"I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee." Psalms 138:1
How is your public prayer life, and your public praise life, is it worthy to God or man? The Psalmist David boldly said "...before the gods will I sing praise unto thee." This is the kings of the earth or people of great power in the earth. The question I have is this; in your heart do you make this promise to God? I see much and much more as the days pass "professed ministers of the gospel" who pray but fail to pray in the name of Jesus, and who forget to praise and recognize God properly. I believe this is because they are weak in faith and weak in respect of God. I believe that the world's demonization of Christ Jesus and Jehovah God has affected their faith. I remember Rick Warren did this at the inaugural prayer of President Obama when he failed to pray in the name of Christ Jesus. I heard a professed minister of the gospel just this week who did not pray in the name of Jesus Christ. There are many of these "professed ministers of the gospel" who have announced that you do not have to pray in the name of Jesus just to prevent doing it. I remember several years back hearing John MacArthur on the radio make the bold statement that it is not necessary to pray in Jesus name, but I must boldly ask who says, and why not? The scriptures are bold on this point and give no margin for error. In John 14:13 - 14 it says "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do...If ye shall ask any thing in my name..." and both scriptures conclude "...I will do it." if asked in the name of Jesus Christ. But I hear men cry "in his name", "in your name", but is that the same? I believe that unless the name of Jesus Christ has been mentioned just prior to that quote, it is invalid and God will not hear the prayer. I believe anyone who believes or refuses to pray in the name of Jesus Christ is afraid to recognize Jesus Christ to his or her hearers. I must ask, is the name of Jesus Christ an embarrassment? Let us not forget He is the Saviour of mankind and He is the God of all gods. Man cannot stand before God without going through Jesus Christ. 1Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" the word "mediator" means - a go between - meaning " "in his name" or "in your name" falls way short of the man Christ Jesus. Do not be afraid of speaking the name Jesus Christ because God said you should whole heartily praise Him even before the worlds gods. Psalms 86:12 - 13 "I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. (13.) For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell."
