30 Days of Praise

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Praise vs. Thanksgiving

A few years ago the pastor at the church I was attending held a mini class on how to pray. He used the visual of our hand to make sure we hit all the different topics to include in our prayers:

I found I had no problem with confession, thanksgiving, intercession, petition or applying the prayer. While doing a Bible study I realized I didn’t know the difference between praise and thanksgiving — yes, there is a difference.

Using this Navigators’ guide here’s how they define the two:

Thanksgiving

I thank God for what He has done in, through, and for me. I thank Him for His answers to prayers in the lives of those around me and for His ongoing work across the nation and world.

Praise

I let my enjoyment and adoration of God overflow into words. As the thumb is able to touch all four other fingers so praise should permeate every part of my prayer life.

On a human level, thanking a child and praising a child are two completely different things although may be spoken in the same sentence. “Thank you for taking out the trash and it’s great how you are the kind of person who is always willing to step up and help when needed.” Besides that statement probably being completely unrealistic because I don’t know the last time my kids took out the trash without giving me “a look,” can you spot the thanksgiving and the praise? One is for doing something for me. The other is praising the person for who they are.

However, when I realized this I wasn’t sure of the words to say in praise of our Almighty God. It felt awkward and old fashioned. But acknowledging that praise is what I like from my boss or my husband for just being who I am (now that HAS actually happened), I decided God deserves the very same respect.

30 Days of Praise Challenge

Please join me on this journey as we emphasize this praise of God each day. Your challenge will be to respond to each post with your own, unique praise for that day — be it through scripture, quotes, song lyrics, poetry, art, or your own words of prayer.

When our feet hit the ground each morning let’s raise up our praise to the Almighty who brings us so many blessings! I look forward to also being blessed by what you share with each of us.

“Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, worship His Holy Name.”

Bless The Lord, 10,000 Reasons