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Pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17). Intercessors are built for this. It is not easy, but it often comes naturally.
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In my experience, what follows is the challenge: In everything give thanks, for this is the will of GOD (1 Thes. 5:18). When the loss is a loved one, our own health, or family member, the call to praise and worship Him in all things is much more difficult.
I have been pressing in to give thanks in what are relatively easy personal circumstances, and I started meditating on Naomi and Ruth in the Bible. Something about their journey reminded me of our call to worship. There is inherent power in returning and persisting on the path of praise and worship, especially when all else appears lost. Persistent worship preceded every redemptive outcome in their story.
After Naomi’s husband and sons died, famine spread in Moab. Naomi heard about GOD’s provision in Judah (Y’ehuda). She could have chosen to wallow in her grief or to give in to wrong thoughts that it was GOD’s will for her to suffer.
In the midst of feeling bitterness, grief, and turmoil, Naomi took the steps necessary to return to Y’ehuda (Judah). Let’s look at Ruth 1:7. So she set out from the place where she was — a place marked with death, grief, and bitterness — and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. Judah, which is Y’ehuda in Hebrew, means “to praise.” Naomi and Ruth set out, and persisted, on what would have been an arduous one-hundred plus mile journey toward the place of praise and worship to the LORD!
A mature widow without sons to provide her covering, protection, and provision, Naomi desperately needed redemption. Ruth similarly needed redemption. She was a Moabite, one of the people the LORD had forbid to enter His House for ten generations (see Deuteronomy 23:2–3). In fact, Naomi’s sons should never have intermarried with Moabites, according to Deuteronomy 7:3. Both women faced a lifetime of a cursed existence.
All of this changed when Naomi determined to return to the road toward her GOD; the road toward Judah (Y’ehuda). By walking the road toward Judah; that is toward praise and worship, she and Ruth were redeemed and were chosen to be members of Yeshua’s lineage.
For our part, the story of Naomi and Ruth shows us the way to overcome.
While awaiting the return of your prodigal spouse, parent, child, or friend…return to praise and worship.
While interceding for people groups and nations experiencing unimaginable persecution…return to praise and worship.
When a loved one leaves their earthly body…return to praise and worship.
When answers to your prayers and intercession always only appear on the horizon…return to praise and worship.
When you feel like your wilderness will never end, and you’re certain that the marker you have just passed is the same marker you passed last year…return to praise and worship.
When GOD answers your prayers in the way He knows best, despite your expectations…return to praise and worship.
For this is the will of GOD, and His plans are exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ever hope, ask or imagine.
Share this article to remind others to praise and worship.
Mavourene began full-time ministry in 2014, campaigning for the Howard County Public Schools Board of Education in 2017/18 and the Maryland Senate in 2022. Mavourene is called to contend for the faith everywhere the LORD directs. She releases prophetic words and insight at Judgment Begins in the House. Photo Credit: jgroup/Getty Images via Canva Pro.