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How does a Christian working woman—or man—who has to get up early every day, many times deal with children and lots of duties, who has to wear lots of hats, and put in long hours—how do you and I incorporate praise into our everyday schedules and lifestyles?
First, realize this: Praise is not a function of our emotions. It is not a feeling! I don’t mean that we never have feelings when we praise God, but praise is not dependent on feelings. Praise is done with our mind, with our voice, with our will. Usually the emotions will follow, but whether they do or not, we must set our mind and will to praise God.
Second, praise needs to be continuous. We need to incorporate it throughout our day. In Psalm 71:8 we read, “My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.” I was meditating on this and I said, “Lord, how can I praise you all day long when I have to do so many other things? And I thought of Daniel—how he praised God three times a day.
I have a suggestion: Make cards with praise verses on them. Then put them by your bed and before you roll out of bed, pick one up and say it out loud—the first words out of your mouth in the morning. Then have some where you work, and at a break, stop and say that verse out loud. Then at night the last words you say before you hit the pillow can be words of praise as you read one of those verses out loud.
That would be a very intentional way to praise God like Daniel did—three times a day. And you do it out of obedience and love for Jesus. I believe God will honor that kind of commitment to praise God at all times, all day long.
We’ve prepared a set of praise cards that we are glad to share with you. You can find them on our website where you can print them yourself, or give us a call and we’ll mail you a set. I hope you will truly start to practice this wonderful spiritual discipline of praising God at all times. It will make a huge difference in your life.