Get off your face...get up and praise!

It's worth repeating that the time comes when we need to "stop praying about it and start praising God for it!" (Mark Batterson, in his blog)

It takes me a while at night once I lay down to fall asleep.  No, I am not an insomniac.  My brain just decides to start thinking about all the details in my life right when my head hits the pillow.  Sometimes it makes me crazy... then, I feel like I need to get up to write things down so I don't forget, but what I really want to do is JUST FALL ASLEEP!

For a while, I was praying that God would give me a good night's sleep... "Dear God, PLEASE allow me to fall asleep quickly tonight and just shut my brain off right when I lay down...Amen."

However, I am starting to take a new approach.  The Word of God says that God gives rest to the ones He loves... and He gives perfect peace to those whose minds STAY on Him.  Those are great promises...so instead of praying that God would grant me a good night's sleep and peace when I lay down, I am praising Him in advance for the promises He has already made.  It gets my focus off ME and onto HIM... I have even started praising when I lay down...thanking God for sweet rest...

This principle can be applied in so many areas of my own life... maybe you are feeling the same way.  Maybe you have been praying for a "prodigal" child to come home... and it's time to start praising God IN ADVANCE for his/her return.  Maybe your finances are in a mess, a family member has been laid off, and instead of begging God, you need to start prasing Him that He provides ALL that we need.  Maybe your marriage is falling apart, and instead of continuing to pray for reconciliation, you can start praising that God is working behind the scenes in ways you can't even see with your physical eyes...

However this may apply to you... maybe it's time to get up off your face, and get up and praise!!  Don't get me wrong, prayer is a NECESSITY.  I wholeheartedly believe in the power of prayer... BUT I also believe in the power of praising our God who is so much bigger than anything we ever face... and when I praise Him and see how big He is, it makes me that much surer that victory is on the way!!

Blessings!