Timothy Keller concludes Chapter 12 of Prayer by noting that the last Psalms of the Psalter are all praise. In his book Answering God, Eugene Peterson states that just as the Psalter ends in unbroken praise, all prayer is framed by praise. In the end, all prayer should and will end in praise:
“[This means] no matter how much we suffer, no matter our doubts, no matter how angry we get, no matter now many times we have asked in desperation ‘How long?’, prayer develops finally into praise . . . . Not every prayer is capped off with praise. In fact, most prayers, if the Psalter is a true guide, are not. But prayer is always reaching toward praise and will finally arrive there.”
C. S. Lewis adds that praising God enables us to enter the real world and enjoy Him more fully. Lack of praise of God is a lack of reality. We all will experience some type of adversity that’s a blow to our reputation in some realm. Pastor Keller explains how prayer makes all the difference:
” . . . there is a difference between being discouraged and being devastated, between sliding into despondency and not being able to function. If God’s love is an abstraction, it is of no consolation. But if it is a felt and lived reality through prayer, then it buoys you up. . . . Prayer . . . takes something you believe about God that is ignoble and detached from how you live your life and makes it vivid.”
Today’s question: How has reaching toward praise sustained you during the period following your vocation loss? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Supplication”
