Praise in Good Times, Praise in Hard Times

Praise the Lord!  I just got the report today that the doctors can’t detect any cancer in the body of my auntie!!!  The doctors had told her to return to the office at the end of February / beginning of March to give them her response as to when she would start chemo.  But instead of her having to give a chemo start date, she received the report that they cannot detect any cancer in her any longer!  Praise the Lord indeed!

I had just prayed with my auntie in February, leading her to the Lord and then asking the Lord to heal her body, and just called today to check in on her and got this report.  We both remarked at how good the Lord is and both were filled with thankfulness!

When I hung up the phone, praise welled up inside me!  I put on a worship tape and praised and thanked the Lord for such mercy to my family members.  God has been so kind to a bunch of unsaved people for so many years … starting with me!  He has spared us from Hell and He has saved my family members one by one, even as they aged well into their 70′s and beyond!  On top of salvations, there have been so many healings as well.  Truly the mercy of the Lord is great!

But what about when times are hard?   I have seen that the more thankful and praise-filled a person is, the more power and mercy that person receives.

I just ate lunch today also with a gal who received her healing from God for GIST Cancer about 4 years ago, mostly because of putting on worship tapes and worshiping for about 3 or 4 hours every day.  I met her through a friend at that time, who saw many healings in my life.  This mutual friend wanted us to meet so that I could teach her how to receive the healing power of the Lord, and although I ministered the Scriptures which teach the prayer of faith and how our tongues will bring about healing (or death) in our lives, this particular lady clung mostly on to WORSHIP.

So my lesson today was all about PRAISE.  Praise and joy flew out of my mouth so easily today, after hanging up the phone and after receiving a great praise report!  For praising God is SO easy when we are so happy to hear a great report … but PRAISE in the hard times is SO pleasing to God as it shows great faith.  It shows that we have faith that God will do what He says.  It shows that we believe God is love and is watching over us even in the hard times.  It shows we believe that God has not turned His back on us and it shows we will love and honor God as we wait patiently, even if we don’t fully understand why something is taking so long.  Our praise shows forth our faith.

So don’t listen to your body screaming at you today that it is not healed, and don’t believe the circumstances which seem to be unbending to the Word of God.  Don’t listen to the thoughts that are whirling in your mind that are trying to root doubt or unbelief in you, but PRAISE your Lord and Savior that He is Faithful and Kind and True to His Word.

Your praise will calm all your fears and will knock down all enemies that are coming against you!

And so today Father, we PRAISE YOU !!!

After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.”
2 Chronicles 20:21

Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Psalm 27:6

He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.
Psalm 50:23

Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy
Psalm 107:22

give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus
1 Thessalonians 5:18

19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him
Colossians 3:17

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God
Philippians 4:6

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(c) 2012 LeeAnn Bell, Faith Speaks Inc.

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