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Are You Struggling to Implement a Gratitude Practice?

I recently spoke with Carlisle Russell from FaithGateway about practicing gratitude as a Christian, the struggles we commonly face, and how to take actionable steps to add gratitude to your daily Christian walk.

In this 20 minute discussion, we answered the following community questions:

1. What does it look like to live a life of thankfulness in your heart to God?
2. As you consider God, what are 3 aspects of His character that make you thankful?
3. Why is gratitude an important quality in your Christian life?
4. What does gratitude look like outside of the home? For example at work or outside in the community?
5. How can we explain gratitude to our children? 
6. In what ways do you struggle to be thankful?

Click on the video above to hear our discussion o...

 

 

 

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This week, the Soul of Worship Ministry is collaborating with FaithGateway, on The Gratitude Project. 

In the reel above, I was asked to share my own experience with how gratitude changes everything in prayer and worship. 

Yet, there's only so much time Instagram allows you for a reel, so let's go a little deeper on this question:

How Do You Incorporate Gratitude Into Your Worship?

Psalm 95:2 says:

“Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”

Sometimes we feel like God’s presence is so far away or unattainable but in fact God reveals the key in His Word for how to enter into His presence. The key is found in our thanksgiving, the sacrifice of our joyful praise.

I heard someone say recently, “If you have 10 minutes to pray, spend the first 8 minutes in praise and worship.” I love this statement...

There are 2 different instances in the Bible where we are being commanded to do good service as to the LORD and not to men:

Ephesians 6:7-8
"...with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free."

Colossians 3:23-24
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

How different would your perspective be if you saw each person as Jesus?

Would you be more willing to help? Would you then help with a smile?

How often do we mumble under our breath as we begrudgingly do something for someone else?

How often do we say, “They better not ask me cause I’m not doing it,” before someone even asks?

How easy it is to help when it's on our own terms?
What if God got up and looked at you and said, “Well I helped...

In a poll I asked our social media community a few weeks ago, it was discovered that the discipline of memorizing Scripture was a challenge for many. 

Why is memorizing Scripture an important skill? 

Despite the challenges, memorizing Bible verses is an important skill for us to practice for many reasons:

1. Spiritual Growth: Knowing Scriptures by heart allows us to internalize the teachings, meditate on the truths, and deepen the understanding of our faith.

2. Renewing the Mind: Memorizing the Word helps us replace negative and worldly thoughts with God's truth.

3. Strengthening Faith: The ability to recall and reflect on God's promises, character, and teachings will strengthen the roots of our faith and reinforce our trust in Him.

4. Sharing the Gospel: Having Scripture memorized equips us as believers to effectively share our faith with others!

5. Encouragement & Comfort: Having the Word of God written on our hearts will provide a personal arsenal of verses that can bring enc...

During last night's Bible study, we took our time to look at every verse in Psalm 92. 

Psalm 92 is unique because while every psalm is intended for worship of the LORD, this is the only psalm that is noted as "a song for the Sabbath day." 

Why is Psalm 92 a Song for the Sabbath day?

So right away, we realize that this song is a special one! 

We don't know who wrote it, but we know its intention: 

PSALM 92 is a song to refocus your attention away from the busyness of life and rightfully back on the Most High God.

The Sabbath day is not just a day of rest - it's a day to cease and stop your normal work to reposition God as the center of your worship. 

In the Hebrew, "Sabbath" is also defined as an "intermission."

So this song is a powerful invitation to take a pause or break from whatever was previously capturing your attention, so you can go back to it with renewed strength and focus. 

What shall we do when we intentionally pause from the hustle and bustle of life to reconnect ...

Last night during our online Bible study Zoom discussion, we did a line-by-line deep dive into Psalm 84.

Psalm 84 is such a sweet, yet powerful psalm overflowing with promise and power that can only be found in the presence of God.

When we yearn to be close to the LORD, by making worship in the House of God a priority in our lives, we will encounter the LIVING GOD! 

Let's look at these first two verses:

"How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." Psalm 84:1-2

The psalmists of Psalm 84, the Sons of Korah, were desperate to be in the House of the LORD. 

They were desperate for the courts...they were deeply longing to spend time in worship before the Living God.

Why? Because without the presence of the Living God, we are weak! We are left dry, hungry, and thirsty.

BUT IN the House of the LORD, in His courts, in His presence, we will find strength, power, and ever...

It felt so good to be back online with our Soul of Worship Ministry Online Bible Study community last night! 

After a week away, we meditated on these 4 simple but powerful verses in Psalm 89:

"Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted. For You are the glory of their strength, And in Your favor our horn is exalted. For our shield belongs to the LORD, And our king to the Holy One of Israel."

Psalm 89:15-18

Psalm 89 was written by Ethan the Ezrahite, a man that was known as a man of wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-31). 

And what wisdom did Ethan the Ezrahite want to share with the people of Israel? 

The blessings that are unlocked when we know the joyful sound! 

Blessed are those who know how to worship, why they worship, WHO they worship, and what true worship sounds like!

We went deep on each of these blessings listed and walked away from our ...

One morning I was trying to pray but kept thinking of all the things happening in my life that were weighing on me. 

I kept getting frustrated as I was trying to pray about each situation, but you know how one thought leads to another, then to another, and then you’re playing out scenarios in your head and find yourself not praying at all? That was me.

I would catch myself and start praying again, only for it to happen a few more times.  I found myself apologizing to God each time. 

Suddenly, I had a vision.

I was at the altar and I had a bunch of bags with me. As I was kneeling there, I was not praying, but instead I unzipped the bag and removed what looked like coal or rocks.

I took out the dirty coal and placed it on the altar. 

As soon as I placed it on the altar it turned into a flower!

When I picked it back up to look at it, it was a coal again.

I smiled as I realized what was happening and continued to take them out of my bags and place them ALL on the altar creating a b...

Psalm 76:1 says: "In Judah God is known."

Judah is of course one of the tribes of Israel, the southern kingdom of Israel where Jerusalem is found, the tribe from which Jesus descended from, but also JUDAH means PRAISE.

We could replace the Hebrew name of Judah with praise in this verse and it would read:

"In PRAISE God is known." (Psalm 76:1)

There are A LOT of parallels between the power of praise and the blessings and heritage of the Tribe of Judah, but we are going to focus today on this: 

We make God known through our praise. 

We testify of His goodness when we sing of what He has done.

In Psalm 78, Asaph composes another song of instruction with the main lesson being this: let's learn from our past sins and positively impact our future by praising God.

"We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done."

Psalm 78:4

So let me remind you today that your worshi...

How do I pray when I feel defeated?!

In last night's online Bible study, we gained some solid instructions on how to cry out to the LORD in the middle of great devastation. 

In Psalm 74, Asaph describes and laments the tragic state of worship and the destroyed dwelling place of the Lord.

Psalm 74 is also labeled a "Maschil" or "Contemplation of Asaph."

This is a Song of Instruction, with the purpose of providing understanding.

So I believe that Asaph wrote this song of instruction to teach us how to call on the name of the LORD in the midst of despair and oppression.

When all seemed lost, Asaph made several powerful & urgent pleas to Heaven, to the Living God, Righteous King, and Great Shepherd, to ACT on behalf of His Sheep.

As you continue to meditate on Psalm 74, I want to encourage you to think of how this psalm also applies to us now, not only as the global state of the Church is under attack by the enemy, but also individually since our bodies are the temple of the Holy Sp...