Praise is telling God what makes him so amazing! Since God is always amazing, we always have a reason to praise him. Right?
Of course if you’re like me praise comes more naturally when…
something good has happened,
you feel great,
things are going well.
Frankly, today wasn’t one of those days. I lost all the changes I’d made to a project I was working on. I got disappointing news about a close friend.
When something good happens, it’s easy to follow up with praise. That good thing serves as a locomotive, it drives how we feel and what we do, and praise tags along behind.
Real praise though is a locomotive rather than a caboose. Praise is leading our soul (sometimes dragging its feet) into God’s throne room and parking it in front of God’s awesomeness. “Here, take a look at Him,” we say to our soul, pointing to God, even while everything else—the trip to urgent care, the unexpected car repair—says, “Look at ME!”
Praise looks at God and that lifts our spirits. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dragged my soul and forced it to praise God, even though I felt like doing anything but. The result? A whole new outlook. As someone once said, “When we praise God, we make room in our hearts and minds for Him to come in.” Lifting God up, lifts US up!
Praise Prayers with Kids
Here’s a fun, easy-to-understand way to explain praise prayers to your kids anywhere anytime.
#1 – Take turns and TELL EACH PERSON one or two things you like about them.
Example: “I like that you always help me with my homework.” Or, “You are really funny and make me laugh.”
#2 – Ask each person, “HOW DID IT MAKE YOU FEEL to have someone say nice things about you?” (Good, right?!)
#3 – Explain that when we tell God WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT HIM, that’s called praise. And he likes it!
#4 – Give them PRAISE PRAYER EXAMPLES.
“God, you are so loving.” “God, you’re so powerful that you made the whole world.”
#5 – Actually PRAY with Praise Prayers!
(If you need a little traction, turn to Psalm 103 and actually pray the first few verses.)
Next time your kids are feeling down or feeling grumpy, sit down together and spend a couple minutes praying with praise prayers!
What would it look like if every time you sat down to eat or got in the car for the next week,
you praised God for two things?
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