Sing to God!
It was a warm, sunny day. The church windows were wide open. The congregation had just finished singing, and in the brief stillness I listened. Just outside, the birds were continuing to sing and chirp. Their song inspired me with joy and gratitude for all of God's blessings. It reminded me of this fundamental truth: praising God through song, gratitude, and prayer is activity that truly blesses and heals.
Depression, hatred, and worry gain no foothold in our lives when we follow this advice from Psalms: "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night" (92:1, 2).
When you think about it, how would it be possible to feel uninspired when our thoughts are filled with gratitude and song? It wouldn't. The act of praising God acknowledges Him as All. Even a difficult situation you may be going through can be turned around by affirming God's love for you as His cherished son or daughter, made in His image to express His good nature.
The singing of praise to God reminds me of a story from the Bible. There were two men, one named Paul and the other Silas. They were good men who loved God. They were imprisoned unjustly. But instead of expressing anger, hatred, or revenge, these two men sang! They sang songs of praise to God, right there in the middle of the prison. Guess what happened? The Bible says, "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed" (Acts 16:26).
Praising God as almighty has an effect in your life, today. There is power in feeling love for God and in knowing His love for us. It's praise to God that draws you near to Him and inspires you to live a life that blesses others. That's how Paul and Silas were living.
The Bible is one book that I wouldn't want to be without. Another is Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, the Christian Science textbook. Science and Health illuminates the inspired, healing message of the Bible. What are some of the ways we can find spiritual inspiration? The author, Mary Bake Eddy, addressed that question: "Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love-be it song, sermon, or Science-blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ's table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty" (p. 234).
The song of gratitude has blessed our family. When our little girl was about three, she fell off a riding toy onto the pavement, hurting her mouth. Her lip was swollen, and because of concern expressed about her teeth I called a dentist. He said to check to see if there were loose teeth, which there were not. He also mentioned that if a tooth turned black, this meant it was dead and would not turn white again.
We prayed for our daughter. By the next morning the swelling was gone. But smiling across the breakfast table was a precious little girl who had a black front tooth! Immediately, however, I thanked God for the healing of the swollen mouth that had come so quickly. And I knew I could trust that God had never left this child unprotected or alone. God is All, and even though the physical evidence suggested there had been a moment when He had not been caring for her, I knew this was a lie about God. I praised Him for His uninterrupted care of each of us.
Within a week that little tooth was white again; we never could tell which tooth had been affected because the healing was so complete. God had always been with this child. And songs of gratitude had brought evidence of this fact in physical healing.
Just what happens when we sing praise to God for His goodness? Our thought becomes joyful and inspired in this prayer of praise. Then prison doors open to set the innocent free. A child is healed. As we keep on singing songs of gratitude to God, we see greater evidence of love everywhere. Gratitude heals!
You can find other articles like this one in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly magazine.
