It's Going to Cost You

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I cry out to God without holding back. Oh, that God would listen to me! When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I pray, with hands lifted toward heaven, pleading. O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? You are the God of miracles and wonders! (Psalm 77:1-2(b); 13-14(a)), NLT)

Why do so many of us come into God's presence unprepared? By "unprepared" I mean we have spent no time in His presence during the week. So when Sunday comes we expect to be pumped up by the choir, the preacher, the praise team, etc. But we've got it twisted. I know this may come across hard, but stay with me.

There is a vast difference between a huge department store and the dollar store. Everything is cheaper in the dollar stores, whereas in the huge department stores you're going to spend much more because the quality of the product is better. It cost more, but you made the sacrifice to have it because the benefit enjoyed now and later would be worth it. Do you see where I'm going? Too often we come into God's presence with a dime store praise, and expect Him to honor it. David said, "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalm 34:1). An "at all times" praise is an expensive praise! It costs to bless the Lord at all times. It is a sacrifice to have the praises of God continually in your mouth because we don't always "feel" like it. But neither praise nor worship are contingent on how we feel - that isn't the Biblical mandate. Both are sacrifices and both are costly. Notice David didn't qualify that by saying I'll praise Him when things are well, or when there's enough money in the bank. He said, "at all times" and "continually."

My prayer for every pastor/preacher, bishop, ministry leader, music ministry personnel, and church member - whether you are active in a particular ministry or not, is that we would take seriously God's mandate for praise and worship. God deserves so much more from us than a praise we conjured up on the way to church on Sunday. Spend time in His Word during the week and make prayer a priority. Recognize God for being all knowing and all powerful. Surrender your everything to Him. Yes, it's expensive. But it's worth it now AND later.

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