When did you last dance before the Lord?
St Francis used to dance through the woods singing God’s praises. He understood that we adore, praise and thank God because he is more than worthy of it all. But that quality of prayer is also a wonderful blessing for us.
Adoration, praise and thanksgiving lifts us up into the wonder of who God is, of the vastness of his goodness, the depth of his purposes at work in the world and in our lives. Praise of God opens my eyes, gives me a wider, cosmic vision, and deepens my faith in God.
What you feed your mind with comes out in feelings, emotions and actions. In prayers of praise and adoration we feed your mind with the reality of God.
Old lies have a way of creeping back. The lies we can speak to ourselves are very powerful. Do you recognise any of these thoughts?
Nothing can change.
This situation is hopeless.
What’s the use?
I can’t go on!
God does not care.
Those are lies and we need the light of God to expose them as false. When I enter God’s presence in a spirit of adoring praise, his light scatters the darkness of those falsehoods.
I know that I need to speak the truth to myself daily – the truth of God’s greatness and goodness. I need to celebrate that truth in prayers of praise and thanksgiving. I need to live in that truth so that I am not overcome by fear and discouragement.
