Praise!

Why is praise so important?  Do we serve an egotistical God that needs to be praised?  Is God some prima donna who has to have only green M&M's in his trailer like some pop star?  Or is there something about praise that is important and beneficial to us?

You will find the word praise used over 200 times in the Bible.  Starting in Genesis, ending in Revelation, and many books in between.  Here is a little Billy Bible quiz question:  Can you guess which book has the most references to praise in it?

What is praise exactly?  Here is the dictionary definition.

praise

[preyz]

1.

the act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation; laudation.

2.

the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship: a hymn of praise to God.

3.

the state of being approved or admired: The king lived in praise for many years.

4.

Archaic. a ground for praise, or a merit.

verb (used with object)

5.

to express approval or admiration of; commend; extol.

6.

to offer grateful homage to (God or a deity), as in words or song.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/praise>

Well as you can probably guess, I don't think we serve an egotistical God that needs the praise.  I think He probably likes it just like we like it when we get praise from our kids, but I don't think He "needs" it just as we don't "need" it from our kids.  Does that make sense? 

I think that throughout the Bible we are encouraged to praise God for the benefits that we receive from it.  If we try to always start our prayer time with praise I think it helps set the stage for all of our communications with God. 

Here is what I mean.  When we come to God with praise I think that it helps put us in a reverent and thankful frame of mind.  Instead of going to God in prayer and immediately launching into a laundry list of please do this, please help with thats, try starting with praise and thanksgiving. 

As a parent we don't mind doing things for our kids but we like them to show their appreciation for the things we do by saying thanks.  It just let's us know that we aren't being taken for granted.  Well to a certain extent I think it is the same with God.  By starting with praise I think it just let's God know how grateful we are for all of the things he has already done for us.  

When should we praise God?  All the time!  In good times and bad, praise God.  If you would like a great example of always praising God read what King David had to say in the Psalms (BTW, Psalms is the answer to the Billy Bible quiz question). 

So as you go to God in prayer this week, what will you be praising Him for?