Psalms 47:1, 7 Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy…Sing praise and understand.
As I was pondering how praising God fits with a lesson on atonement, it occurred to me that praise really is a vehicle for feeling that sense of oneness with God. I don’t know if it’s the same for you, but I generally feel my deepest sense of connection to the Holy Spirit through singing songs of praise and worship. It gets me out of my head and into my heart.
My grandmother’s favorite practitioner (intercessor) used to love to ask her if she had sung 10 hymns yet when she called for prayerful support. One time, she called with a case of laryngitis and was asked that question. She started singing the best that she could and had complete freedom by the end of the 10th hymn. She sang praise and understood her oneness with God and that brought healing.
There’s a great part in the bridge of a song called “That’s the Thing About Praise” from Benjamin William Hastings, “You never know what it’s gonna change, but it’ll always leave a mark. I might see walls start falling, or it might just change my heart.”
Whether our human circumstances seem to immediately change for the better as they did for my grandmother or not, we can experience that sense of realignment back to feeling our connection—our at-one-ment with God… and everything just falls into place from there.
