Psalm 31:21 “Praise be to the LORD, for He showed His wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.” (NIV)
A good measure of your relationship with God is your praise to Him. Think of your very best friend. You probably remember great times and experiences, or maybe how that friend was instrumental in your life. The depth, intensity, and frequency of the experiences you had with that friend created the quality of that relationship. The same is true about the relationship you have with God. The greater your frequency of connecting with God by reading His Word – the Bible, building relationship with Him through prayer, and taking time to hear and respond to Him will allow the natural cultivation of heartfelt praise. This type of praise comes from an ongoing, vibrant interaction with God that is filled with adoration, sensitivity to sin, thanksgiving, and dependence on Him for your needs and direction. Experiencing God in this way allows you to experience not only the fullness of His personality, but also His love for you. God is not just there to answer your “911 distress calls,” but also to comfort you, support you, walk with you, protect you from sin, show you the way, give you understanding and discernment, meet your needs, satisfy you, complete you, heal you, bring you success, give you purpose, give you hope and peace – to meet your every need! You live in a besieged city (the world you live in) that can sap life from you in multiple ways. God did not create you to be overcome by the world, but to allow His life in you to overcome the world. Romans 12:21 says, “Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” You will know the impact God’s life is having on you by the praise that naturally wells up from inside you. Allow God’s love to consume your life so that you praise Him all the time.
Psalm 66:1-5 “Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious! Say to God, ‘How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before You. All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You, they sing praise to Your name.’ Come and see what God has done, how awesome His works in man's behalf!” (NIV)