Learning to Praise God
Psalm 34:1-3
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
To praise God means to ascribe to him the worth, glory and honour that he deserves. Praising God is different from thanking him, and one way to differentiate between the two is to understand praise as giving God glory for who he is in himself, and thanksgiving as responding with gratitude for what God has done for us.
There is, of course, considerable overlap between praise and thanksgiving, and Scripture does not always clearly distinguish them (e.g. Psalm 100). But holding both categories in mind helps ensure we are responding appropriately to the fullness of who God is. Otherwise, many of us tend to be more “self-centered” rather than “God-centered” in our prayers, and spend far more time thanking God for what he has done for us than praising him for who he is in himself.
However, we often find it difficult to praise God, especially if praise has been an underused muscle in our prayer lives. Here are some steps we can take to learn to praise God more deeply.
Ask God for a heart that delights in praising him
Begin by acknowledging that you find it difficult to praise God, and ask him to give you a heart that wants to praise him. In Luke 11:13, Jesus exhorts us to ask God for things according to God’s will, and we can be confident that God is delighted when we ask his help to praise him.
Gather reasons to praise
Praise is the natural response of a heart that has beheld God’s greatness and tasted of his goodness (Ezekiel 1:28; Psalm 34:8). Therefore, our capacity for praise grows hand-in-hand with our experience and knowledge of his greatness and goodness.
Spend time marvelling at what creation reveals about our great creator (Psalm 19). Dig into Scripture to learn more about who God is, what he has done, the promises he has kept, and the promises he has made (e.g. Exodus 34). Meditate on Christ’s work (Hebrews 1:3) and ask God to reveal to you the work of His Spirit in your life (Romans 5:5). Reflect on what God has done in your life and the lives of others, and what it reveals about his character. Read good books that unpack more about God’s character and attributes.
Learn language of praise
Even as we grow in our desire to praise God, we may still struggle to find the right words to praise him. This is where we can lean on the rich resources of Scripture and the church, as well as the guidance of the Spirit. Scripture is full of prayers of praise that we can read and meditate on as we ask God to help us make the words our own (e.g. the Lord’s prayer, and Psalm 33, 34, 42, 65, 67, 84, 100, 111, 112, 113, 117, 150). Gospel rich songs can give us suitable vocabulary and melody to articulate our praise, while the church also has prayers prayed by the saints over the centuries that we can learn from. Below are just some examples:
Psalm 105:1-3
Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
From Every Moment Holy - A prayer upon seeing a flower in bloom
O Lord who so lavishly adorns the fields,
How radiant your eternal glories must be.
From the Valley of Vision (a collection of prayers by the puritans)
O my God,
You are the fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admires, adores, loves you,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before you in ceaseless flow.
When I think upon and converse with you,
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.
I praise you for the soul you have created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it, though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body you have given me,
for your royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for others,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing you clearly.
I love you above the powers of language to express,
for what you are to your creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.
Practice praising
Finally, the best way to learn to praise God is to praise him! Take one of the Psalms or prayers from above, read through them, and then pray them as your own for our God is worthy of our praise.