Bill Johnson said, “If you gave me one hour to pray, I would spend 45 minutes of it in praise and thanksgiving.”
Posture is all-important in prayer! Always begin with praise. The paradoxical thing is that a good prayer meeting can’t start with prayer; has to begin with worship.
Psalms 100:4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
Praise elevates minds and hearts to the heavenly plane where God is worshiped endlessly, 24/7. Praise prevents us from making measly requests of a marginally interested but distant God and leads us to make grand declarations about the character of Almighty Yahweh, our God who is both personal and powerful, at once eminent and yet intimately engaged. Praise clears the haze in the maze of our complicated lives and helps us engage clearly and directly with our heavenly Father.
To put it more succinctly, prayer is less about telling God all your big problems and more telling all your problems about your BIG God.
This can only occur in an atmosphere of worship and thanksgiving.
(Taken from my Upcoming Book, 12 Prayers that get Answers.)
