Praise is a lot more than getting worked up in singing a praise song. Praise invites God’s presence; our spirit is refreshed and renewed. God dwells close to us when we praise Him, and we are strengthened by His peace. Praise facilitates access to God. Obviously, it’s the blood of Jesus that paves the way for our forgiveness from sin and our relationship with God.
Psalms 150:6 says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord”. That being said, our perpetual continuous praise provides a clear and unhindered passage to God. God’s presence is especially intense in an atmosphere of praise. Praise is how to make prayer more effective. A quote from a commentary, “When we praise, productivity is maximized, fulfillment is realized, and frustration is neutralized.”
There is no better way to beat the blues than to change our focus from self to God. Isaiah 6:13 says such a shift produces the oil of gladness against the devil. God is worthy of our praise. Praise will get our focus where it needs to be…on God. If we start praising God in the middle of our problems, our problems seem to shrink so much that we may hardly remember to bring them to God.
Praying is to create an intimate space between you and the Lord, allowing Him to speak directly to your heart in such a way you are drawn to Him. Praise opens the way for God’s blessings over our lives. When we praise God, God knows that we are turning our attention fully to Him. He knows that we are mustering up trust that He is the answer, plus, we are starting to push back and throw off feelings of being hopelessly defeated.
Praising God will increase our faith. As we spend time praising God, we can recount the great things He has done in our life, which builds our faith. Praise is a means of entrance with boldness into God’s presence and the Psalms says that the Lord inhabits, or is enthroned in, the praise of His people. Praise invites our entrance into His presence. It is the welcome of His throne into our circumstances.
So, praise is a very important part of our worship and prayer life. Maybe when praying, we should start off by praising our God instead of going right in asking God to do what we are praying for. We have a wonderful God to praise.