Waiting on God – Enter His Courts with Praise
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! Psalm 100:4
In yesterday’s devotional, we talked about how waiting on God is a call to action, a call to pray. Our coming to God’s throne should not only consist of petitioning God. A vital part of entering the throne room is praise. Praising God puts our focus on God, not on our challenges. It takes the focus off the question, “How long, Lord?” A question that seems to perpetually occupy a space in the back of our minds as we wait for Him to intervene on our behalf.
Let Everything That has Breath Praise the Lord
Psalm 100:1-8 invites us – His people, His creation - to come to God with thankful praises. It invites us to shout joyful praises to the Lord. This invitation to praise is an opportunity to acknowledge His goodness, His faithfulness and His everlasting love. It becomes an opportunity for us to remember what our good, faithful and loving God has done for us in the past. Remembering what God has done anchors our confidence and our trust in Him. It gives us the confidence to wait on Him.
When we praise the Lord for His acts of power and His surpassing greatness (Psalm 150:2), we declare that He is the omnipotent God and is more than able to perform miracles on our behalf. When we praise Him in this way, we declare that we will wait on Him to do that which seems impossible for man, but possible for Him.
When the waiting and the weight of our burdens become too much for us to bear, we praise Him. After all, the Word says that He daily bears our burdens (Psalm 68:19). Knowing that He bears our burdens, gives us the strength to wait upon Him to intervene because we know that He does not reject our prayers or withhold His love from us (Psalm 66:20).
So while we wait, let us praise our God, who is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3), who has all wisdom and power (Daniel 2:20), who counsels and instructs us (Psalm 16:7)
Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:8–9 (NLT)
Reflection
I would like to invite you to reflect on the verses of scripture used in the devotional and use them to praise the Lord as you wait for Him to answer your prayers.
Prayer
Lord, I praise You for Your goodness, faithfulness and eternal love for me. I praise you, omnipotent, all-powerful God. You who are able to perform miracles on my behalf. I praise You, Lord, for daily carrying my burdens. Thank You that You do not reject my prayers. Lord. You see the challenges I am facing. You know that the longing of my heart is to see you intervene in my situation. Father, I know that You are in control and see the patterns and seasons of my life. Help me, Lord, to have my hope and trust anchored in You so that I can confidently wait on You to answer my prayers. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
