1 Practical Way to Establish a Pattern of Praise
Although I find myself spontaneously praising God at times as well as worshipping Him during church, praise for me has also become an intentional practice during the week.
When I first made the switch from corporate to entrepreneurial life, I struggled to figure out when and how to do everything without an externally imposed deadline. I asked God to be my project manager. One of the first things He told me was to bathe projects with praise so that praise would be at the center of everything I did.
Daily Praise
I then asked God how He wanted me to praise. Because my work is writing, editing, and publishing books, I sensed He wanted me to write a prayer about the specifics of my projects—daily. I found this praise helped the overwhelm of the blank page, the puzzle of linking together separate ideas logically, or the challenge of addressing emotionally tough subjects. Praising Him helped me gain perspective on both the overarching concepts and the smallest details.
I soon realized praise impacted my mindset with not only writing-related work, but it also helped me with any life situation—from the mundane tasks, like grocery shopping and exercise, to the larger challenges, like illness and family matters. Therefore, I more intentionally began praising Him about anything and everything.
Usually, each morning in my time with the Lord, at least three praises roll off my pen or keyboard onto a traditional journal or an electronic page without too much thought.
- I praise Him for answered prayers, and for my family, friends, health, transportation, home, provision, and rest.
- I praise Him for the progress on my writing project the day before, as well as for the ideas He has given me that I haven’t executed yet.
- I praise Him for the guidance He is giving my husband.
- I praise Him for beauty in nature.
- I praise Him for meaningful experiences.
- I praise Him for His unending love, His faithfulness, His knowledge, and for insights in His Word.
- I also praise Him for His mercy and His gentle lessons about how I might do something differently in the future.
Weekly & Monthly Praise
With the busyness of life, I tend to forget my praises more quickly than I would like. Therefore, I created another pattern of praise: weekly. Usually on a Saturday, I go back through my daily praises and pick out at least the top three praises from the week. My husband and I also make it a pattern to share those praises and to pray with each other once a week. Another pattern of praise occurs on the last day of the month. When I compile the praises from each week, I have a list of at least 12 praises per month.
Yearly Praise
When I aggregate my list of 12 praises a month, I have 144 written praises per year. In preparation for Thanksgiving, I choose at least the top 50. At whatever gathering we have—whether with family or friends, we read our praises for the year. We also use those praises to engage in goal setting for the upcoming year.
These patterns of praise over the days, weeks, months, and years helps me appreciate life so much more. They help me trust God more for the journey ahead. They also provides meaningful conversation prompts as well as writing topics to help me share what God has done for my soul. And as I share these praises, I find myself praising Him once again. 😊
*** If you think establishing a pattern of praise would help you, I invite you to grab a copy of my “Pattern of Praise Pages.” Download these pages, which encompass weekly and monthly templates at loralpepoon.com/praise.
Meet Loral Pepoon
Author Loral Pepoon writes about how God transforms lives and how He reveals Himself through animals and nature. Her most recent book is Clive the Cat Chimes In: Musings on My Humans, Food, and God. Her upcoming book, Signs of a Dream Life: Trusting God’s Plan of Transformation, will be released in early 2024.
Loral is honored to be the editor of Our Story Magazine. She has also edited more than 120 books since 2014 through her editorial firm. Loral and her husband Seth own Selah Press Publishing, a hybrid publisher of faith-based books. The couple blogs about relationship lessons from the trail at hikingwithyourhoney.com. To connect with Loral, or to learn more about her books and services, visit loralpepoon.com.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
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If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.
