Episode #24: Cultivating a Thankful Heart in God's Presence

Can gratitude and joy truly transform your spiritual journey? Join me, Stephanie, as we explore the powerful connection between praise, worship, and our everyday lives in episode 24 of the All Is Well podcast. We'll uncover the rich wisdom found in Psalm 95:1-7 and Psalm 100, revealing why entering God's presence with thanksgiving isn't just a command but a life-changing practice. You'll learn how recognizing God as the rock of our salvation and our creator can deepen your faith and bring profound joy.

Together, we'll highlight God's enduring characteristics—His goodness, mercy, and creative power—emphasizing why He is worthy of our praise. By embracing a joyful, thankful attitude in our worship, we honor His unending love and the sacrifice of Jesus. This episode is perfect whether you're new to faith or seeking to deepen your relationship with God. It offers valuable insights into how heartfelt worship and gratitude can enrich your spiritual life. Tune in and let your heart be filled with praise and thanksgiving, transforming the way you connect with God daily.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:02

Hello, my name is Stephanie. Welcome to the All Is Well podcast. My mission is to teach people the Word of God and emphasize its importance in their daily lives. I'm glad you decided to join me today. Let's get started. Welcome to episode 24.

Speaker 1 0:23

Did you know that God commands us to praise and worship Him and to enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise? This is an essential thing as Christians that we need to do in our walk with God. So let's dive in to today's lesson and learn how we need to praise and worship God in our lives. Let's get started. Let's turn on over to our Bible, to Psalm 95, verse 1 through 7. So in Psalm 95, it reads, verse 1, o come, let us sing to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. So we need to know who are we worshiping, who are we praising. It says to the rock of our salvation. That is who God is. So when we come into his presence, when we come into a church service, we are singing to the Lord, we are shouting joyfully, not just with the whisper, but shouting joyfully to the rock of our salvation. That is who he is. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. We're not coming with complaints, but we his presence with thanksgiving. We're not coming with complaints, but we're coming with thanksgiving. We're thanking him for what he's already done and what he's about to do in our lives. Let us shout joyfully to him with Psalms Verse 3, for the Lord is the great God and the great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The heights of the hills are his. Also, the sea is his, for he made it and his hands formed the dry land. This is who he is God, our creator. He created the sea. He formed the dry land. No one else could do that. No one else did that but him, and he is the one that we are worshiping, he is the one that we are praising and he is the one that we need to give our thanks to. Verse 6. O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. He is the Lord, our maker, for he is our God.

Speaker 1 2:26

Let's go on over to Psalm 100. In Psalm 100 and verse 1, it reads Make a joyful shout to the Lord. All you lands, serve the Lord with gladness. Do you see how he tells us Serve the Lord with gladness. He says to come in his presence with joyfulness and with gladness. Not with sadness, not with misery, but with gladness. Come into his presence.

Speaker 1 3:08

Verse 2,. Verse 3, we worship him and we praise him because he is our creator. He made us. We would not be here if it were not for him. So he deserves our worship, he deserves our praise.

Speaker 1 3:37

Verse four enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Thank him for what he's already done. Thank you, jesus for loving me. Thank you, god, for sending your son to die on the cross for me. And then enter his courts with praise. Be thankful to him and bless his name. Why?

Speaker 1 3:57

In verse 5, for the Lord is good. That's why we do it, for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations. That is who he is. So, if we look back on who it is that we are worshiping, we're worshiping our God. But who is he?

Speaker 1 4:18

What did the scriptures reveal to us about His character and about who he is? So our God is a rock of our salvation. He is a great God. He is a great king above all gods. He is the Lord, our maker. He is our creator. And the Lord is good. That is who we are worshiping when we go into his gates. We need to come into his gates with thanksgiving and praise for what he's done, because when we do that, you want to go in and you want to worship him and be joyful. When you're doing this. You want to do this because what he's done for us and then what he's done for you. When you enter into his gates, when you go into church, when you go into that private room, when you go into that room in your home and you begin to worship God and you put everything to the side and don't think about it, but you shout joyfully to the Lord and you thank him for everything.

Speaker 1 5:17

And even in that situation or something that you're going through, you thank him for bringing you out of it, you thank him for giving you wisdom through that situation and when you do that, he will turn that situation around. Because you're thanking Him, you're putting Him first, you are telling Him that, god, I know that you can fix this, god. I know that you're creator of the universe. I know that you created me and I know that your plan is greater for me than what I have for myself and that you're allowing him to fix it and you're allowing him to take care of your situation, that you're not just taking care of it yourself, but you're letting him, and also, too, that you're thanking him, so you're speaking and those things into existence and that is your prayer and you're telling him thank you, god, for bringing me out of here. I know that you're bringing me out of here. So when you say that you're agreeing with him and then you're giving him full permission to go on and do that, when we praise him, you're blessing him. You're blessing him.

Speaker 1 6:21

And think about when someone comes to you, either a child or anyone, and they start to say good things to you. Well, thank you for what you did, thank you for helping me. You did so good on that, that was so awesome. How does that make you feel? It makes you feel good. And so, with God, when we do that for him, it blesses him when we praise him. So what happens when we don't praise him?

Speaker 1 6:46

Let's turn on over to Deuteronomy 28. In Deuteronomy 28, verse 47, it reads because you did not serve the Lord, your God, with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of everything Verse 48,. Therefore, you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you. So it's saying here if you're not serving the Lord with joy and gladness of heart, you're serving somebody else. If you're not worshiping the Lord and praising him, who are you serving? Who are you putting first before him? Because if it's not him, it's someone else, it's something else. What is it? Because he needs to be first in our life. He is a jealous God and so he needs to be first in our lives. And when we do that put Him first in our lives and we worship and praise Him then you get to see in your life too how things start to work out better for you. So what I would recommend is to start your week praising God in the house of the Lord and start each day with praising Him and thanking Him for what he's already done and what he's about to do in your life.

Speaker 1 7:55

Well, thank you for tuning in to today's podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have not accepted Jesus into your life, say the salvation prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I admit that I have sinned. I repent, I believe in my heart you raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth Jesus is Lord and my Savior. Right now I receive forgiveness by the blood of Jesus Come into my life. I am saved In Jesus name, amen. I'm glad you prayed that salvation prayer. Make sure that you plug yourself into a spirit-filled church and read the word of God. Well, I hope you enjoy the message and thank you for tuning in.