I have given myself a new challenge this week… Praise Prayer. A designated time of day where I pray for the sole purpose of honoring and worshiping God. No requests from me. Just a simple prayer of praise.
I wrote about 3D prayers over a three-part installment a month or so ago (read it here, here, and here). While I wrote about praising God as a part of daily prayer, I was recently convicted during my devotion time to dedicate a specific praise time for God.
Using my prayer app referenced in 3D Prayers Part 1, I’ve set a timer for 9 AM every day called “Praise Prayer.” This is a new challenge for me because I wonder why I need to do this… after all, God already knows how great He is… does He really need me to remind Him?
The answer is No… and Yes.
God already knows He is perfect. God already knows He is great. So, no, He doesn’t need my reminder… But yes, He wants me to acknowledge it.
I compare it to this… I love to cook. My husband likes good food, but he’s one of those people who thinks it’s silly to spend more time making a dish than it will take to eat it (he’d be happy eating grilled cheese and ramen noodles at every meal — ugh). However, I think nothing of letting a soup simmer for hours to get the flavors perfectly blended… or slow-roasting a pot roast because I know that slow cooking yields a better flavor than rushing and ending up with a tough piece of meat. I like to make a big, delicious meal, and part of the fun of it is getting the accolades from those who eat it. I know I’m a good cook. I know it tastes good. I worked hard to make sure it does. I don’t need the praise, but I want it nonetheless.
Our Heavenly Father feels the same way.
And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, ~Exodus 34:6-7a
In this chapter of the Bible, God is giving Moses the 10 Commandments. The Lord Himself appeared to Moses and announced how good He is. He specifically said that He is:
- The Lord God
- Merciful
- Gracious
- Long-suffering (or patient)
- Overflowing with goodness
- Overflowing with truth
- Full of love
- Slow to anger
- Loyal
- And that He forgives
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg for who God is. God is our Creator and just a quick look around the world, we see His creativity around us.
“Listen to this, O Job;
Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.
Do you know when God dispatches them,
And causes the light of His cloud to shine?
Do you know how the clouds are balanced,
Those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge? ~Job 27:14-16
God is wise. He knows everything and has all the answers.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! ~Romans 11:33
God is eternal; He has always been and will always will be.
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable. ~Isaiah 40:28
God is omnipotent. Nothing is impossible for God.
Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” ~Genesis 18:14
God is omnipresent. He is always with us.
The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
Keeping watch on the evil and the good. ~Proverbs 15:3
God never changes; He is constant.
“For I am the Lord, I do not change; ~Malachi 3:6a
God is holy.
Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy. ~Psalm 99:9
God is righteous; He is good.
O Lord God of Israel, You are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. Here we are before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!” ~Ezra 9:15
God is in control.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ~Jeremiah 29:11
God loves us with a never-ending love; the love of a Father for His children.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ~John 3:16
God is merciful.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ~Ephesians 2:4
God is threefold — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice camefrom heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” ~Matthew 3:16-17
God is so many things. He is everything.
So, we don’t praise God because He NEEDS our validation… We praise Him because we ACKNOWLEDGE His greatness. And there are so many attributes and blessings for which to praise Him!
Thank you, Father, for being who You are. You are our great Creator and all honor and praise belong to You! Without You, we are nothing. We are all sinners who deserve nothing. Yet, in Your great mercy, You are generous to love us, to forgive us, and to fill us with Your mercy and grace. May we always remember to honor You through praise!
