30Days of Praise - Day 30 - Video Post! (Ayo Thompson)

Hiya everyone!!

So it's the 30th Day and I am excited!!!!

Thank God indeed for the past 30days! If we counted our blessings, we wouldn't finish!

I am grateful for my relationship with God, I am grateful for the wonderful family He has blessed me with. I am grateful for the amazing friends that make life that much more beautiful!

I am grateful for the blog and the wonderful people I have been able to meet and interact with!

I am grateful for today, the first personal video on the blog...

It's all about praise!

What are you grateful for? xx

30Days of Praise - Day 29 Praising the King of Heaven feat Egee

Hello everyone!!

Can you believe it, it's day 29 of September (and our month of Praise!!).. It seems like only yesterday we crossed over from the great month that was August to the greater month that is September! I am sure you are almost as excited as I am to be transiting to the even more greater (permit me please :-D) month of October!! Yayyyyy!!

So, what's your praise today? What are you grateful/thankful to God for? As the month draws to an end, it's a great time for us to count our blessings and praise the King of heaven!

While I was thinking of what and how I would like my praise to God to go today, I got a beautiful email from someone who signs out simply as 'Egee'.. She (why do I think the person is a 'she'? lol) shares her own praise to God using a very wonderful hymn (You know I love hymns right?!!)

In her own words, "This song encompasses all that our God is".. If you have never paid attention to the words of this hymn, I encourage you to. Read it like a poem, sing it out loud if you choose and let His praise fill your soul:

Praise my soul the King of Heaven
To His feet thy tribute bring
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven
Who like me His praise shall sing
Praise Him, Praise Him , Praise Him, Praise Him
Praise the everlasting King.

Praise Him for His grace and favour
To our fathers in distress
Praise Him still the same as ever
Slow to chide and swift to bless
Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him
Glorious in His faithfulness.

Father like he tends and spares us
Well our feeble frame He knows
In His arms He gently bears us
Rescues us from all our foes
Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him
Widely as His mercy flows.

Angels help us to adore Him
Ye behold Him face to face
Sun and moon bow down before Him
Dwellers all in time and space
Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him
Praise with us the God of grace.

God bless you
Egee

*Drum Roll* - Tomorrow is the last day of September! It is also the last entry for the 30Days of Praise!! Thank God for His faithfulness through it all!

30Days of Praise - Day 28

Immortal, Invincible

God only wise

In light, Inaccesible

Hid from our eyes

Most precious, most glorious

The Ancient of Days

Almighty, Victorious

Thy Great name we praise!

Lord I praise You today with one of my favourite hymns. You are the God who is immortal, age-defying, time-defying and death-defying. 

You reign in a class of Your own. Your name is matchless, Your name is incomparable, your power is incomprehensible Lord God Almighty!

I praise You because You are great and there is absolutely nothing You cannot do. Be exalted oh Lord, now and forever!

30Days of Praise - Day 27 by Ope Bisoye

It's Day 27 of the month of praise and today, lovely Ope Bisoye leads the praise!

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There are a lot of beautiful songs I would like to share in praise to God, but I'll try not to be greedy! :-) 

The first one is in the spirit of praising God in Ibo; it's titled Ebezina by Preye.
The second one is titled 'You' by Hillsong... These two tracks are the most played on my playlist.
I am very delighted to share this with the 1 + The One family!

God bless us all.

You by Hillsong:

Apart from the instrumentals in this track, the words were carefully chosen... It was as if Hillsong wrote the track for me!

Here are just a few of the verses and they totally describe my life in relation to my Creator;

Invading all my weakness
You wrapped me up in grace
The worst of me succeeded by the best of you

My heart is overtaken
My soul is overwhelmed
The worst of me succeeded by the best of you

My dreams have found a purpose
My future in your hands
This life would have no meaning
If it weren't for you .....

I can't listen to this song without dancing, there is joy in my heart, it boosts my spirit every time!
I cannot stop praising my Daddy oh, because He is always there for me. His love for me is unfailing!
I don't know how to live without God anymore and I don't ever want to!
I just want His life displayed in mine till kingdom come...and after *shines teeth*

Ope Bisoye

Ebezina - Preye

You - Hillsong

Dear Daddy - 30 Days of Praise: Day 26

My dear Daddy,

Miracle-working God, my Defence, the Fountain of life and Bread of Life, Eternal Excellency, my Help in ages past, my hope for years to come. You are worthy of my praise.

Daddy, I have absolutely enjoyed the past 25 days (and today) 26th day of praise! It's been great discovering new songs of worship, reading other people's expressions of love and praise for You, learning new songs and re-discovering old ones. One of my favourite parts my King is getting to call You by Your many names! Oh Lord I love it!!

Daddy, I was thinking the other day that it's wonderful to refer to You using different beautiful names, so I wondered if You also had special names that You called us by.

