5 Steps Toward Praising God #31DaysofPraise

“You alone are the Lord. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them, and the heavenly host worships You.” Nehemiah 9:6

I cannot believe this is the last week of 31 Days of Praise! What a blessing it has been to me. I hope it has also encouraged you in your daily worship.

Praise God to Develop “Creator-Sightedness”

I think praising God is a practice we all need to develop. Because too often, we get caught up in the activities of our day and forget who made the day itself. Too easily, we become blinded to the blessings of each moment. 

Distractions, busyness, struggles, illness, weariness: they create a fog that makes it difficult to see the gift of the day. But more importantly, this fog machine blocks us from seeing the Gifter of the day.

I sensed this happening to me, this “circumstance-sightedness.” I suspected it might be happening to you as well.  

I needed to fight back. To develop a new sense of  awe and love and joy and gratitude for the Creator of all that I am and all that I have. I needed to develop “Creator-sightedness.”

To do that, I needed to practice not just thankfulness for what I could see, but awareness of and appreciation for what was out of my sight.

Not just taking note of the happenings, people, and things in my life, but noticing the Provider of my life. 

Let's not just take note of the happenings, people, things 'in' our lives; but notice the Provider 'of' our lives. Click To Tweet

And so #31DaysofPraise was born. 

Turn Off the Fog Machine

Turning off the fog machine in our lives takes a bit of intentionality. These five steps have helped me become aware of and grateful for the Creator in my daily life: 

1. Center your first thought of the day on the Lord. As soon as your eyes pop open, even before you roll out of bed, think on Him. 
2. Spend consistent time in God’s Word. Make it a habit: every morning, every lunch hour, every evening…. Timing isn’t nearly as important as consistency. 
3. Jot down and post Scripture verses. Choose verses that speak to the powerful and wonderful attributes of God. Fill your mind with Him. Can you say, #31DaysofPraise? Go ahead print them out and post, post, post. 
4. Talk to God throughout the day. Pray unceasingly. Tell Him your likes and don’t likes; offer Him thanks and praises; place before Him requests. 
5. Listen to worship music daily. Stir your passion for God through the blessing of music. Even when you don’t feel like it, no, especially when you don’t feel like it, put on worship music for a few minutes and sing or hum along. 

I don’t always feel like giving thanks or glorifying God. I’m not sure anyone can honestly say they always feel like it.

But my life has been blessed in so many ways through the consistent practice of praising the Lord as Author and Creator of all life. 

I pray you will discover such joy in the persistent habit of daily worship as well, and begin exchanging “circumstance-sightedness” for “Creator-sightedness.”

Exchange 'circumstance-sightedness' for 'Creator-sightedness.' #31DaysofPraise Click To Tweet

Reflections: How has the practice of praising God blessed you?

More than 4 years of counting and I’ve surpassed 4,000 gifts in Ann Voskamp’s Joy Dare! What a blessing! Here are numbers #4,411–4,431. Read my entire list by clicking here.