Bless you Lord for giving me what I could never earn. For using days like today to remind me how awesome Your indwelling power is, and that You aren't "shocked" when I do choose to walk after my flesh. You can handle me, because you formed me. You see me not as I all too often see myself, but as the perfected Bridal member with the identity of her groom--Jesus Christ.
Thank you for teaching me, holding me, and seeing me complete!
From Jessi's Prayer Journal
Heart Created For Worship-June 4, 2013
Lord Jesus,
I worship You because You have done great things in my life-in BIG and small ways. Yet that is not the only reason I worship You, though it may be the easiest reason, but certainly not the one that shapes me. I worship You with a heart that you created for thanksgiving, gratitude, and praise. I was made to exalt Your holy Name! I lift my voice in gratitude and in song because of Your character, Your Word, and the fact that You chose to make me apart of Your plans. And yet, harder still, I praise Your Name when my days seem filled with doubt, when my heart is filled with grief, as my days go not as planned, and when I walk after my flesh instead of joining You in who You created me to be...an instrument of praise.
When I look into the eyes of someone I have hurt-with harsh words or unloving tone, and know that what I do to the least of these, I do unto You (Matt. 25:45). It is by Your empowerment alone that I can bring Your redemption through reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:8). To see how I fall short every time I think I have the answers, I respond from fear, or just selfishness desiring to make my life easier in the moment. Thank you for Your amazing, saving grace and that You finished this work upon the cross once and for all (Col 1:22). That Your blood has redeemed my past, present, and future...not as it "comes up", but thousands of years ago on Calvary's hill. It is in this difficult place of trying to reckon Your Truth with my convicted heart, that I choose praise (Rom 7:20)! To be remorseful not for myself, but for the pain my sin causes You and those I love so dear (1 Cor 10:32-33). To exalt You, that even after sinful reactions, I can glean from Your footstool if I but lay myself down and pick up Your cross-nailing my identity right back to You. Freedom is released when I speak life-Your life that created me for a purpose...to bless the Lord at all times with all that is within me (Ps. 34:1)! Thy Will Be Done.
From the Prayer Closet of Jessi to her groom Jesus
Called to Praise-March 21, 2013
By: Frances J Roberts
Have I not promised to care for you, yes, indeed have I not done so and faithfully, lo, these many years? Are you fearful now when distress is all about? Rest your heart in Me and draw courage from My Word. "It is vain for you to rise up early and sit up late eat the bread of sorrow." (Psalm 127:2)
I have not called you to lamentation but to PRAISE. This should be your foremost occupation at all times. This should be your greatest joy, as it is your chief duty. You will find in praise the fountainhead of spiritual understanding and strength, for My Spirit saturates the soul that learns to pour itself out in worship, and that one becomes the object of My love and My instruction. YOU may be that one, My child!
Seven Praises for the Cross- February 12, 2013
By Jessi Phinney
How shall I praise Thee for Your
wondrous deeds? Let me begin at the
Cross where You met all my needs…
I praise the One who fought the
battle in Gethsemane on His knees uttering the most powerful words for man in
history, “Thy Will Be Done”
I praise Jesus for walking the road
of persecution to demonstrate His obedient love for His Father and His agape
for mankind
I praise the Savior who knew pain
must be embraced, sin must be crucified, and Satan defeated
I praise the God who was fully man
and chose to forgive those who mocked, those who hated, and those like me whose
sin nailed Him to the Cross
I praise El Shaddai who set me free
by taking my old man with Him on the tree
I praise the Name above all names,
which raised me up to new life in Him, that Christ the King may be Master over
me
I praise my LORD the Prince of Peace
that He is righteous, and in Him I am now the righteousness of the one true
God. I’ll praise Him all my days not
just for the greatest act of Love I’ll ever know, but because in You, Yehweh I
have found my reason to live!
“Seven times
a day I’ll praise Thee, because of Thy righteous ordinances”
(Psalm
119:164)
Thank You for
exchanging Your life for mine
This months Lip's of Praise by Andrew Murray (1/31/2013)
THE KEYNOTE OF LIFE By Andrew Murray
I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord! Gen 49:18.
It is not easy to say exactly in what sense Jacob used these words, in the midst of his prophecies in regard to the future of his sons. But they do certainly dictate that both for himself and for them his expectation was from God alone. It was God’s salvation he waited for; a salvation which God had promised and which God Himself alone could work out. He knew himself and his sons to be under God’s charge. Jehovah the Everlasting God would show in them what His saving power is and does. The words point forward to that wonderful history of redemption which is not yet finished, and to the glorious future in eternity whither it is leading. They suggest to us how there is no salvation but God’s salvation, and how waiting on God for that, whether for our personal experience, or in wider circles, is our first duty, our true blessedness.
Let us think of ourselves, and the inconceivably glorious salvation God has wrought for us in Christ, and is now purposing to work out and to perfect in us by His Spirit. Let us meditate until we somewhat realize that every participation of this great salvation, from moment to moment, must be the work of God Himself. God cannot part with His grace, or goodness, or strength, as an external thing that He gives us, as He gives the raindrops from heaven. No; He can only give it, and we can only enjoy it, as He works it Himself directly and unceasingly. And the only reason that He does not work it more effectually and continuously is, that we do not let Him. We hinder Him either by our indifference or by our self-effort, so that He cannot do what He would.