I remember the beautiful Grandma that You blessed me with. She delighted in calling me Ayo-mi-Olaaa.. It was her own special way of calling me and anytime she enunciated the syllables and dragged the word out, I felt the love behind it. Just by saying that one word in the special way, she passed many beautiful messages, particularly expressing her love for me.

In the same vein, I thought about the possibility of You calling us Your children fondly, I remembered that indeed in Your word, You call us by special names -

You say that I am the Apple of Your eyes, iBlush :-), that I am Your Battleaxe, that I am your Beloved (hence why You sent Jesus to die for me), that I am Your Little child, that I am the fearfully and wonderfully made one, that I am a chosen generation, You call me a Royal Priesthood (I feel like a Princess already!), a holy nation, You call me Peculiar (I am very unique), You refer to me as anointed.. You call out to me that I am more than a Conqueror.

Awwww Daddy! Thank You for these and many more names that You have given me! It makes me feel so so special and loved by You.

I praise You today for being generous in love to me, holding nothing back. Thank You my most Excellent God, my Hero, the Joy of my heart, the Centre of my existence, my no 1.

I lovey love You.

Your Princess,
One

30Days of Praise - Day 25 *I Acknowledge You as King!* - Dolapo Thompson

"I'm acknowledging You for who You are....."

Now this is a song by Lara George that can always get me to praise God for not only what He has done but also for who He is!!! 

Song Lyrics -
I’m acknowledging You for who You are
For what You’ve done
In my life
Oh I’m, I’m acknowledging You for who You are
Dansaki re
Dansaki re Baba

In my life, You are the miracle worker
You are King of Kings
You are the Way-Maker…oh yeah!
In my life, You are the Prince of peace
Dansaki re
Dansaki re Baba

Thank you King of Kings for being my God, my Redeemer!!! Thank you for counting me worthy to die for all those years ago!!! 

What a truly great and awesome God You are!! My Way-maker, the Glory and the lifter of my head, the One who embodies love, my God who is second to none, thank you!!! 

Truly if I had a thousand tongues for a thousand years it would simply not cut it!

Thank you my Miracle worker! Thank you my Father, my Daddy who's always there and never late. 

When I call in the earliest times of the morning you are there, busiest times in the afternoon you are still there, late at night, Daddy still you are there!

Thank you my merciful God!! Truly who am I that you are mindful of me!
May Your praise never ever cease from my mouth!

Thank you my Daddy!!!!
Xxxx

Dansaki - Lara George

30Days of Praise - Day 24 *Your Presence is Heaven to Me* - Isioma Ikediashi

'Your Presence is Heaven to Me' is the song I couldn't stop listening to on my way back from the long journey from choir rehearsals last week.

It summarises my thoughts, frustrations and desires right now!

I'm at a place where I feel like reminding God that I'm NOTHING without my daily dose of His presence. 

The song put everything into words that I've been trying hard to communicate to God and since I started to sing it, God has sent me comfort through His word to reassure me that He's right by my side and will never leave me so I want to share it with someone who is feeling like I am and encourage them to sing and tell Him how they feel but also be reassured that He's always with You!

Here goes -

Your Presence is Heaven to Me (Israel Houghton)

30Days of Praise - Day 23 *Miracle-Working God* by Glowreeyah Braimah

I heard this song today and it has been melting my heart since first listen...

It's a beautiful worship song by Glowreeyah Braimah featuring one of my newest favourite gospel singers - Nathaniel Bassey (I was actually looking for more of his songs when I saw this collabo!)

I read Glowreeyah's introduction to this heart-felt praise and it made me fall even deeper in love with it... You know, I believe that we birth some of the best of us during tough times/situations. When you go through challenges in God, you come out of it better, stronger and usually with a gift/story/experience to bless many others.

Here's the background to the song and please have a listen as you praise God - our Miracle Worker, still very much in the business of doing great and awesome miracles! Praise His wonderful name!

"‘Miracle-Worker’(The Yahweh reprise) was given to me,as I prayed in my ‘Jugsy-Nduks’ room. I lay face-down on the floor because my knees could not bear the weight of my agony that day. This lasted for approximately 8 minutes and 3 seconds. At the very same moment, my 2 year-old niece was fighting for her life in an Intensive Care Unit in the USA. Doctors were trying to revive her through Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation(CPR). Soon after, she slipped into a coma and was in that state for a few weeks. In between the last full-stop and this next sentence, it is best left to the imagination what a harrowing time my family had to endure during that period.

I sang this song every-day because I could not find the words to pray.
I promised heaven that I would record and release the song as soon as my niece left the hospital. Promise kept. Here you have it!

Interestingly,my fellow stake-holders in the process (Wilson Joel and Nathaniel Bassey) were also going through several near-similar encounters. For WJ, he also had a family member in hospital. For NB, anytime he turned on the TV etc, all he heard was a confirmation of the lyrics of this song.

