Praise the Lord Instead of Complaining

We have studied the immense spiritual power of continually speaking words of faith and continually speaking the name of Jesus Christ. We now are ready to look into the Word of God to see exactly what Christians who are sick are instructed to do in regard to praising God, worshiping God and thanking God.     

If you are very sick and you see no indication of receiving healing, you may be tempted to be discouraged. When your body aches with pain and everything seems to be going wrong, this is the time when you should open your mouth to say exactly what your Father instructs you to say. You have learned that you should speak the Word of God continually and speak the name of Jesus continually. Now you will see that you are instructed to praise the Lord continually and thank Him continually even though the last thing you may feel like doing is praising the Lord and thanking Him.      

God’s angels and Satan’s demons inhabit the atmosphere around you.
Satan’s demons want you to be depressed and discouraged. Instead of giving
in to depression, the Bible instructs you to cover yourself with “…the garment
[expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit…” (Isaiah 61:3)     

We will look at the last part of this passage of Scripture first. When this verse of Scripture speaks of “a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit” it refers to Satan and his demons. Satan’s demons want to put a spirit of heaviness on you. They want the sickness in your body to be a heavy burden. They want you to believe that there is no hope for the future.       

Your Father in heaven wants you to do just the opposite. The word “garment” in this passage of Scripture is similar to a piece of clothing. Your Father wants you to put on “the garment expressive of praise.” He wants you to praise Him continually when you are sick and the future does not look good. The worse you feel, the more you should praise Him.        

You must not allow the discouraging thoughts that Satan’s demons attempt to put into your mind to pull you down. You should be like the psalmist who said, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, my Help and my God” (Psalm 42:5).        

The psalmist was speaking to himself in this passage of Scripture. He told himself not to be “cast down.” He told himself not to “moan.” Instead, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, you are instructed through the psalmist to “hope in God and wait expectantly for Him.” You are instructed to “praise Him, your Help and your God.”      

You cannot allow yourself to be pulled down by the sickness in your body. Some people become extremely discouraged when they are sick. They moan, groan, gripe, grumble and complain. The psalmist asked himself why he did these things.        

Your Father does not want you to give up hope. He wants you to persevere in faith. He wants you to praise Him continually while you wait patiently and faithfully to get well. The psalmist said “…I will hope continually and will praise You yet more and more” (Psalm 71:14).

 Are you sick? Does the future look bleak? Your Father instructs you to “hope continually” in spite of the circumstances you face. He wants you to be absolutely certain that you already have been healed just as His Word says. He wants you to “praise Him more and more” regardless of the pain and discomfort in your body.        

Praising God and thanking Him when your body aches with pain does not make any sense to an unrenewed mind.

Your Father wants you to grow and mature in your faith in Him so that you will learn to live in His healing presence. Jesus is the Healer. Praise Him and thank Him continually for Who He is and how much He loves you even though your body may ache with pain and you see no sign whatsoever of the healing He already has provided for you.      

You must understand the vast difference between God’s ways and the ways of the world when logical thinking says that it makes no sense whatsoever to praise God when you are sick. (Isaiah 55:8-9).

When you are sick you absolutely cannot afford to think the way the world
thinks. You must think the way that God thinks. Constant praise should be a
way of life to you whether you are sick or depressed or in the best of health.      

Praise is not an option. Praising God is a command of God. Your Father wants you to show your obedience to Him by boldly praising Him and continually thanking Him regardless of the condition of your health.       

Your Father wants you to focus your attention on Him instead of focusing on how you feel. You can change the emphasis in your life from the self-centered life that many sick people have to a God-centered life. You will do this if you praise the Lord continually even though you do not feel like praising Him. “Let the peoples praise You [turn away from their idols] and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You! The earth has yielded its harvest [in evidence of God’s approval]; God, even our own God, will bless us” (Psalm 67:5-6).        

This passage of Scripture says that “all the peoples” should praise God and thank Him. This word “all” includes you. You are placing yourself in God’s healing presence when you praise God and thank Him even though you are sick.         

You are making what the Bible calls “a sacrifice of praise” when you praise God continually in spite of the discomfort of sickness. “…let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name” (Hebrews 13:15).       

How often does your Father want you to make this sacrifice of praise? He says that you should make this sacrifice “constantly and at all times.” Praise would not be a sacrifice if praising God was easy. Your Father wants your mouth to “thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name” throughout every day and night regardless of how you feel.      

Your Father wants you to praise Him and thank Him because of Who He is. If you constantly make this sacrifice and praise God and thank Him when you do not feel like praising Him and thanking Him, you are choosing to live in the realm of the Spirit where healing is. “Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High, and call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honor and glorify Me” (Psalm 50:14-15).      

Once again the word “sacrifice” is used in this passage of Scripture. God tells you to “call on Him in the day of trouble.” You face “days of trouble” when you are very sick. God promises to “deliver” you when you call on Him by praying faithfully and thanking Him and praising Him continually. Persevere in faith, praising God and thanking Him, believing that He already has delivered you from the sickness in your body. You should honor and glorify your Father when He delivers you.    

