Day 3) “Daily Praise!”

Praise refocuses our attention off of ourselves and onto God. Praise is prayer that applauds God. In the 10 days leading up to Pentecost, the early church made praise a priority for the entire congregation.

Luke provides us with a two part description of the prayer life of the church during those preparatory days. In his first volume, Luke describes the pattern of daily praise. “And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
and were continually in the temple blessing God.” (Luke 24:52-53) The word “blessing” literally means they kept saying good words about God. That’s praise!

In Luke’s second volume, we find the church praying in the upper room of a house (Acts 1:13-14). Therefore, Luke shows us how the church spent part of the day in the Temple praising God, and the rest of the day in the house praying.

The early church had a reason to praise the Lord- Jesus had been raised from the dead! We should adopt their practice of daily praise and make it part of our daily prayer lives. We have every reason to praise the Lord and no reason not to. After all, He is still risen and reigning. He still answers prayer. He loves us with an everlasting love- why wouldn’t we praise Him daily? 

Today, pause to praise God. Express your love and commitment to Him. Allow your heart to pour out words of devotion. He deserves your praise and you will be drawn closer to His heart as a result. “It’s amazing what praising can do.” Praise the Lord!

~JKB