Today, Fefe (pronounced Fay-fay) is the effervescent joy-ball she has always been! Her laughter peals like bells ringing. It is almost surreal to believe the awesome transformation. From down and out, to up and about! A few weeks ago, I visited her and when I I sang her ‘Miracle-working God’ song to her, the smile she gave me was worth more than a million rainbows!

Who would have known that such a trial would birth such a triumph? YAHWEH!

Experience THE MIRACLE-WORKER, DESTINY-CHANGER, POWERFUL HEALER today!"

(For updates on Glowreeyah’s music, do visit www.glowreeyah.com)

Source HERE

Miracle Worker - Glowreeyah Braimah feat Nathaniel Bassey

30Days of Praise - Day 22 *ABC of Praise* feat Lucie Felix

Hello everyone! Thank God for another beautiful and blessed week!

I am excited about today's post because it's so wonderful!

One of the many great ways of praising God is by extolling Him calling Him by His different names.. You know how when you want to ask a favour from your loved one, you call all their given names to soften them up, make them smile or praise them :-)

Now, the thing about our awesome God is that He has innumerable names that describe His nature, His character and His greatness! He loves to hear us call Him by His many names and sometimes, He even introduces Himself personally to you by a new and unique name..

Today, we get introduced to what our guest writer refers to as 'The ABC of Praise'... She takes you through the names of God using the 26 alphabets and guess what? There are even multiple names for some alphabets.. You can now praise God using His many different names!

Join us in praise as we recite the ABC of Praise! -

A
All-powerful, All-knowing, Almighty, Amazing God, Author of eternal salvation, Awesome God, Ancient of Days, Alpha, Adonai, All sufficient, Advocate, Anchor of my soul, Answer to every puzzle

B
Beautiful, Burden bearer, Bright & Morning star, Bishop of my soul, Bearer of sin, Bread of life, Banner, Blazing light in darkness, Balm of Gilead, Beginning, Builder of all things, Branch of righteousness, Blessed Redeemer, Buckler, (The) Best

C
Caring Father, Creator of heaven & earth, Creator of the universe, Creator of all Creations, Counsellor, Comforter, Covenant keeper, Conqueror, Consuming fire, Closest friend, Confidant, Chief Cornerstone,

D
Dependable, Defender of the weak, (my) Defence, Deliverer, Daddy, Defender of widows

E
El-Shaddai, Elohim, Emmanuel, El-Elyon, Everlasting Father, (The) End, Eternal Rock of ages, Everlasting God, Eternal God, Excellent, Everything to me

F
Faithful, Faithful & True, Fountain of living water, Father, Father of the fatherless, Fruitful Vine, Fortress, First, Father of glory,

G God of miracles, God of wonder, God of power, God of the impossible, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Israel, God eternal, God, Great, Gracious, (My) Glory, My Guide, God of gods, God of heaven, Gentle Saviour

H
High & Lofty One, Holy, Healer, Helper, Holy one of Israel, Highest, High Priest forever, my Husband, Hope of glory

I
Invincible, Immortal, I am, Immanuel, Indescribable, Incomparable,

J
Jesus, Just, Just One, Judge of all, my Joy, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Saboath, Jehovah Hosenu, Jehovah Gibbor, Jehovah Kanna, Jehovah Shammar, Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Mekkadeskum, Jehovah Ropheka, Jehohah

K
Kind, King of kings, King of glory

L
Lovely, Loving, Living God, Living Word, Light of Israel, Lord of lords, Lord of hosts, Living water, Light of the world, Lover of my soul, Lamb of God, Lily of the valley, Lion of Judah, Lifter of my head, Loving hope, Light at the end of the tunnel

M
Merciful, Maker, Mighty one, Most high, Morning star, Man of war, Marvellous, Magnificent, Majesty, Majestic God

N
Name above all names, Need of everyone, Nail in a sure place, Nissi

O
Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omega, Only wise God, Owner of heaven & earth, Offspring of David, One Who relents from doing harm

P
Perfect, Powerful, Provider, Physician, Problem solver, Prince of peace, Prince of life, Pillar, Possessor of heaven & earth, Potter, Potentate God, Power of God, Portion of Jacob, (My) Portion

Q
Quickening Spirit

R
Reliable, Righteous, Righteous Judge, Redeemer, Rock, Refuge, Resurrection & the life, Rock of ages, Rock of salvation, Rock of my strength, Rock that is higher that I, Rewarder, Restorer, Renewer of my youth, Rebuilder, Ruler of creation, Rabbi, Root of David, Rod of Jesse, Real

