Yesterday, a prayer. An excellent prayer for any day’s beginning.

Today, a song for any morning’s start. A simple song of praise that can be as strong and high as one’s soul can lift.

Q: What will help to lift it higher?

A: Counting reasons (in Himself) to praise Him (from the Bible).

This counting helps me draw CLOSER to Him (my key word for the year).

I’ve been using the letters of the word to guide me. So far: C stands for “Call.” Call on Him, call out to Him, for we can do nothing like half decent worship without His Spirit enabling us (John 15:4-5). L stands for Look and Listen — Look to Him, Look at Him, Listen intently to what He says.

And an excellent, dynamic way to look at Him is to ponder the praise reasons  I count with consideration. To be sure they’re valid, I Look to His word, as it reveals His attributes and actions.

Mary at Stories of Rain and Rivers and I are sifting through scripture passage after passage, to see: Are there ten thousand biblical reasons? We think so. So far, they’re rolling like marbles hitting one another, on and on, building up multiple momentum.

How about you? Would you like to start counting, too?

If you blog, you can link up your reasons here.

If you don’t, you can leave your (Bible-verified) reasons briefly, in reasonable numbers at a time, in the comments, at the link-up site or here. Or, you can simply start a personal journal of praise reasons, or include them in a journal you’re already keeping. Mary and I would love to know, if you do.

Worship comes in the counting...

REASONS TO PRAISE HIM:

(From Psalm 65:1-5)

• 421- Because He hears prayer
• 422 – Because to Him all flesh will someday come
• 423 – Because it was promised from of old that He would provide atonement for our trespasses (Ps 65:3)
• 424 – Because blessed is everyone He chooses and causes to approach Him and dwell in His courts
• 425 – Because the goodness of His house satisfies
• 426 – Because He will answer by awesome deeds 
• 427 – Because those awesome deeds will be done in righteousness
• 428 – Because He is not only our salvation, but also the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the far-off seas 

(From The Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:9-15), a prayer He hears)

• 429 – Because we can call Him Father
• 430 – Because He wants us to call Him Father
• 431 – Because He is, in Heaven
• 432 – Because His name is to be hallowed
• 433 – Because His kingdom will come
• 434 – Because His will should (and shall) be done on earth as it is in heaven
• 435 – Because it’s to Him we must look for our “daily bread”
• 436 – Because He wants us to ask it of Him
• 437 – Because He graciously wants us to ask His deliverance from temptation and evil
• 438 – Because we can ask His forgiveness and He’ll forgive as we forgive
• 439 – Because He wants us to ask forgiveness, that He can give it
• 440 – Because He wants the sweet way of forgiveness for all, by all
• 441 – Because His is the kingdom
• 442 – Because His is the power
• 443 – Because His is the glory forever

(From Psalm 65:6-13 — Reasons in the mountains, seas, and rains)

(In the Mountains and Seas…)

• 444 – Because it’s He Who established the mountains by His strength
• 445 – Because He is clothed with power
• 446 – Because He stills the noise of the seas, of their waves
• 447 – Because He stills the tumult of the peoples
• 448 – Because those who dwell even in the farthest parts are afraid of His signs
• 449 – Because He makes the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice

(In the Rains — or lack thereof)

• 450 – Because He visits the earth and waters it
• 451 – Because He greatly enriches it
• 452 – Because the river of God is full of water
• 453 – Because He provides grain, as He has prepared
• 454 – Because He waters earth’s ridges abundantly
• 455 – Because He settles its furrows
• 456 – Because He makes the earth soft with showers
• 457 – Because He blesses its growth
• 458 – Because He crowns the year with goodness
• 459 – Because His paths drip with abundance
• 460 – Because they drop on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side
• 461 – Because He clothes the pastures with flocks, the valleys with grain.
• 462 – Because they shout for joy, they also sing.

(From Deuteronomy 11:11-17:)

• 463 – Because the Promised Land was an example of a land drinking water from the rain of heaven, as a land for which He cared
• 464 – Because His eyes were long upon it, from the beginning of the year to its end
• 465 – Because He gives land to people
• 466 – Because He promised His people that if they would listen obediently to Him, to His commandments, to love and serve Him with all their hearts and soul, He would give the rain in their land in its season, early and late, so that they might gather in their grain and new wine and oil
• 467 – Because He promised He would then give grass in their fields for their cattle
• 468 – Because He promised that He would enable His nation to eat and be satisfied
• 469 – Because He warned them not to let their hearts be deceived that they should turn away and serve and worship other gods. Because He warned that if they did, He would shut up the heavens so that there would be no rain and the ground would not yield its fruit, and people would perish from the good land He had given them.

 *****

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