Once again you must understand how different God’s ways are from the ways of the world. When you praise God and thank Him continually, you make a continual “offering” to Him just as you make an offering to Him when you put your tithe into the collection at church. You give the Lord the “honor and glory” He deserves when you praise Him and thank Him continually. “He who brings an offering of praise and thanksgiving honors and glorifies Me…” (Psalm 50:23).        

Sometimes you will have to praise God through your tears. Your praise and thanksgiving
should not be based on how you feel. Your praise and thanksgiving should be solidly anchored
on the Word of God. The worse you feel, the more you need to praise the Lord. You should
praise Him and thank Him in advance for the healing He already has provided for you.

When you are sick and your body aches with pain, you should say something like the following: “Dear Father, I praise You and I thank You. I trust You completely. I glorify You. I exalt You. I worship You. I adore You. I magnify You. I praise You and thank You from the bottom of my heart. I have absolute faith in You despite the sickness in my body. Thank You, dear Father, that Jesus took this sickness upon Himself. Thank You so much, dear Father. I trust You completely. I praise You continually.”       

If you find that praising God in front of other people is difficult, you should develop the habit of praising God continually when you are alone. If the scriptural information presented here sounds somewhat strange to you and you have not praised the Lord very often, try an experiment when the sickness in your body is extreme. Find a place where you have complete privacy. When you are alone and you are not concerned about what other people might think, open your mouth and boldly praise the Lord.     

Thank Jesus for the enormous sacrifice He made for you at the whipping post. Thank Him for the tremendous sacrifice He made for you on the cross at Calvary. Thank Him for the wonderful victory He has given you. Tell Him that you love Him. Tell Him again. Tell Him again. Keep on praising Him and thanking Him over and over and over.        

Do this in privacy for several consecutive days. See for yourself if your faith in God does not increase as you faithfully obey these scriptural instructions. You soon will get over your hesitancy to praise the Lord publicly. You will be able to praise Him boldly in public as well as in private. You invite others into God’s presence when you praise Him publicly. Jesus will become your focus. He will become everything to you         

When you praise God continually you actually will be living more in the Spirit than in the flesh. You will begin to see life more from God’s perspective. You will rest in Him as you hold fast to your healing, praising God and thanking Him throughout each day and night.       

As we have seen, our Father instructs you to pray to Him continually. Your prayers should be prayers of thanksgiving. When you pray you should praise God and thank Him for Who He is, for His love for you, for His mercy, His grace and His faithfulness.      

Jesus is worthy of your praise. He has earned your praise. You withhold from Him a blessing that is very important if you fail to praise Him continually regardless of how you feel. You should have a constant attitude of gratitude toward Jesus. Words of praise will not flow out of your mouth spontaneously unless your heart is filled to overflowing with deep and sincere gratitude toward Jesus.    

You have learned that the words that flow out of your mouth in a crisis situation always will come from the abundance of whatever you truly believe in your heart (Matthew 12:34). If your heart is filled with gratitude toward Jesus, you will praise Him continually. You have many reasons to thank Jesus. You saw many facts previously about the tremendous price Jesus paid for you on the cross at Mount Calvary and at the whipping post. There is no question that you should be grateful to Jesus for paying this great price for your eternal salvation and your healing.        

When you are in heaven you will understand the magnitude of the tremendous price that Jesus paid for you on the cross at Mount Calvary and at the whipping post. Jesus “…was betrayed and put to death because of our misdeeds and was raised to secure our justification (our acquittal, [making our account balance and absolving us from all guilt before God]” (Romans 4:25)        

This passage of Scripture tells you that Jesus Who was completely innocent “was betrayed and put to death because of your misdeeds.” Jesus paid the price for your sins and “absolved you from all guilt.” If you can even begin to comprehend the price that Jesus paid for your healing at the whipping post and the price that He paid for your salvation on the cross at Calvary, you will praise Him and thank Him continually regardless of the symptoms of sickness in your body.

If you can even begin to comprehend what Jesus has done for you, you will not be able to stop praising Him and thanking Him. Pain and discomfort in your body or any other circumstance in your life should not have any effect on your desire to praise Jesus and thank Him continually. As you comprehend more about what Jesus actually has done for you, you will praise Him even more.        

Do you want to bless Your Father in heaven? Do you want to bless Jesus? The Bible tells you exactly what you should do if you want to bless the Lord continually. You should be like the psalmist who said, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).  

You “bless the Lord” when “His praise is continually” in your mouth. Your praise is very important to God. Your Father created you to praise Him. “The people I formed for Myself that they may set forth My praise [and they shall do it]” (Isaiah 43:21).      

Your Father “formed you for Himself.” When you praise Him continually you are doing exactly what He created you to do. You must not ignore this specific instruction from God. Your Father is worthy of your praise. Jesus is worthy of your praise.     

We have established a scriptural foundation for praising the Lord regardless of the circumstances you face. There is no question that your Father in heaven has instructed you to praise Him at all times regardless of how you feel or what circumstances you face.