S
Strength, Shepherd, Saviour, Sustainer, Shield, Sanctifier, Shepherd of my soul, Shepherd of Israel, Stone of Israel, Sun of righteousness, Strong Tower, Sun & a shield, Sure foundation, Strong Deliverer, Source of my joy, Sovereign, Sufficiency, Solution to all problems, Slow to anger & abundant in loving kindness

T
True, Truth, Tower of salvation, Trustworthy, True vine

U
Unchangeable Changer, Uncreated Creator, Unquestionable, Untamable, Uncontainable, Unequalled, Ultimate, Unstoppable,

V
Vine, Victorious, Voice of hope

W
Wonder worker, Wonderful, Wise, Worthy, Winner, (The) Way, Wisdom of God, (The) Word

X
Xcellent, my Xceeding great reward

Y
Yahweh, Yeshua, Yea & Amen

Z
(My) Zeal

*squeals* My Praise vocabulary just received an amazing upgrade! I look forward to lifting high the praise of our great King with His many wonderful names!

Is there any name you'd like to add too? Please inform us and praise our Quickening Spirit!

xxxx

30Days of Praise - Day 21 *Ibo - Language of Praise*

One of my favourite languages for singing God's praise is Ibo...

There's just something about the language... Very deep and powerful!

I don't speak the language but for You Lord, I will learn :-)

"If  Ibo be the language of praise, then learn on" One, 2014

There are so many beautiful names of God in Ibo - Last year, during the Month of Praise, we shared some with their meanings.. You can view HERE.

I am praising God today with this beautiful song by Nathaniel Bassey (If you can, please listen to all Nathaniel Bassey's song, you will surely be blessed by his praise).

Imela Imela (Thank You, Thank You)

Okaka Onyekeruwa (Great and Mighty Creator of the world)

Imela Imela

Eze'm oh (My King!)

Onyedikagi (Who is like You?)

Ekere diri gi (Glory belongs to You)

Onye ne mema (He who does good!)

Onyedikagi

Ekere diri gi

Onyenagworia! (Mighty Healer!)

Please listen and watch the beautiful song here:

PS Join me in praising God! What language do you like to praise God in? Also, please share names of God that you know in different languages (with their meaning if possible) :-) 

Have a most beautiful and blessed week! xx

30Days of Praise - Day 20: Marvellous God

What a marvellous God!

What a marvellous God!

He has done marvellous things for meeee!

Lord indeed You are a marvellous God. You do great and mighty things that cause us to marvel! 

We stand in awe of You and we stand amazed at how grand Your ways are!

You who fed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. You who turn around impossible situations - You raised Lazarus, after 3 days of being dead!

You blessed Hannah with Samuel after years of barrenness, You blessed Abraham and Sarah with the promised Isaac long after it was deemed physically impossible for them to conceive! What a truly marvellous God You are. 

Keep marvelling us oh Lord! In You we put our total trust knowing that impossible is nothing as long as You are involved!

Hosanna to our God in the highest!

Dear Daddy - 30Days of Praise (Day 19)

Dear Daddy,

My Special Best Friend! The undisputed Champion of the whole universe! The One who needs not fight to win a battle - Only a word and it's over. Wonderful wonderful Jesus. The name above all names - at the mention of Your name, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that You alone are Lord.

You are Omni-God.

Omniscient - All-knowing God! There is nothing that You do not know or You are not aware of. Nothing ever happens behind Your back and nothing ever takes You by surprise. You are the fountain of all knowledge - You are the Teacher of teachers, the Doctor of doctors and the Professor of Professors! With You, I need not worry or fear about what tomorrow holds, You know it all.

Omnipotent - All-powerful God! All power in heaven and on earth belongs to You. You give it to whomever You please. There is nothing that is too difficult for You to do - You who created the ancient hills and the mountains we see today. You make the rain to rain, hail to hail and snow to snow. You are the One who can shut the mouth of lions and make the impact of fire as nothing. You are the One who gives us the power to trample upon snakes and scorpions!
Borrowing the words of the Psalmist - The Lord is my Light and Salvation, WHO shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of WHOM shall I be afraid? All-powerful God, with You there is no shaking!

Omnipresent - Always present God! You are everywhere at once. You are there with me when I pass through the waters and You are with me even through the fire! You are the One who never leaves nor forsakes His own. You are reliable, trustworthy, unfailing, faithful and dependable. You never abandon Your own, even in the hardest of times. Thank You for holding my hand and carrying me through life. Thank You because even when You are silent, Your presence is there, Your eyes never leave me.. I am the apple of Your eyes. Thank You.

I don't think I say it enough my All-together God - I appreciate You. I love and appreciate You from the bottom of my heart.

Always Your little girl,
One xx

30Days of Praise - Day 18 I am because of You

So I'm here today
Because God kept me
I'm alive today
Only because of His grace
Oh He kept me
God kept me
He kept me
So I wouldn't let go

This song has been like my song of the week.. The words are so deep..

