3 Reasons To Praise God When You Don't Feel Like it
Sacrifices of Praise
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
Let me be honest. Sometimes, I struggle to believe God's Goodness and I don’t feel like praising Him. Hebrews 13:15-16 is greatly encouraging because it teaches that praising God is a sacrificial offering. It's not supposed to feel easy or ‘natural’ all the time. And to offer praises to God when it's hard, despite our flesh’s rebellion against it, is pleasing to him. You may ask: Isn’t it hypocritical to praise God when I don’t want to?
The Meaning of Praise
First, let’s define praising God. Praising God is so much more than singing worship songs. According to Hebrews 13:15, it is “the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name”. Not only is it acknowledging who God is with our lips but it is also the fruit that comes from doing so. We can acknowledge and proclaim who God is in thoughts, words and actions. For example, when we share with others whatever God blessed us with — gifts, resources, time, etc., we are offering sacrifices of Praise to him.
The Sacrifice of Praise
In calling praise a sacrifice, the writer of Hebrews acknowledges that it is costly. The cost can be physical (time, money, energy, etc.) but it most importantly is spiritual. It will cost us dying to ourselves to offer up Praises to God. But in doing so, God is creating in us fruit of life and righteousness (Luke 9:23-24).
Hypocrite Much?
Now, to address the question: Is it hypocritical to praise God when we do not feel like it? No, it is not. Here are three reasons why:
God’s praiseworthiness is an objective fact outside of and independent of us. God is always praiseworthy whether or not we feel or believe it. There are objective truths in the world that do not depend on our feelings. For example, just because I don’t feel the earth rotating, does not mean that it is not. The same is true of God. God is always God: Sovereign, compassionate, slow to anger, merciful and gracious, Holy and Just. He is worthy of praise at all times. So, it is always right and good for us to proclaim these truths about him in words and actions regardless of circumstances.
Praising God is from the Holy Spirit. Let me ask a few questions. As a Christian, does the Spirit of Christ live in you? If so, is it the Spirit or the flesh that is hindering you from praising God? You see, praising God despite our feelings is not hypocritical. It is a great example of what it means to walk by the Spirit and deny the flesh.
Praising God aligns our hearts with His Spirit and with reality. It is one way we fight against the (subtle) fall into hardness of heart and spiritual sleepiness. If your heart is dull or apathetic towards God, the solution is not to pull away or stop your acts of devotions to him. It is to continue to offer sacrifices of praise while asking God to enliven your hearts again towards him.
Emotions Matter
I don’t want to take this too far. To emphasize reason #3, our emotions and heart posture matter greatly. God does not desire robotic worshipers. He does not want people whose lips praise him but whose hearts are far from him (Isaiah 29:13). Sure, feelings should not dictate our acts of devotions to God. They have been affected by the Fall and many times lead us astray. In all things, we must trust in the Lord’s truth above all. But we should be excited about the things of God. God created emotions. Who better than Him deserves to be the object of our best emotions?
“I will extol the Lord at all times;
His praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt His Name together.”
