And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a
loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet,
giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
--Luke 17:15-16 (NKJV)


I remember the first time I said, "Praise the Lord!" It seemed like a
very awkward phrase to utter. All of my Christian friends would say
it, and I thought, I am going to say that now. I consciously thought
about it first. But I had a hard time getting it out. Once I did, it
felt kind of good. So I said it again. It is a wonderful thing when
"Praise the Lord" just flows from your lips.

In fact, that is what you were created to do. You were created to give
glory to God. It is the highest use of your vocal chords, your mouth,
and your lips. God wants to hear us give Him praise. We need to give
God what He deserves, and that is glory. Psalm 29:2 tells us, "Give
unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the
beauty of holiness."

Yet far too often we are like the 10 men who suffered with leprosy and
called out loudly to Jesus for intervention. He graciously heard their
prayer and healed all of them of their dreaded disease. But only one
returned to thank Him. Jesus said in response, "Were there not ten
cleansed? But where are the nine?" (Luke 17:17).

Often we are quick to ask God for help during times of crisis, but we
are very slow to offer Him thanks after He intervenes on our behalf.
In doing so, we are essentially telling Him, "Thanks, God. See you
next crisis." When those leprosy-stricken men saw Jesus, they cried
out loudly for His touch. But only one came back to loudly thank Him
(see Luke 17:15–16).

We should be as devoted in our praise to God as we are in crying out
to Him for help.