What He asks of us, in the way of surrender, and obedience, and desire, and trust, is all comprised in this one word: waiting on Him, waiting for His salvation. It combines the deep sense of our entire helplessness of ourselves to work what is divinely good, and our perfect confidence that our God will work it all in His divine power.
Again, I say, let us meditate on the divine glory of the salvation God purposes working out in us, until we know the truths it implies. Our heart is the scene of a divine operation more wonderful than Creation. We can do as little towards the work as towards creating the world, except as God works in us to will and to do. God only asks of us to yield, to consent, to wait upon Him, and He will do it all. Let us meditate and be still, until we see how meet and right and blessed it is that God alone do all, and our soul will of itself sink down in deep humility to say: "I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord." And the deep blessed background of all our praying and working will be: "Truly my soul waiteth upon God."
The application of the truth to wider circles, to those we labor among or intercede for, to the Church of Christ around us, or throughout the world, is not difficult. There can be no good but what God works; to wait upon God, and have the heart filled with faith in His working, and in that faith to pray for His mighty power to come down, is our only wisdom. Oh for the eyes of our heart to be opened to see God working in ourselves and in others, and to see how blessed it is to worship and just to wait for His salvation!
Our private and public prayer are our chief expression of our relation to God: it is in them chiefly that our waiting upon God must be exercised. If our waiting begin by quieting the activities of nature, and being still before God; if it bows and seeks to see God in His universal and almighty operation, alone able and always ready to work all good; if it yields itself to Him in the assurance that He is working and will work in us; if it maintains the place of humility and stillness, and surrenders until God’s Spirit has quickened the faith that He will perfect His work: it will indeed become the strength and the joy of the soul. Life will become one deep blessed cry: "I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord."
"My soul, wait thou only upon God"
What is God been showing you about having "Lips of Praise"? Have a testimony? Please share it with me: Praises to Share
Praising in the Hard Times
Isn’t it hard to praise Him in the most unpleasant times? Times when you feel like you’re alone in the world and not a soul can understand how you tick. How about when your family feels so dysfunctional with pain, that you wonder if your going to lose your mind before you get to the redemption part? Marital pain, wandering children, chronic illness, or betrayal of a friend…even if we haven’t experienced it first hand, most of us have at the very least been affected second hand from the tragic consequences. These are the times when we MUST praise Him, again and again and AGAIN. Why you ask? First off, because we are instructed too, Psalm 119:164 “Seven times a day I praise Thee, because of Thy righteous ordinances.” Secondly, because it pleases Jesus Christ! It shows Him our willingness to live beyond our emotions and step into His spiritual reality, one not based on emotion, but Truth. How else is the joy of the Lord to be our strength (Neh. 8:10b) or to rejoice in the midst of our trial (Jas. 1:2)? We must persevere past emotions, past what people have done, and rattle the enemy’s ears with fits of praise instead of fits of self-pity! I have taken on this challenge with the Lord this past year… it hasn’t been an easy one! I often found the more I praised Him, the more I was tested with unpleasant things. However, the Spirit within me pushed through, to something greater than I had previously known. Joy in my soul. Not cheap, worldly, emotional happiness based on circumstances and what I am given, but joy- pure joy that cannot be explained, bought, taught, or given by anyone other than Jesus Christ, the author of it all. I offer you to join me. Take the challenge of VERBALLY (the enemy can’t read your mind, so speak it!) praising Jesus with me seven times a day. If you are up for an even greater challenge, than join me in praising Him for the seven things you find most difficult in your life or day. This is what will slowly (and I do mean slowly), change your focus and grant you the true joy you have been searching for. I love you sweet sister. You are NEVER alone. You have the Spirit inside you and a faithful few behind your back-I hope I am one of them. Praying for you, my reader, even though I may not know your name-you are cared for. –Jessi
1. I praise you that I am in a new land and I often feel like an alien, much like Abraham must have did when he followed Your call. Thank you for being sovereign in Your call.
2. I praise you that when I feel I need people the most, is when they are not there for me. I thank you that it reminds me You are the one I need to run too.
3. I praise you for disunity within relationships, because it reminds me that unity only comes by being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Thank you for the honor of growing towards You.
4. I praise you that there are broken and hurting marriages all around me, because I am reminded that the enemy is at work to destroy Your covenant, but YOU are GREATER. I thank you that I don’t need to know the details to pray for those hurting marriages.
5. I praise you for messed up schedules, because it reminds me that I can make a plan, but You are the one who directs my steps. Thank you for the reminder that all my good plans may not be Your best plan for my day, but I can trust Your sovereignty.
6. I praise you that even though people are a blessing they cannot fulfill my needs. Thank you that you created a longing inside of me that can only be filled by my King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s.
7. I praise you that I am not a wife today, even though I long to know the ministry of marriage. Thank you that Your timing is always best and that You are not finished with me yet.
