As our relationship with each Person of the Holy Trinity gets closer and we know our own identity better, the Holy Spirit becomes more active in our lives. People around us see noticeable changes in us because we are being molded and we can also feel the difference. Our prayer life begins to evolve from a purely petitional or intercessory style, which tends to be like a monologue, to one that is more relational. That is, we converse with and relate to God more for who He is, rather than focusing on what He can do for us. And for what He has done for us, we become more grateful.As our relationship with God continues to grow, praising God out of gratitude becomes a natural response to our overall experience of God as a loving Father, and as our saving Lord. That explains the numerous accounts of people praising God in the Bible.Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Psalm 150:6)However, for many of us, we find ourselves praising God only when we are told or feel obligated to do so, for example, during the liturgies. Praising God out of obligation or without a genuine heart is not meaningful to us. On the other hand, praising God with conviction and the right attitude can intensify our intimacy with God, and thus have a transforming effect on us!The Spirit helps activate our habit of praising GodTypically, we praise others when we are grateful to them. When we face difficulties in life, we are often reminded to count our blessings. It is done so that we can be made aware of God’s graces and providence in our lives, and we become more grateful, hopeful and joyful as a result. Such intentionality will slowly become natural the more we taste the goodness of God through a more frequent and deeper encounter of God’s love led by the Spirit. As this “mechanism of gratefulness” is activated by the Spirit, we praise God more. At the same time, the Spirit joins us in our praises. As we praise more, the Spirit’s presence in our lives becomes stronger.In the end, praising God is not a task to be completed. Rather, it will become a habit, or even a way of living. As we praise God out of a heart of gratitude, we fix our gaze on the loving care and power of God, rather than our weaknesses, deficiencies, and sinfulness. It helps us to overlook our brokenness while lifting our spirit and soul to our Almighty God.Praising God gives us JoyWhile God doesn’t need our praises, He wants more of us! As we praise God, it engages our heart and our being more than just our mind, which helps us connect to God more readily. As we become more present and closer to God, it brings Him great joy! Reciprocally, as we remain in His love, His joy will be in us and our joy will be complete. That is the ultimate goal of God for us according to Jesus. (cf. John 15:10-11)Praising God gives us New LensesPraising God “opens doors” to blessings from above in times of troubles. Not that blessings are absent at times of trials but our eyes and hearts close in to make us blind to blessings as we focus our attention only on the imminent hurdles and sufferings. Praising God helps us refocus our gazes on God, turning our inward-looking self-centred mode back to other-focused Christ-Centred mode. As we praise God, we are also giving the Spirit permission to act upon us. When He acts, both healings and miracles begin to happen! And signs and wonders begin to accompany our works. “About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened, there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose.” (Acts 16:25-26)Here we can witness that not only does praising God bring us joy and hope amidst sufferings, but God also responds and accompanies us with miracles and wonders! And we begin to taste what it is like when the Spirit lives and acts in and through us. That is the reason why it is even more important to praise God during trials and storms in our lives!Praising God unifies us before GodAs we sing praises to God together, we can have a very edifying experience when our different voices blend together harmoniously. It unifies us and helps break barriers of our differences. It brings tremendous joy to God to see us in perfect communion, enjoying each other’s company and abiding in Him. As you can imagine, praising God together can intensify our encounter with God. It is like singing together with all the angels and saints, giving us a real taste of Heaven on earth.Most important of all, praising God helps tune our hearts to the movement of the Holy Spirit, which makes us more attentive to His prompts and inspirations. And by humbling ourselves to receive His divine empowerment, the Spirit helps conform us to the Father’s will!REFLECTIONHave you been grateful to God by giving Him praises in your life? Please spend some time to reflect on that and see how you can do ...
