Praise Your Way Through Flying Biscuits

Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! [Psalm 150:1-6].

QUOTE: The greater your knowledge of the goodness and grace of God on your life, the more likely you are to praise him in the storm (Matt Chandler).

Did I mention that I was living in Belize when my biscuit flying season started? This added just a few more interesting twists to the situation, along with being in a third-world country, and also away from friends and family. One morning on my typical sunrise beach walk, I was praying for guidance. Suddenly, an American woman came rushing out of her home to tell me something. I was thinking to myself, why is she interrupting my prayer time?

Then, she abruptly told me I needed to praise my way through this situation. I was thinking, I can hardly breathe, let alone praise. What in the world is she talking about? Let’s just say my initial thoughts and reaction were not stellar. Then I stopped looked directly in her eyes and asked her what she really meant. As she put her hand on my shoulder, she said, “When my first husband died, the only way I could keep from losing my mind was to sing praise songs. I could not breathe or think either, but I could sing at the top of my lungs in the shower with tears streaming down my face, and it somehow gave me peace. I just thought this might help you too.”

We hugged and I was glad I did not miss our little session or walk away with an attitude. The more I thought about this, the more I knew she was right. At the time though, that was the last thing I wanted to do. It was a few years later, once I was back in Colorado, on one of my solo hikes, that the Lord quietly and gently showed me that praise wasn’t just singing songs out loud. He showed me it was more about my thoughts, the way I was thinking about myself, the way I thought about situations, and my attitude towards him. Oh yes, of course, it always goes back to thinking, doesn’t it? So, I would like to share these little thinking praise gems that work for me.

FIVE STELLAR WAYS TO PRAISE HIM THROUGH FLYING BISCUITS

1. INTERRUPT YOUR THOUGHT: At one of my business seminars, they told us to bring a tambourine for an exercise they were going to teach. I showed up at the conference with my purple tambourine, a little unsure of what they were going to have us do, because I’m not musically gifted! Whenever we have negative thoughts that come into our head, we need to physically INTERRUPT them immediately. Throughout the conference whenever we had a disempowering thought come into our head, we were told to shake that tambourine to interrupt that thought.

The goal was that the obvious interruption would make you vividly aware of a thought, then you could switch that thought to a more empowering thought. The Lord had me use that tambourine throughout my entire biscuit flying season. Using that tambourine also lifted my spirits a little too, and I would almost laugh every time I used it!!

2. SPEAK SCRIPTURES OUT LOUD: I have purposefully placed in this book over 365 different Scriptures so you can have a new Scripture for every single day of the year. My hope is that you will find one or two that really resonate with you that you can readily use when needed. Even if you only remember a few words of the Scripture that is okay, it is still God’s powerful word being spoken out loud. For example, all I could say was, “greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world” or “I am more than a conqueror.” Find a scripture passage that totally speaks to you, believe it, know it, and USE IT.

3. TELL GOD WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND: Oh yes, I have had many intense discussions with the Lord. The Lord knows how you are feeling anyway, so why not just tell Him, let Him know what you fear, what your concerns are, why you are upset, what you are mad about etc. etc. It does you no good to keep those feelings inside because He knows them anyway! I read in a devotional one time that yelling at God is a healthy spiritual and relational practice. Not necessarily yelling because you are mad at God but yelling and speaking to and about the situation. I promise you when you do this, He will simply wrap His arms around you, let you know that He’s got this; and say, let’s talk about this. At that point, it is time to shut up, listen, allow God to love on you, and guide you on what is the next step.

4. SING WITHOUT INHIBITON: Singing praise and worship songs without giving a hoot what anyone else thinks, is really still one of my favorite ways to praise my way through. How many of you use your car for a personal voice studio, the great outdoors, or the shower? Well, these are great places to sing your heart out when all the biscuits are hitting the fan. There were a few songs that I would cry through on a regular basis, including Praise You Through the Storm.

5. SPEAK I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM: Well, this is what this book is all about, learning to understand and believe that YOU ARE WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE. Learning to tune out people that do not understand the whole picture, ignoring well-meaning statements, or flippant and hurtful comments, and not listening to anyone that doesn’t speak life.

It is learning to listen and speak what GOD SAYS in his Word, what he whispers in your ear, and what He shows you in everyday mini miracles. Be aware of who you are listening to! Say this statement out loud as many times as you need to.

PRAISE YOUR WAY THROUGH: Part of our walk with the Lord is learning how to praise our way through the flying biscuit seasons. I understand that sometimes this is easier said than done. However, this is part of renewing our minds and taking our thoughts captive. Hopefully, these five praise gems will also help you! Most importantly, remember that God has given us EVERYTHING we need to live victoriously through the biscuit-flying seasons.
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DAILY ACTION STEP
Say to yourself out loud
I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM
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FRIENDLY REMINDER: Take out your journal and write down your thoughts, takeaways, and progress for this week!

TAKEAWAY GEMS
• Physically interrupt your negative thoughts.
• Speak scriptures out loud.
• Talk to God, tell Him exactly how you feel; let it all out.
• Sing worship songs without inhibition.
• Know and speak that You Are Who God Says You Are.

QUESTIONS TO “THINK ON”
1. You may not use a tambourine, but what could you physically do to interrupt those negative thoughts?
2. What way can YOU praise the Lord when biscuits are flying?
3. Have you had a season where you could not even think about praising? What happened during this time? Explain how some form of praise would have been helpful or could help in the future.

ACTION STEP: Put a song and or scriptures on your phone, programmed in your car, or on your computer so you have it readily available when you need to sing/scream/yell at the top of your lungs. I mean praise out loud!

DAILY SCRIPTURES FOR THIS WEEK

DAY 1: I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. [Daniel 2:23a]

DAY 2: He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes. [Deuteronomy 10:21]

DAY 3: Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! [Psalm 150:1-6].

DAY 4: I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. [Psalm 18:3]

DAY 5: The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. [Psalm 28:7]

DAY 6: I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together. [Psalm 34:1-3]

DAY 7: Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. [Psalm 91:1-2]