Indeed Lord, I acknowledge whole-heartedly that if it weren't for You, I wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't be standing today, I wouldn't have survived all life's lows, I wouldn't be smiling today, I wouldn't be full of joy today.

Lord, if it weren't for You, I would have given up (a long time ago). If it weren't for You, I would have compromised many times over and would still be looking for help or succour somehow, if it weren't for You, I wouldn't look forward to waking up or living.

If it weren't for You, I would have been very afraid of what the future held, I would have been filled with anxiety and worry. If it weren't for You Lord Jesus, life would have swallowed me up.

Thank You Lord because You make life worth living, You give me a brand new opportunity when I fail or fall, You give me the grace to dust myself up and try again, You give me the grace to succeed, You put a spring in my step, You put such inexplicable joy in my heart.

All that I have, all that I would ever hope to have; all that I am, all I could ever hope to be is all because of YOU.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I give You all the praise.

I Almost Let Go - Kurt Carr Singers

30Days of Praise - Day 17 ft Isioma Ikediashi

Praise God for another beautiful day!

Today, Isioma leads today's praise.. I'm sure I've mentioned previously that I lovee listening to this lady worship.. Like I said to her, hearing her sing praises to God makes me smile - I wonder how God must feel :-)

Her praise is focused on thanking God for her salvation and she sings a beautiful song by Israel Houghton 'Moving Forward'... Thank You Jesus for making all things new!

PS Don't forget, you can send in your praise expressions - Song, dance, poem, letter, smile, picture.. Anything! oneplustheone@gmail.com #30DaysofPraise

30Days of Praise - Day 16 *Age to Age*

Age to Age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the End.

You are ageless God.. I remember a description of Yours that I was taught in Children's church many years ago - The God who is from Everlasting to Everlasting! You have no beginning and no end - No one can tell where you start and no one could ever know Your end, yet You know the beginning and the end of everything, every matter and everyone.

You are timeless - Relevant yesterday, today and tomorrow. You are ahead of fashion and trends; before they are even conceived, You're done with it!

Time is in Your hands - Only You can determine times and seasons and only with Your permission can it be altered. Only You can make the sun stand still and give an extra day on earth by special request. Only You can make a weeping man at night dance in the morning - time is in Your hands.

Only You can turn around the captivity of a man in split seconds so that it seems as if it were a dream - Time is in Your hands

Only You can bring a promise of years and years to pass within the twinkling of an eye - Time is in Your hands

Only You can restore lost years as if they never happened, and compensate a man for all the lost time - Time is in Your hands

Only You can go back in time and give a glimpse of the future - Our Supernatural 'Time-Machine', Time is in Your hands.

Indeed You are very very great, You have my praise from now to eternity.

How Great is Our God - Hillsong

30Days of Praise - Day 15 *Consuming Fire!*

The God that answers by fire is indeed my God!!

I remember that song and I smile because it reminds me of a time, long ago when You showed that You are the Consuming Fire in HD... Real life.

There was a contest between God and a 'something'.... That something was called Baal.. Unfortunately, people worshipped this something and it even had prophets! Something that was carved by the hands of men was worshipped by the same things that made it.. (Do you get that paradox?!)

Anyway, enough was enough and the Prophet of GOD challenged the prophets of the something to show who was GOD indeed..

The challenge was simple; whoever was God should send down fire from the sky....

So this something's prophets did all they could, shouted, spoke, beat themselves up - all to get it to move.... Alas, something did not show...

Then it was GOD's turn... And boy did He show up and show up BIG!! One of the days that will never be forgotten in history! They dared to take the challenge against our great God! (they forgot that God Himself is fire - remember the burning bush?)

Not only did the fire fall, it was the kind of fire that consumed stones and the kind that licked up water... Like when God shows up, He usually does it in style! Protocols are broken, 'the order of things' wait for permission to happen, He leaves everyone in awe and without a shadow of doubt of who is BOSS, of who has the final say.. Of who is the Sovereign God!

I AM, who can contend with You? What can stand against You? Who is he that says a thing when You have not decreed it?

Take all the glory Lord, yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever.. You rock, You reign!

(He Reigns) Our God is an Awesome God - Kirk Franklin

30Days of Praise - Day 14

Lord today I want to praise You for gifts and talents that you have richly blessed every human being with!

I praise You because You didn't create any single person empty... We are full of You because we are made in Your image. Creativity is in our DNA. You have made us very complete and very unique.

I praise You because it is only a wonderful God that can create wonderful creatures who are diverse, yet collectively amazing!

Thank You for the singers, I hear some people's vocal range and I am like WOW! Father indeed You do mighty things!!

I see how adept some people are at playing instruments and I am like WOW! God, You are truly awesome!

