Psalm 66:1-4

1Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
2Sing out the honor of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
3Say to God,
“How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
4All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.”
-Psalm 66:1-4

A mentor of mine shared a story of a very humbling experience he had. One morning, he woke up extra early and drove to hike a nearby mountain. After some time of hiking, he had made it to the top. Having seen not a single person and having complete confidence that he was alone, he began to pray. Through this time of prayer he felt prompted to shout praise to God. With a long moment of processing what he was about to do, he eventually mustered the courage to cry out, "I love you, Jesus!" He paused, silence echoing to him his own shame, for he realized something to his own dread. He had held back. While completely and utterly alone, bearing an audience of One, he held back. From there he turned and walked back down the mountain in silence and ashamed.

From this story that he shared came a very important lesson for me. The practices that we implement throughout our lives can and will impact the time that we have one on one with God. Now by no means do I believe that we should all climb to the mountain tops and prove that we can shout with a full voice that we love God, but I would like to pose a question. What holds back your praise? Perhaps there is nothing and you are freely rejoicing in the Lord. If that is the case then praise the Lord! I shall rejoice alongside you. Yet, I am inclined to believe that the vast majority of us have found praise to be hindered in our lives. Let us take the time to identify what that is and repent thereof. Let us come to the place where we can freely rejoice in the Lord our God.