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In this famous
passage of Scripture that Jesus quoted from in
Luke 4:18 we find that the Messiah came to do
several things (underlined). It is interesting
that among the set of things He would do for
those who are hurting is mentioned providing a
"garment of praise". To my understanding, this
means that the "garment of praise" is a thing of
relief provided by the Holy Spirit...not
something we drum up for ourselves. I recently
ran across a unique way of physically putting
on this spiritual garment of praise provided
by Jesus for those who are hurting or perhaps
just not in the mood for worship or community.
Below is the story as told by Priscilla McGruder
during a ladies conference in Arkansas 2006.
Priscilla McGruder...
When I was too weak from
chemo treatments to speak or pray, that was the time the devil hit me
the hardest with some really bad family news. I felt so down and sad, so
I took it to the Lord in prayer. When I finished telling Him my story,
He said, "Get dressed and go to Wal-Mart." I got excited right then
because I luuuuuv Wal-Mart. So I got dressed, got in the car, and drove
to Wal-Mart.
On the way to Wal-Mart I
asked Him what I should do when I got there. He said, "Get the largest
white T-Shirt you can find." That's
exactly what I did. When I got home, I asked Him again, now what? He
replied, "Write the word PRAISE as big as you can on the front and on
the back, then put the T-Shirt on." I'd never heard anything quite like
these instructions, but I did it anyway. Then when I had the
t-shirt on, He reminded me of the verse in Isaiah that says He came to
bring a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. What this means
is that when I don't want to praise, or when I don't have the energy to
praise, or even when I don't know how to praise, He came so that I could
put on an invisible garment of praise that would lift my spirit.
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I have used these "garments" in my local kids
prayer group that meets weekly. When kids aren't
"in the mood" to be there or when they are
experiencing a "heaviness" they will put on one
of these garments and just let the Holy Spirit
provide for them. Usually by the end of the
evening they are in much better
"spirits", as the old saying goes.
To see photos of this click
HERE.
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