Prayer Study Week Three Day Three

 “The Joy of Praise”

The act of praising God is essential to our prayers, our communication with Him. It is essential because it directs our desires from the attributes of this world to the attributes of God. When we see the power, majesty, mercy, grace, love and all the unfathomable attributes of God, an inexpressible joy is ours. It is a gift from Him by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This kind of joy is contrary to the world’s definition of joy which is limited to the pleasures of this world. The joy of praising God is a delight that touches our spirits. It goes indefinitely deeper and never ends.

Today’s lesson will focus on 1 Peter 1:3-9. We will take these seven verses and look at each one. It will be even better than holding the Hope Diamond in our hands and watching the light hit each facet. With each sparkle, may His light fill us with the miraculous joy that comes from the praise we speak to the Holy One.

Read 1 Peter 1:3-5. Peter starts off with a sentence that he shouts in his words to the reader:

Praise be to the God and Father 

of our Lord Jesus Christ!

He then lists the reasons for our praise. Look at each verse and list the gifts given to us because of God’s mercy:


Verse 3 - ______________________________________________________________________


Verse 4 - ______________________________________________________________________


Verse 5 - ______________________________________________________________________

These three verses reveal the reasons for our joy, the delight that fuels our praise of God. Praising God is essential to our prayers, our communication with Him. It is essential because it directs our desires from the attributes of this world to the attributes of God. When we see the power, majesty, mercy, grace, love and all the unfathomable attributes of God, an inexpressible joy is ours. It is a gift from Him by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This kind of joy is contrary to the world’s definition of joy which is limited to the pleasures of this world. The joy of praising God is a delight that touches our spirits. It goes infinitely deeper and never ends.

Read 1 Peter 1:6-9. Answer the following:


What will we have to do for a little while?


Why do these trials come?


Even though the Christ follower does not physically see Him, they do what?


What is the believer filled with?


Why?


What does this mean to you?


How can you apply it to your life?

These four verses are an explanation of the reality of our faith in this life. So many times we look through rose-colored glasses at the Christian life. In reality our lives are hard sometimes. Yet, as Christians, there is an underlying life–fulfilling, peace-giving joy. Let’s dig into the Word of God to find out more on the subject of the inexpressible joy God gives us.

Inexpressible and Glorious Joy
The Greek word used to describe this type of joy is: “Agalliasis” meaning “exultation, exuberant or ecstatic joy; ebullience. This type of joy denotes a highly expressive, demonstrative and celebratory joy. It is sometimes associated with dancing.”

This type of joy is illustrated in the following verses. Describe how joy is used in this passage:

Read Luke 10:1-24 (focus on verse 21)

The joy that is described in Luke 10:21 is one that describes how we should celebrate our relationship with Jesus. The disciples saw Jesus Himself express this type of joy when He sent the 72 people out to prepare the way for Him before He went into each town. They were also given the ability to heal the sick and cast out demons in the Name of Jesus.

Can you imagine Jesus leaping and dancing with joy? He rejoiced this way because ordinary folks did extraordinary things through the power of His Name. They discovered the mystery of God that even the learned and wise of the earth couldn’t understand. This type of joy is ours when we place our faith in His plan and purpose for our lives. This gives us great reason for rejoicing.

Oftentimes the idea of prayer has been defined by folded hands and bowed heads. But, I pose to you that it is ok to lift our faces, raise our arms, leap for joy and dance in the throne room of God during our prayer time. It’s not disrespectful. NOT AT ALL!

I suspect that He is dancing too. You know what? He adores our praise and through our rejoicing, fills us with His inexpressible and glorious joy! The goal of our faith is the salvation of our souls and we’ve received that through our precious Lord Jesus, so ~ REJOICE!

Prayer Time
Go to your Prayer Journal and take this time to rejoice in Him. Put on your dancing shoes if you want. Whatever way you would like to praise Him, do so now. Write out any thoughts, prayers or feelings that you may experience. Go ahead, let your hair down! 


Discussion Questions
1. The act of praising God is essential to our prayers, our communication with Him. It is essential because it directs our desires from the attributes of this world to the attributes of God. Why do you suppose this is true?




2. So many times we look through rose-colored glasses at the Christian life. In reality our lives are hard. Yet, as Christians, there is an underlying life- fulfilling, peace-giving joy. How can this be?




3. You know what? Jesus adores our praise and through our rejoicing, fills us with His inexpressible and glorious joy! The goal of our faith is the salvation of our souls and we’ve received that through our precious Lord Jesus, so ~ REJOICE! How do you view this type of praise? Is this a new concept? Discuss.