HALLELUIA!!

As many of you recall, I spoke of the "what, where, why, how, and who" of praise this morning as found in Psalm 150. And how like God to bless us in all 3 of the services as we made it a priority to focus on Him by praising His name. What a wonderful morning as we experienced worship as both a noun and a verb.
Now here's my question for you. What leads you into the holy of holies? What enables you to praise the Lord? What inhibits you from doing so? What can be done in our worship service to better provide an atmosphere for praise and worship? If you are not from Mulvane, I'm curious how you would answer these questions in your setting. Just click the comment button and offer your thoughts. I'm interested in what you have to say.

"THIS TIME...."

Okay, here's the deal as it pertains to the last question on the previous blog - I was in Georgia a few months ago and Grace Imathiu, a wonderful woman from Africa who now resides in Wisconsin was sharing from Gensesis 29:31 ff. I've pondered her thoughts and this text ever since.
You may recall the story of Jacob and Leah. Jacob worked for Leah's father for 7 years for the hand of his daughter. BUT, it was not Leah he loved, it was Rachel. After some trickery by Laban, (her father) Leah became Jacob's wife with the agreement that Jacob would work another 7 years for the hand of Rachel. Meanwhile God saw that Leah was not loved by Jacob so he opened her womb and she became pregnant. Not once, but four times, all four times giving birth to sons (a blessing in that culture). The first son was named Reuben signifying the fact that "the Lord has seen my misery". The second son was named Simeon, meaning "one who hears" and signified that the Lord had heard her cry that she was not loved by Jacob. The 3rd son was named Levi which sounded like the word "attached" signifying Leah's desire for Jacob to become attached to her, to love her. Lastly, she gave birth to Judah, derived from a word signifying "praise" saying this time I will praise the Lord.
Aren't we a lot like Leah? Don't we yearn for fairness and justice, to be loved? Surely we can relate to Leah. After all, all she wanted was to be loved by her husband Jacob. But it was not until the 4th child was born, Judah, that her focus changed. Instead of being consumed by Jacob and her desire for him to love her, a transformation took place as she responded, "THIS TIME I WILL PRAISE THE LORD" (v.35) After all her struggles, her pain, her feelings of being unloved, she shifted her eyes to the Lord and praise came forth.
Could it be possible that we need to refocus? Any Leah's out there?