Thanksgiving is not just a holiday.

It is a way of life.

As we study the scriptures with Scott Pauley today,

we pray that God will help us learn how to develop grateful hearts and hopes.

I believe in the power of prayer. I hope you believe in the power of prayer and I hope

you've seen it at work in your life. But this week, I want

to talk to you about the power of praise. Did you know that the Word of God speaks as much about

praise as it does about prayer? And yet, we spend much more time asking than adoring. If you look at

your time with God and take a careful analysis of it, I wonder what

percentage of it is spent asking God for something, and what percentage of it is spent simply

worshiping and praising and enjoying God. Did it ever dawn on you that God should get as much

joy from your time with Him as you do? That when you come to God,

you're not simply coming to get something, you're coming to give something. And the one thing

you can give is you can offer what the writer of Hebrews called the sacrifice of praise. I think one of the

great Psalms of praise is Psalm 100. It's a

famous Psalm. I want to read it to you. It's only five verses long. And then I want to try to teach you

some truths that God is teaching me from this Psalm of praise. As a matter of fact, this is interesting,

but the little title of Psalm 100 in our Bible says a Psalm of praise. And the

word that is used there for praise is synonymous with the idea of thanksgiving. How do we praise God?

We praise Him by giving him thanks. And here's what the writer says. Make a joyful noise under the

Lord, all ye lands. serve the Lord with gladness,

come before His presence with singing, know ye that the Lord He is God. It is He that hath made us,

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