I've Got A Right To Praise (part 2)

I’ve Got a Right To Praise Part 2                                                                  September 7, 2014


Just a couple of days ago, I wrote “I’ve Got a Right To Praise” (http://dutchesshorton.com/Praise.html.). In this writing I confessed that there are days when I get up to pray and read God’s word and I’m not all there. In these times prayer feels more of a chore than the privilege it really is. That confession was true and as I wrote it, it felt good to get it out there instead of keeping it as my little secret. It felt good because it was cleansing – and I’m certain I’m not the only one who has felt this way.

Well, I have another confession. When my “Coffee with Christ” alarm sounded this morning, I didn’t want to leave the comfort of my bed, but Christ is more important to me than a few more minutes of sleep.  So I rolled out of bed and came out to meet my Savior and prepared my cup of coffee.  As I was coming into my prayer closet (my living room), I was thinking today is another one of those days, Lord, where I’m not going to be all there. I didn’t get to bed on time so I’m really tired and now that I’m up there is so much to do.

Immediately there was a check in my spirit telling me, “It doesn’t have to be this way.  You should never come before Christ ‘not all there’ because you’ve got a right to praise.” I had to sit down a moment and think about that and then I had to pull out the laptop and ‘share this journey’.  

Because I have a right to praise my prayer time should NEVER be a chore. Because I have a RIGHT to praise I should never enter God’s word without a spirit of expectation. Because I have a right to praise my quiet time should never be a time of boredom or strained conversation. If I don’t say anything but, “Thank you, Lord for allowing me to see the beginning of a new day; for breath in my body; for a bed to rise up from to give you praise; for a roof over my head and a ‘prayer closet’ to enter into.” If I don’t say anything but that, it ought to stir up my spirit and get me excited about time with the Father.


So confession is good because in confessing where I was, the Holy Spirit was allowed to show me how to get out of that dry place, to deliver me from the doldrums even before I fully realized I needed to be delivered.  Now I realize that should I ever be given the gift of a new day yet feel no excitement in coming before my God to say thank you, all I need to do is look back at all He’s done and look forward to all He’s doing and remember I have a right to praise. Like David in 1 Samuel 30:6 I must encourage myself in the Lord because He deserves so much more than a half-hearted word of prayer or half an ear when He’s speaking to me. Just the fact that I have a right to praise is enough to make me praise Him. So if you will excuse me… 

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