It's been a while since my last post, but I have some wonderful news. As of now I have received enough financial support to pay for the cost of my trip!
Our God is so good! This past Sunday the special music at my church was a song called "Because of Who You Are." The whole song is talking about praising God because of who He is. There's a whole portion that is simply singing the Names that have been given to our Lord. I found myself with tears running down my face as I sang about how my God is my Jehovah Jireh, my Provider! He has certainly provided me with so much more than I could have ever imagined. It is by His grace alone that I am a month and a half into the process of raising financial support for my trip to Ghana and finding that I don't have to focus on that any longer.
If you haven't heard this song, please take a minute or two to listen to the video clip below. It's an awesome way to worship God and declare who He is in your life and why He deserves worship.
God has really been speaking to me lately about the importance of praising Him simply because He is worthy to be praised. Many of us come before God in prayer with a "laundry list" of requests. During a time of prayer with some of my fellow students God brought me to my knees and gently told me that I needed to start coming before Him in worship and reverence. He reminded me that He knows what I need (Matt 6:32), He knows the cry of my heart (Ps 31:7), and He knows the desires of my heart (Ps 37:4). He wants to hear from me, He wants me to pour my heart to Him (Ps 62:8), He desires to have that kind of relationship with Him, but there also needs to be a time where I just worship Him for who He is. I had lost sight of that. I had forgotten how worthy is my God (Isaiah 40:12ff).
If you've got a few minutes now or over the next couple days I encourage you to take a moment and just consider how wonderfully magnificent is our God. Take that time not to ask God for anything, but just to praise Him. Perhaps just tell Him all the things He is to you - Provider, Redeemer, Savior, Faithful Father, Prince of Peace, Giver of every good gift . . . Another suggestion I've heard recently is to pray through scripture. The Psalms are wonderful for this. Choose a passage and read the words to God. The other day I did this with Psalm 31 and spent over an hour reading and praising God for all the things He has done in my life.
I will praise Your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise You and extol Your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom.~ Psalm 145:1b-3
