“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6
Growing up, my mother taught me to pray with a specific structure and in a specific order. She taught me to start with praise and worship, then ask for forgiveness of sins, then make my requests. And she would really emphasize beginning my prayer with praising God. As a child, I accepted it and modeled my prayers after her instructions. But as I’ve grown older and grown in my faith, I’ve come to develop a deeper understanding of the purpose of praise and worship in our relationship with God.
The first reason we praise God is that He alone is worthy and deserving of it, and as His creation, we are designed to exalt Him. The Lord delights in our praises to Him, and it is how we can invite His presence and intimately spend time with Him. And worship is the total devotion of one’s life to God. In Romans 12:1, Apostle Paul describes what worship is. It says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” In our conduct, in our thought, in the words we speak, we should strive to do all these things in a way that worships God and inspires others to come to know God for themselves.
We do both, praise and worship, ultimately to bless God and glorify His name. Now, the wonderful thing about living a life that worships God is that we ourselves are edified by it. We have a lot to benefit from living in this way. And this is something that I’ve noticed in my life. The days when I consistently spend time with God when I wake up in the morning, for example, and intentionally praise Him for the simple things that I sometimes take for granted and the big things He’s done in my life, it readjusts my mindset and outlook for the entire day. I can see the difference in how my day goes when I do this compared to when I rush out of the house and go about my day. I’m able to start my day with gratitude when I praise God for who He is and for the evidence of His goodness in my life. It cultivates a posture of gratitude and reorients minds toward His faithfulness and sets my day.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Philippians 4:8, which says, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Whenever I read this verse, I’m always reminded of what God wants us to focus our minds on, which is especially helpful when I have many worries and fears preoccupying my mind, and wavering my faith.
Adopting this way of thinking is so crucial to fostering and maintaining peace in our lives, despite what may be going on around us. And it’s not necessarily saying that we should never think about challenging things, but we should be careful not ruminate or meditate on those things. Even in our prayers to God about difficult situations in our lives, it further builds up our faith when we, through praise, remind God (and ourselves) of the good things He’s done in our lives in the past, what He is doing now, and what He is more than able to do for us in the future, according to His will for our lives. Having this kind of heart posture can help build up our hope and faith in His ability to bring us out of whatever situation we find ourselves in.
So, I encourage all of us to make it a daily habit to carve out some time in the day to intentionally praise God whether it be through music, through prayer, reciting psalms, etc., and to remember that we are to be living sacrifices unto the Lord, so that in all we do, say, and think, He alone is glorified. I pray that the Holy Spirit helps us all cultivate hearts of praise and live lives that worship the Lord continuously.