I see how some people can create beauty out of an empty space, a great eye for detail and I remember how You formed this wondrous earth and all that's in it out of nothing. You are amazing God!

I see how people can use their minds and intellects to solve complex problems as if it were A,B,C.. WOW! You are just incredible God!

I see the gifts that you've given some to love and care and be selfless beyond human nature and I know that Your love for us must be immense indeed.

Awesome God... I couldn't even begin to list the inummerable talents and gifts that you so freely bestow on us all and today Lord, I just want to say You are worthy of our praise!

Thank You for not making us empty! You are amazing God!!

30Days of Praise - Day 13: A Melody of Praise to my King ft Lucie Felix

There are some songs of praise that evoke a particular memory of God.. For instance, when I sing "Darling Jesus, darling Jesus, Oh my darling Jesus You're a wonderful God...." It takes me back to when I was very young and I sang this song, not knowing this darling Jesus nor appreciating the significance of this song that I now love so much! I sing it with a smile today in praise to God who loved me and kept me even when I was ignorant of His existence or love......

Today's praise is led by another beautiful daughter of God and the song that she starts with is nostalgic for me as I remember singing it in praise to God in my early days as a Christian.... As she raises a praise to Her King today with a variety of songs (See if you can recognise them?), I encourage you to also think of your own special song of praise that means something special between you and Your Lord...

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You are the Lord, the never changing God

You are the Lord, the ever faithful God

You are the Lord, the mighty One, You are the Lord of hosts

I praise You oh Lord

In my life I see what you are doing. One more time, I lift my hands in praise of Your name

Heavenly Father, I appreciate You; Son of God what a wonder You are; Holy Spirit what a comfort You are.

Almighty God, I praise You for saving me. I adore You for rescuing me from hell. Thank you for taking me out of the miry clay into Your marvellous light. I have joy in my heart today because of You

Thank you Lord for all You've given to me, for all the blessings I cannot see. Thank you Lord for all you've done in my life, for giving me excellent health, for provision, for divine protection, for divine favour, for who you created me to be, for helping me to fulfil your purpose for my life

With a grateful heart, with a song of praise, with an out-stretched arm, I will praise Your name, thank You Lord!!

From my heart Lord, I praise You with these songs:

Revelation Song - Kim Walker (Jesus Culture)

Great are You Lord - Sinach

Dear Daddy - 30Days of Praise (Day 12)

Dear Daddy,

It's me again! :-)

My one and only Lord and Saviour! The Beautiful One that I adore, my Gentleman of Galilee.

My One and only Saviour, my great and awesome Deliverer. My One and only Light and Salvation, The One and Only stronghold of my life. My One and only Assurance, the One that my confidence is totally in. My One and only Messiah, the Anointed One, the only One that atones for my sins.

Thank You for praying for me, for interceding continuously on my behalf. Thank You for giving Your life for me and shedding your blood for me on the cross of Calvary. Your blood set me free from sin and bondage, your blood makes me clean, makes me pure. Your blood is a mark upon me that enables me to boldly come before the throne of grace to obtain mercy. I overcome by your blood!

Thank You for the victory that you have given me in every way. Thank You that You became poor while on earth that I may be rich, thank You because you took painful stripes that I may be healed. Thank You for you took the bruises for my iniquity,thank You for paying the ultimate price that I may go scot free.

Why would I not praise You? Why would I not sing to You? Why would I not rejoice in You? Why would I not give my whole life to You my Father? What could ever be too much to give to You? What could ever be too great to give up for You?

Abraham must have understood a lot more about Your love for him, to have gladly given up his son at Your word. It must have been beyond obedience, I think it was a deep faith in the solidness of your unfailing love.

What joy it is to know You, to worship You, to praise You, to call You Abba Father.

You remain my ONLY God, my only King, my only Lord. No one or nothing comes even close.

Daddy, this song by Your son Nathaniel Bassey whom I love (very platonically :-D) has been on repeat this evening for me and I would just like to make that declaration again loud and clear that Saviour, I have No Other God But You...



Love You always Lord,

One xx

Conversations with One: Thank God for 'Missed' Opportunities! (30Days of Praise Day 11)

Hello good people of God!!

Welcome to another edition of Conversations with One!!

Basically, Conversations with One is a chat-series on the blog.
Each week, the 1 + TheOne panel (made up of beloved and very wise friends with a variety of personalities) and I bring you snippets of our 'round-table' discussions from a male/female perspective.. We talk about any and every thing!!

Ladies! Have you ever wanted to get into the mind of a guy? (I know I do! lol), and for guys, I bet once in a while you wish you could just read her mind! Well hopefully week after week, we get to bridge that gap!

You can have a look at last week's conversation where in the spirit of the month of Praise, we thanked God for some of the great attributes of our spouses/significant others. You can read it and other previous episodes HERE.

