Prayers of Praise.

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “prayer”? In complete honesty, my first thought goes to a conversation with God. To sit and have a chat with God about life. But directly connected to that is the idea of asking something of God in that conversation. And then that something turns into some things. By then, I’ve gradually moved away from a posture of contemplative conversation with my Creator to a list of things that I need him to fix so that things get more manageable for me.

But is this what it’s supposed to be? A constant reminding God of what he still needs to get done or a time to remind God about what still needs to be finished since he promised to do it? When was the last time that we went into prayer to simply praise God? When was the last time we stopped asking (and yes, I know that Jesus tells us to ask) and, instead, went into a time of praise and adoration that caused us to lose track of time because we were so captivated by the beauty of God? No requests. No reminders. Simply prayers of praise. Do our hearts cry for this one thing like David did?

I have asked one thing from the LORD; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the LORD and seeking him in his temple. – Psalm 27.4 (CSB)

Do we thank him and praise him for his provisions of the past? Do we thank him for how he will come through for things in the future? Do we thank him daily for how he takes care of us each day, beginning with today? Do we thank and praise him simply because of who he is? Do we know enough of the Scriptures that point us to who God is so we can thank him correctly for who he is?

I want to gaze upon the Lord’s beauty and get lost in what I see. I want to be so genuinely thankful and never entitled that I pray with no other option but to give Jesus nothing but thanks. I want to be so aware of the depth of the goodness of God and the infinite nature of his person that I can’t stop praising him simply because HE IS GOD.

These two prayers of praise came up in my Bible reading plan this morning. I wanted to pass them on to you as you continue to get lost in the beauty and majesty of who Jesus is. I pray they bless you as much as I was blessed this morning when I read them. And for those of you who have moved into that deep place of a lifestyle of praise in prayer, please shoot me an email ([brianjholland@outlook.com](mailto:brianjholland@outlook.com?subject=Here%27s%20what%20help%20me%20live%20out%20a%20lifestyle%20of%20praise%20in%20prayer…)) and teach me how to move there as well, or leave a comment below.

20 May the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him. 21 He changes the times and seasons; he removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals the deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him. 23 I offer thanks and praise to you, God of my ancestors, because you have given me wisdom and power. And now you have let me know what we asked of you, for you have let us know the king’s mystery. – Daniel 2.20-23 (CSB)

Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created. – Revelation 4.11 (CSB)