Praise Anyway

 

Every once in a while, I read something someone else has written and think, More people need to hear this.

THIS is one of those things!

I’m sharing this with permission from a sweet and humble Sis. Mandy Bowen, a Pastor's wife in Mississippi. Her honesty about her own journey with worship is what I love the most about it. She's not writing from a place of pointing fingers. She’s writing from a place of, “I’ve been there. I was that person. And God changed something in me.”

I think there’s something here for all of us. 🩷

Here are her words:

I’ve been in church for 25 years, and it wasn’t until this last 2 years that I have truly grasped the power of worship. I have sat back and missed out on hundreds of opportunities to get lost in true worship before preaching and get my breakthrough BEFORE the preaching (and sometimes after if I’m being honest).

After being convicted sometime ago about my worship and not giving God my 100%, I begged for forgiveness for all those services that I didn’t give it my all and I asked God everyday to give me the heart of a TRUE worshipper and to give me a Holy boldness when it came to worship. And after having a new mindset, I finally feel like I have barely scratched the surface of what my praise is capable of and what it means to God for Him to see me giving Him my 100%.

Service after service the choir gets up there and we sing our guts out and I look out and see so many people content and complacent. Barely moved by the spirit and not even acknowledging Gods presence.

I can so easily recognize this attitude in the church because that was ME for so many years!

I used to take it personal when I sang so hard my throat hurt, when I sweated through my church clothes, when my calves hurt and cramped from jumping in my little heels just to not even get a response. I even allowed the lack of response to discourage me and make me self conscious- did I look stupid up there? Maybe all this bouncing and pushing and priming isn’t really necessary. What’s the point anymore. Where are my fellow worship leaders at????? You feel me???

But I don’t get offended or discouraged anymore. Instead, I feel heartbroken for those who choose to sit back during the worship service and speculate the song choices, judge the soloist, and only go through the motions.

If you only knew what blessings, breakthroughs, and miracles your keeping yourself from!!! I make this post not to offend anyone, but to challenge you to go deeper in your worship. I want to see my fellow church members and other churches grow deeper in God and get blessings upon blessings!

Your praise and worship will unlock doors in your life you didn’t even know existed. I know most days it’s HARD to clear your mind and truly give God your 100% during worship service.

Maybe you’re going through a season in your life where you feel like God isn’t there anymore-

praise anyway.

Maybe you’re going through the worst trial of your life- praise anyway.

Maybe you’re going through a season of depression- praise anyway.

We learn this ’praise anyway’ mindset from Job, Daniel, Joseph, David, and so many more men and women in the Bible.

So the next worship service you’re in, I challenge you to come before God boldly and give him your all!

Don’t worry about the person next to you.

Don’t worry what others might think.

Don’t worry if you look stupid or crazy, praise anyway!

Don’t let another worship service pass you by without giving God your all.

See what happens in your life when you have the ‘praise anyway’ mindset. It will change your life forever!

-Mandy Bowen

**You can connect with Sis. Mandy on Instagram at @mbs.hairwithstyle.
She is also the author of A Christian Girl’s Guide: Surviving the Teen Years, which you can find on Amazon.