Sooo, this week on Conversations with One, our topic is given by Mr Agbalagba-ski (*phew*) and we ask:

"Is there a relationship that you want to thank God for that didn't start aka 'missed opportunities'?"

Many people are familiar with that famous saying "Every disappointment is a blessing".. More than that, I remember and love Romans 8:28 which says "And we know that ALL things work together for the good of those that are the called and that love God".. 

Sometimes, a particular relationship doesn't quite start (as you may have wanted) / or quite lead to 'forever after' but with the benefit of hindsight, you are able to thank God very much for it.. (Even if at that time it was not a funny situation at all!)..

So let's conver-sate.. As always, we start off the discussion and I hope that you'll join in too by leaving your comments!

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Mr NumeroUno: Az in! Ehn! This topic is from Heaven. How do I know? I have been thanking God since yesterday for all the 'bullets I dodged' lol
Az in I cannot thank God enough!
Time is really an interesting teacher. 

Weave-ohh (who remembers that lol)

Mr Agbalagbaski: I totally agree, there's been a lot of times I agree with you bro, too many dodged and misguided bullets..........

I remember one time, there was this girl that I tell you I thought was sent from heaven, as in agbabiaka ooooooo, wolf whistle tinz when we first met (btw I am not telling you where). I tell you, I heard angels singing the Halleluyah Chorus with an Azonto feel to it.........

Haaa-Lle-Luu-Yah!

She ticked all the boxes -
- She is a born-again Christan, so am I,
- She's a worker in church, so am I,
- She's very dedicated, so am I
- She's very Posh, so errrrrmmmmm
- She's very attractive, Errrrmmm pass
- She's very high class, Ermmmmmmm.. To God be the glory lol

When we speak!!!! Eh!!! I tell you this girl makes serious correct sense!!!

Well let's get to the point, I was head over heels or heels over head, you pick one....
We were both very attracted to each other, did what Christians do when you first start talking to someone you kinda are reaallllyyyyy feeeling..
(DID YOU SAY WHAT'S THAT?!!!!!) I no dey Tell!!!!!!!!

I was very SURE of this Girl sha !!!!!!

Well what am I thankful for?

1. That God gave me great Counsellors, My Pastor (Pro 11:14)
2. Though she ticked all MY boxes, our destinies were not the same (1 Cor 6:12)
3. God's perfect will, not his permissive
4. That she's happily married now (to someone else lol)
The list goes on!!!!!!

One: Wow. That's really deep. Thank you very much for sharing this + highlighting lessons learnt and scripture references.  A blessing indeed.

Mr Numero Uno: Thanks Mr Agbalagbaski for the insight. Let me also use a scripture to paint the picture of dodging 7 (hypothetical) bullets, lol.
I'm thankful because like Samuel when he saw Eliab, I would assume SURELY the Lord's anointed is before me, and then God will squash it. And like God told Samuel...Not this one, then After Eliab, Abinadab- Nope! Then Shammah comes along, still NO!

Aka "Where is DAVID?!"

The lesson this story has taught me personally is simple. Even those who hear from God like the Prophet Samuel, can make the wrong assumptions, and may even attempt to anoint the wrong individual. In fact, on 7 occasions, as it was in Samuel's case. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)

I hope somebody springs up thanksgiving from that because, maybe guys have come, and there was this one that was as tall and as handsome as Eliab, and you might have thought, SURELY this is he, and before you say "Jack Robinson", it doesn't work out! And when you get that assurance from within, he is there somewhere, then comes Abinadab, and Shammah, and all the other 4, and it simply appears as though 'the one' is out of sight. I think that deserves thanksgiving because anointing the wrong fellow prematurely could be a recipe for disaster. 

From experience, time has taught me that all that glitters is not gold.
When I look back at who I thought I wanted, or was 'the one' and what I see now, I can't tell you how grateful I am to God for the relationships that never came to be or didn't work out.

One: Can I double 'like' your comment? I am learning a lot from this conversation. Thank you.

Hmmmm.. So even Samuel could miss it too. This made me think about my own Eliabs and Abinadabs. I had thought "SURELY, this is the anointed of the Lord.... Mehn, no prayer point needed.. Just behold the glo-rayyy!" :-)... but God said no.

How could someone this foineee not be God's will for me?? *wink* hehe

Now, imagine if Israel had missed David?! Imagine if the world had missed David?! *Thank YOU Jesus!!*

Ms PYT: Hello people! As far as I can remember, there's really no relationship I wanted real bad that I have to thank God for not working out. The case for me though is that I can actually thank God for relationships that were not worth it all. Thank God I was bold enough to end relationships I was not comfortable with.

One: Thanks a lot for that Ms PYT. That in itself is worthy of thanks - the grace to count your losses and move on. And thank God they cleared the way for hubby too :-)

Any more ladies and gents?

NubianPrincess: Me! Me!! Me!!!

