Sometimes you can’t pray your way out of discouragement you have to praise your way out of it.
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The other day I was reviewing one of my favorite memory verses when something stood out to me for the first time. I don’t know how many times I’ve read this verse or reviewed it for memory. This is one of the reasons why I love the Bible so much. You can read something that you know by memory, and still see something new from it for your life.
Psalm 42:11 says, Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!
I don’t know how I missed that, but I had. I have quoted that verse in sermons and prayers so many times but I never saw the command to praise. I’ve actually prayed this verse in moments of discouragement and sadness but never actually did what the verse said. Sometimes you can’t pray your way out of discouragement you have to praise your way out of it.
It’s praising God that defeats the voice of the enemy in our lives. Worship wages war against discouragement.
When we choose to praise God in the midst of our sadness it actually helps us put our hope in God.
Where in your life do you need to stop praying and start praising?