In America today as we celebrate Thanksgiving, chances are there's a lot on our plate (haha); cooking, visiting family, preparing for black Friday; no doubt, today is a busy day. But in the midst of all our festivities, we run the risk of our Thanksgiving prayers being drown out by all the static in the background. But why is this? Why have our prayers of thanks to God taking the backseat and been replace with turkey and football? I believe that it comes from a lack of understanding the joy that comes with praising God.
We seldom think of worshiping God as a joy, but rather a duty and obligation; we might like it a little, but it wouldn't be our first choice for an afternoon activity. But when we're tempted to think this way, let us look to what the Bible says in Psalm 100:
Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.
In this passage we see that the author David is worshiping God and giving Him praise, but he does so in joy and gladness. He didn't go moping around saying, "Bless His name.." unenthusiastically with his face to the ground. Instead, the picture we get of David is that he was bouncing off the walls excited to sing to Him and give Him thanks. Why? Because he recognized the joy of worshiping God.
You see, God made us with a God shaped hole that can only be filled when we worship Him in truth. So when we're unmotivated to worship God it's either because we've forgotten how wonderful it is to be fulfilled in Him, or we've never felt that satisfaction in the first place. Whichever situation we're in today, let's make an active effort to make a joyful noise to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever, and in Him alone may we find our all in all.
We seldom think of worshiping God as a joy, but rather a duty and obligation; we might like it a little, but it wouldn't be our first choice for an afternoon activity. But when we're tempted to think this way, let us look to what the Bible says in Psalm 100:
Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.
In this passage we see that the author David is worshiping God and giving Him praise, but he does so in joy and gladness. He didn't go moping around saying, "Bless His name.." unenthusiastically with his face to the ground. Instead, the picture we get of David is that he was bouncing off the walls excited to sing to Him and give Him thanks. Why? Because he recognized the joy of worshiping God.
You see, God made us with a God shaped hole that can only be filled when we worship Him in truth. So when we're unmotivated to worship God it's either because we've forgotten how wonderful it is to be fulfilled in Him, or we've never felt that satisfaction in the first place. Whichever situation we're in today, let's make an active effort to make a joyful noise to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever, and in Him alone may we find our all in all.