I thank GOD in a hugeeee way for helping me 'dodge the bullet' on two very special occasions!

Both times, it was an almost-instantaneous answer to a heartfelt prayer, and I remember both incidences very clearly!

The first time, I was at Church on a Thursday afternoon. And out of a restlessness in my spirit, I prayed a simple "Please God, if this man is not my husband, please take him away and don't make me feel hurt"... Less than half an hour later, I was single and free... And I went for a party that day. :) Not like I didn't feel the sense of loss, but considering the amount of time we'd spent together, the energy I'd put into the relationship, it was a miracle I didn't feel worse or commit suicide! :) Looking back, I can see how the fellow was all kinds of wrong for ME!

Sometimes it's just too complicated! 

On the second occasion, I prayed during a weekend Church retreat. The prayer went something like "Please God, I really, really, really like this guy! He's saying all the right things and if You don't give me a firm answer by the end of this weekend, I'm going to jump in headfirst and that will be it!"... I got back home on Sunday afternoon, and a few hours after I got home, my phone beeped. It was a text from his "watchamacallit" (that is precisely how she introduced herself), saying we needed to talk urgently. Needless to say, I dodged a canon with that one! :) I was looking back recently - he came back to see if we could start a 'relationship', and the dude was still all kinds of wrong! I'd matured spiritually, emotionally, mentally but he was right where I'd left him... And wasn't particularly interested in growing. (He did have pots of money though!) Loool!

My point? Sometimes, we see a great thing, great packaging like NumeroUno said earlier and we want so badly for this to be him! But sometimes, all we need to do is scratch a little deeper and we see the dude isn't real gold, he's just gold-plated.

I want to encourage every single lady whose heart has been broken at one time or the other and who may feel like her man will never come... Hang in there! God's not sleeping and He's not deaf! Sometimes, He needs to do a work in you and sometimes, He needs to a do a work in your man! Be patient, be happy and be fulfilled... Your God-sent man is on the way! (Sorry One, this was NOT brief!)

MissMe: Hmm Nubian you might have to write a book on all your experiences in life! They are always so on point! :)

The men on this panel are obviously Pastors in the making (if they are not there already!!) Such wonderful, godly perspectives every time!!!!

Right, my relationship-not-proceeded-thanksgiving-prayer-point is during a phase in my life that I'm thinking "Err Me what the heck where you thinking?!". It involved someone that was all manners of wrong. Attitude/habits/direction in life were significantly missing. Like spiritual glasses or not, he was a firm NO. But alas I still tried to pursue. But my God being who He is literally moved me to a different city to save me from making a HUGE mistake!

So I'm definitely thanking God for that "missed opportunity". 

No, don't go there love

One. MissMe, Thank God! By any means possible even if it means a change of location lol. Thank God indeed.

Ms MIA: Ok, you know how God just clears the way for a heavenly blessing and when it happens you're like Wahhhhhh???? Say wahhhh?? Lord na you be dis????

Story goes....
Guy rings me to introduce himself and from the first conversation (which lasted an hour...*bulgingeyes*), I could feel he was making sense at least in the physical sense (My mother says that "the eyes ought to eat before the mouth" - means that I have to like what I see first).
Guy has a great job, very interesting to hear about and he's certainly going places (financially stable- check). He's 6ft tall (height-check). He's 'a good guy', so no drinking, no bad company, likes being at home and cooks (tell me about husband material...lol). He's very positive about life and an achiever. So I'm there thinking, thank you Lord for sending this one my way!
One week into our 'giggles' and 'get to know' and of course I had started to pray and ask God to categorically say is it or is it not (yes I wanted - 'The Voice'), the character begins to unfold and I'm there looking at the non-negotiables popping out.

I sat there saying, I'm going to be a nice girl and not assume things and give this person a chance to prove me wrong and maybe 'change'? And all the sort that God was probably saying 'Noooooooo' to! Until God SHOUTED! Yes He did.

I rang my friend and sister and gave her the low down, and very typical of her, she asked the deep questions that even I was afraid to think about and next thing she says "NO! He's not the one! Can't you see this and that and don't you hear that and that?". At that moment it was just clear to me. I heard loud and clear!

Thank God that I heard Him and took the decision to 'dodge' because day after, My Promise came.....Yayyyyyyy!

Dancing and singing...'I am grateful oh Lord' :)

Thank God for closed doors and THE open door :-)

Thank God for closed doors too

One: Mehn, I know what it means to ignore all the signs and just try and 'encourage yourself' to just give it a go lol.. Thank God for His mercy that said NO! 

Thank You Jesus. Even when we were stiff-necked and thought "This way or no way", You were still merciful and patient enough to ensure that we got your best. Thank YOU!

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What's your story? Do you have an experience you'd like to praise God for too? Please share! xx

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)