When do you praise God? When He has done something grand? How about when He's done something you don't understand or agree with? Are you praising God for being a Giver and a Taker? It is important to recognize God's attributes that please us, as well as the ones that don't, then offer up praise to Him for all things and in all circumstances.
Often, praise is completely left out of our prayers to God. If we follow the example Jesus gave in Matthew 6:9-13, then praise should come first, yet finding the words to do this can be challenging. This book contains over five hundred praise words to help facilitate a more intimate knowledge of God, broadening our ability to praise Him specifically for His attributes. This book is a powerful transforming tool to be used in a daily walk with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Choose a word, then offer up a first fruit sacrifice of praise to God. If it is heartfelt and sincere, God will be pleased. You will be blessed because of the intimacy this creates.
When we are praising, we are not controlling, we are releasing. Praise prayer is different because it removes the tendency to give orders to God that sounds something like, "please fix this," "change that," "don't do this," "give me that." Sometimes a defeated tone is present in our prayers, sounding like, "God, this is what I want, but your will be done, which is probably not my will, so I'm not sure how to pray." Praising God first can take away the need to control and the feeling of defeat by releasing it to God, focusing entirely on Him and His sovereignty in all circumstances.
Praise God first. That's what we can do. God has got the rest.
Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. (Heb. 13:15)
