As Christ followers, we build many important spiritual habits into our lives – including prayer, Bible reading, gratitude, and so on. All of them will play a critical role in our spiritual journeys.
But we must not forget the habit of praising God. It’s particularly important when we’re struggling.
What makes praise so important for you and for those who you lead?
Here are 7 reasons that praising God is vital for you and those you lead.
Praise lifts your spirit.
Psalm 42: 5-6 says, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again – my Saviour and my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember You.”
The world is looking for hope. As Jesus-followers, we know the only real reason for hope. That’s why worship is so energizing. It takes your eyes off of your troubles and puts them on Jesus.
Praise helps you sense God’s presence.
God is always present whether you sense it or not. Sometimes we don’t feel His presence, but that’s because we moved away from Him. He hasn’t. When you feel God’s presence is when you need praise Him the most. It’s easier to act your way into a feeling than feel your way into an action. In fact, maturity when we do what’s right whether we feel like it or not. Psalms 140:13
Praise enlarges your perception of God.
The Bible tells in Psalm 69:30: “I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving.” When we look at something with a magnifying glass, it gets bigger. When God gets bigger, our problems get smaller. Either your problems will be big, or God will be big. The choice is yours.
Praise reveals solutions we can’t see.
We all have issues in our lives we simply can’t figure out. They tie us up in knots. Psalm 73:116-17 describes this kind of situation. “I tried to understand all this, but it was too hard for me to see until I went to the Temple of God. Then I understood what will happen to them.”
The temple of God is a metaphor in this Psalm for coming into the presence of God. It was through worshipping God that the writer got his answer. When we have no idea what to do next God provides answers during a time of worshipping. Praise will correct the imbalance. It will remind you that not everything in your life is bad. Praise helps you remember who you are and who God is.
Praise enlists God’s protection.
When you praise God for an answer to your prayer before it happens, that’s faith and that’s when God begins to fight for you. In Second Chronicles 20, we read about three enemy nations who ganged up on Israel. The only chance Israel had was for God to miraculously save them. So, King Jehoshaphat organized an unusual battle plan. He put a choir in front of the army as they marched into battle.
The Bible says as soon as the Israelites started praising God, confusion ensued, and the enemy was defeated. The Lord wants to fight your battles too, so take time to praise Him in advance.
Praise breaks chains and opens doors.
You probably have certain things hold you back. You might feel stuck, like nothing has changed in your life for the better. It sounds odd, but there’s no better time for you to thank God than right now.
Paul did this in Acts 16 while he was in prison with Silas. In the middle of the night, the two decided to have a praise session. As they praised God, the Bible says, “The prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off.”
That story is a miracle, but it’s also a metaphor of what God does in our lives when we praise Him. When you need to be set free from an attitude, an addiction, or habit, praise God.
My challenge for you is to learn to make praise your natural response for everything you face – good or bad. Develop that habit in your life and then see wat God does.
