Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord. Psalm 113:1
What is praising God all about? This quote by Myles Munroe sums it up well: “Praise is celebrating God as our heart’s true home.”
And why is praise so vital? Because praise puts our focus on God, it puts him in first place.
Often we put other things first in our lives. When we’re facing a problem, we put that problem first. It’s the first thing on our minds in the morning and it’s the last thing we think about at night.
Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t deal with your problems. Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away; however, when you take the time to put God first by praising him, you become empowered to solve that problem. When something is pushing against me, I find that the louder I praise, the more quickly I feel empowered to overcome it.
Day by day we need to guard our hearts so other things don’t move into first place. A new job, a new relationship, a new baby, a new home… many things vie for our attention. Praise puts God first.
When you get up in the morning, before you do anything else, get yourself into the right environment. While brushing your teeth or on your commute to work, blast your favourite worship song or just praise him. Say, “Praise you Father. Thank you for being so awesome. Thank you for the amazing day you’ve planned for me. You’re incredible, and I just want to thank you right now for all you’ve done.”
You need God’s presence, so praise him today and remind yourself that he’s first in your life!