Hallelujah!
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Hallelujah! -Psalm 150:6, CSB
“If we could praise God perfectly, we would love him completely and then our joy would be full.” – Tim and Kathy Keller, The Songs of Jesus
Praise can feel very outside of our normal life rhythms. It may help to demystify it in remembering that we often praise people or things. To praise is simply to lift up, commend or even (and especially in the case of God) to glorify. One very practical (and I hope not recently forgotten) example of this is in Proverbs 31 when the wisdom writer says of the woman of noble character that, “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” (Proverbs 31:28-29) Make praise a regular rhythm in your soul!
To that end, here are some songs and ideas to encourage you in the art of praise:
Songs:
Write a Tribute: Think of an attribute of God (or you can look at this list). Pick one or two and write a tribute to God about that one attribute (or pick one a day for the next week). If you start the day thinking about who God is and praising Him for it, that is a day well spent.
Praise God Aloud: Gather with other Jesus followers (it could be as simple as a meal with your spouse or family or as formal as next Sunday’s worship gathering). Take a minute to take turns sharing, out loud, something you love about God.
Fun Bonus: What if…