Praise and Thanksgiving are musts for the maturing believer. Praise and Thanksgiving are the exaltation of God: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There are aspects of intercourse with God in which a man seeks to ask and receive from the Lord. These asking and receiving aspects of prayer are primarily man-centred. A man comes to the Lord with a need and asks and receives from the Lord. The Lord is glad to give, but man is the direct beneficiary.
However, in Praise and Thanksgiving, a man forgets his needs and comes to the Lord, receives a revelation of the Person or a deed of the Lord, and then praises and thanks the Lord for who He is or for what He has done. God is thus the object of the Ministry of Praise and Thanksgiving! God's heart is satisfied. His "need" of praise and thanksgiving is met. He is exalted and His heart satisfied.
God demands that the saints render this ministry to Him unceasingly. He wants praise from His own round the clock. He is glad when praise flows from His to Him. He is disappointed when it does not come.
The believer is called to praise and thank the Lord unceasingly -- always, at all times and in every circumstance. It is as if God were saying to the believer, "Forget yourself, forget your circumstances; praise and thank Me. Praise and thank Me when you like what has happened. Praise and thank Me when you see the good in what I have done. Praise and thank Me when you do not see any good in what has happened. I am sovereign. That which has happened, which is apparently good, I will cause to work out for your blessing. That which has happened and is apparently bad, I will cause to work out for your blessing. As long as you remain yielded to Me, I will cause all that has happened to you to turn out for your blessing. I have willed good for you and what I have willed for you will come to pass, regardless of what may apparently be happening."
In the call to praise and thanksgiving at all times and in all circumstances, the Lord is saying to those who know and love Him, "My children, all will work out for your good. Do not look only at the immediate circumstances. Do not look only at the here and now. Look ahead. Look fifty or one hundred years ahead, and then you will see that this apparent tragedy has been moulded into a blessing for you by Me. I know what I am doing. All will be as it should be. The future will hold together. Show that you believe that I am in control; show that you believe that I am sovereign, show that you believe that I am able to transform the ugliest event into a blessing for you, by praising and thanking Me now in every circumstance, even though you do not yet know how I will work in this circumstance for your blessing! Have faith in Me. Believe Me now, in spite of the present situation, for what I will do in the future!
Believing God now and trusting all the future to Him, everyone who loves the Lord should act his faith by now obeying the command of the Lord which says, "Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 RSV), and also the Scripture which says, "Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20).
There will be many events for which you will immediately cry out, "Praise the Lord!" because you see the immediate benefit to you from what has happened. Ensure that that cry is loud, firm and unceasing.
