5 Things I Praise God for Every Day

At its core prayer is much more than many people give it credit for. To many prayer is a time to ask God for what we want and thank Him for it when we get it. Sadly, though, the extent to which many people’s prayer lives develop has fallen terribly short of what prayer really is. At its core prayer is an opportunity to praise, glorify, and exalt God in the way that He deserves. In Matthew 6, when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, from the beginning to end every aspect of that prayer centered around lifting up God’s name in worship:

“After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (vs. 9-13).

In the same vein our prayer lives should be just as devoted to offering praise to God. So with that in mind there are a few things we should praise God for every day.

Every day I praise God for His holiness. The Bible declares God to be holy (1 Peter 1:15). But you know what’s more is that God has shown His holiness throughout history. From the beginning when God responded to Adam and Eve’s sin in a uniquely merciful way (Genesis 3) to the sacrificial offering of His Son for the redemption of sinful man (Romans 5:6-8). Jesus displayed a perfect spirit of holiness in His life (Romans 1:4) and in the process left us an example of holiness He wants for us to emulate (1 Peter 1:16). I see and experience God’s holiness every day in my life and praise Him for it.

Every day I praise God for His mercy. I deserve to suffer unimaginably and so do you. The wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23), but I don’t have to suffer those consequences of my sins because of a little thing called mercy. Jesus took that burden, endured our sorrows, bore our grief, and carried the weight of our sin (Isaiah 53:3-4). And in a crescendo of suffering while hanging on the cross He experienced it all on our behalves. I can look forward to heaven even though I undoubtedly deserve to go to hell and the only thing I can attribute it to is God’s mercy.

Every day I praise God for His love. The love God has for humanity is more than a generic, plutonic love. It is a very personal and intimate love. Sometimes I’m afraid that when we read passages like John 3:16 we disconnect ourselves from the narrative. I mean, God’s love is so broad that it covers the entire world. But sometimes we forget the fact that we are a part of that world. That means that God loves me individually and He loves you individually. When He looks down from heaven He doesn’t just see a mass of humanity. He sees us one by one and loves us in kind. That is a love worth praising.

Every day I praise God for His patience. Our God is a patient God (Romans 15:5). If He weren’t I’m not sure that humanity would have lasted as long as it has. He patiently endured throughout Israel’s history as they repeatedly rejected Him and turned to idols so that He could fulfill His promise of redemption. He patiently endures through our failures with the hope that we would repent (2 Peter 3:9). So if you fail God as I fail God there would be no question as to why we should praise God for His patience.

Every day I praise God for His faithfulness. “God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). With God we don’t have to live with the insecurity of whether God will live up to His word. God is faithful. Will God live up to His promise to forgive? God is faithful. Will God live up to His promise to save? God is faithful. There is no promise that God has made that God is not faithful to keep (2 Peter 3:9a). In a world of uncertainty to have a God who is faithful is something worthy of our praise.

-Andy