Day 4

Scripture to Read: Luke 18:1-8

Praising God is also absolutely necessary for us to live spiritually healthy lives. So, what is the difference between thanking God and praising God? The simplest way to look at the difference is that we thank God for all he has done, is doing, and is going to do. We praise God for who He is, has always been, and will always be. Praising God comes out of the overflow of seeing more fully His power, His majesty, His glory, His miracles, and so much more. Some great examples found in God’s Word of praising Him are in Luke 18:43, Luke 19:37, Acts 16:25, Philippians 1:11, Psalms 18:3, Psalms 18:49, Psalms 21:13, Psalms 22: 22, 23, 25, 26, and 100’s more in Psalms alone. God deserves our daily praise, for He alone is truly worthy of our praise. Praise changes our attitude toward God, toward people, and toward life. As we praise God, we realize how awesome He is, and we begin to see His handiwork more clearly all around us. It is easy for us to get caught up in the muck and mire of this fallen world. This world is reaping the consequences that sin brings, which is death (Romans 5:12, Romans 6:16, Romans 6:21, Romans 6:23, Romans 8:6, Romans 8:13, 1 Corinthians 15:56, Galatians 6:8, James 1:15), but praising God renews our minds and our hearts and reminds us that He is working and transforming lives all around us.

Challenge & Application

1. What did God teach you today about praising Him? 2. How will you choose to praise God daily and to praise Him throughout your day?

Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!

Devotionals from this week

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Day 1

As God led Luke to write His Word, God made sure to let us know, here in Luke 18:1, that the parable of the persistent widow was a parable all about prayer and not losing heart. So, our focus this week is going to be on prayer and not losing heart. As you consider your prayer life, think about how you would describe your prayer life to someon...

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Day 2

Prayer definitely includes us asking God for specific requests. Even from the parable that Jesus shared in Luke 18:1-8, we find that the widow had a request and that she was persistent in asking for that request to be answered. Note that what the persistent widow was asking for was “legal protection from her opponent,” in Luke 18:3. There are...

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Day 3

Another important part of prayer is thanking God daily for all He has done, is doing, and is going to continue to do. Giving thanks to our Heavenly Father can become so mundane if we’re not careful. For instance, do we thank God for His provision before we eat or do we find ourselves only going through the motions because we pray the same thi...

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Day 4

Praising God is also absolutely necessary for us to live spiritually healthy lives. So, what is the difference between thanking God and praising God? The simplest way to look at the difference is that we thank God for all he has done, is doing, and is going to do. We praise God for who He is, has always been, and will always be. Praising God ...

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Day 5

Too often when we pray, we look for a feeling of some kind to validate ourselves, our experience of God, or both. But we must understand that our feelings cannot be trusted and that our feelings often lie to us. If we don’t feel close to God, then we often choose not to fellowship with God. If we don’t feel worthy of talking to God, we will f...

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Day 6

Prayer includes practicing God’s incredible presence in our lives, continually, because He lives in us through His Holy Spirit. When we consider how to practice God’s presence, it’s like enjoying our favorite meal, sport, video game, music, movie, social media venue, T.V. show, etc…. When we are enjoying any of these things, there’s nothing e...

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Day 7

God loves us so much and too often, we forget this awesome truth. When we grasp the depth of God’s love for us, it is His love that motivates us to live for Him and to talk with Him every single day. But, when we doubt His love for us, that is when our spiritual lives become stagnant, boring, mechanical, and even lifeless. When we doubt God’s...

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