I Sing Praises

Two nights ago, I was laying in bed with an excruciating headache and severe anxiety about my second day of school. It was later than I would have liked to have gone to bed, but I needed to get everything in order for day two. I just kept trying to fall asleep and my headache wouldn't go away and my mind wouldn't rest. So instead of praying my usual, "Dear Jesus, please take away my headache," I began to speak praises to the Lord.

Step 1: Acknowledge God as your heavenly Father.
Step 2: Praise God for who He is and what He has done.
Step 3: Choose one of God's names, attributes, or characteristics and thank Him for being that to you.

These are the first steps that Jack Hayford describes as an efective prayer. (Read my previous blog on this to get more insight). As I've said before the 10 Step Prayer Process seems a little cheesy, but the more I TRY to incorporate it, the more confident I become in my prayers. However, I've been stuck on the first three steps lately (which is a good thing - no need to progress too quickly).

This is no surprise, considering my new found interest is finding out who God is - praising Him for being that seems a likely second move.

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
(Psalm 103:1-2)

Praise the LORD.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
(Psalm 147:1)

"The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose."
(Acts 16:22-26)

If Paul and Silas can sing praises while in prison after being beaten, then I can certainly muster the energy to sing praises lying on my bed with a headache. While there was no earthquake (that I know of) I do know that God (within 3-5 minutes) set me free from my pain and anxiety. The chains came loose.

I believe God wants me to know that clearly, He will answer my prayer and respond to my request but that in KNOWING HIM and PRAISING HIM FOR WHAT I KNOW, He takes care of me even without specifically asking. He knew my request before I reached Step 4 and took care of it. End of story.