Step 3: Praise
BE WITH JESUS
The first goal of the Christian life is to be with Jesus. Because Jesus is always with us, 1 each of the steps of reading the Bible, prayer, and praise all practice and enjoy an awareness of his presence.
Through Bible reading and prayer, we engage in conversation with God— he speaks to us through his Word, and we speak back to him in prayer. Praising God is the natural fruit of this conversation. Praise is a form of prayer, often in response to God’s revelation in his Word.
Here is a simple definition of praise:
Praise is our response of thanksgiving and worship to God for what he has done for us and who he has revealed himself to be.
Let’s take a look at an example of praise from the life of Jesus.
LUKE 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
A lot can be learned from this story, but here are a few observations:
First, Jesus miraculously healed ten lepers. 2 Jesus had mercy on them, helped them, and changed their lives.
Second, when one of them (the Samaritan) realized what Jesus had done for him, he “turned back, praising God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet giving him thanks” (v15-16).
Third, this was the proper reaction. Jesus asked why none of the others returned to give praise to God.
Fourth, giving praise and thanks to Jesus is giving praise and thanks to God because Jesus is the Son of God.
Look at our simple definition of praise again:
Praise is our response of thanksgiving and worship to God for what he has done for us and who he has revealed himself to be.
Consider an example from everyday life. When someone goes out of their way to help us and do something generous for us, showing gratitude is of the utmost importance. Not thanking someone for their help is considered to be ungrateful.
How do you react when someone does something exceedingly generous for you?
How do you expect others to react when you show them great kindness?
When Jesus healed the ten lepers, only one returned to praise and thank him. All ten were healed. But only the leper who returned to praise God received the greatest blessing of all: enjoying the presence of Jesus.
In every aspect of our lives as Christians, we see evidence of God’s grace toward us. We see his merciful provision not only in big, eternal things like creating us and saving us but also in everyday mercies like food and shelter. Since God’s mercies are an undeserved gift, they shouldn’t be taken for granted. God is worthy of praise and thanks for all that he has done for us. When we pause and praise God for who he is and what he has done, we return to an awareness of his presence.
Let’s consider how we can practice an awareness of God’s presence with us through praise in three levels:
LEVEL 1
PAUSING TO GIVE THANKS
LEVEL 2
GATHERING TO SING PRAISE
LEVEL 3
THE LORD’S SUPPER
LEVEL 1: PAUSING TO GIVE THANKS
The most basic way we can practice being with Jesus in our daily lives is by pausing to thank God throughout the day. As we have seen, the man healed of leprosy stopped and returned to praise God and thank Jesus.
Jesus lived his life on earth in a constant state of fellowship with and awareness of God the Father. We have several examples of him pausing to thank God.
LUKE 10:21
“In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth...’”
JOHN 11:41
“... And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ...’”
What eternal gifts has God given you in your life? (Example: justification.)
What daily gifts has God given you today? (Example: nice weather.)
Whether eternal or temporal, the Bible reminds us that every good gift is ultimately from God. 3 Gifts from God are meant to lead us to recognize and praise the Giver. 4 If we ignore the Giver, the gift can become an idol— something we love more than God. 5 By pausing and recognizing God as the giver of all good gifts, we are drawn into an awareness of his presence.
In the culture of Jesus, people faithful to God had a practice of pausing and thanking God throughout the day for even the most mundane tasks, such as before eating or drinking. Memorizing a phrase to use in a specific situation may help you to remember to pause and thank God. Here are a few contemporary examples of words a Christian could use when pausing to thank God:
Before eating
“Father, thank you for giving us today our daily bread! All good things come from you!”
When you visit home
“God, thank you for my family, and thank you for the church—my eternal family that I have in Christ.”
When you are in nature
“Thank you Father—you make the sun shine, and the wind blow, the rain fall, and the trees grow, for the just and the unjust. Great is your mercy!”
Try composing your own words to use to pause and thank God.
When ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
Father, thank you... ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
Whether we recite a memorized phrase or use spontaneous words, the important point is that we pause and thank God for the big and the small gifts.
Are there things that God has given you that you have taken for granted?
How do you think we can learn to stop and thank God in our daily lives?
LEVEL 2: GATHER TO SING PRAISE
Christians gather to sing praises to God. This is likely already a weekly rhythm in your Christian life. The significance of this goes back to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God called a people out of slavery for the purpose of assembling them to worship him. 6 Likewise, the church is the people God has called out and assembled to worship him (in the original language of the New Testament, the word “church” means “assembly”). Though we can and ought to praise God individually, we should also dedicate ourselves to gathering together to praise God as his assembled people. 7 In the New Testament, Paul exhorted a local community of Christians in this way:
COLOSSIANS 3:15-17
15 “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
A few observations from this text:
When Christians gather together, they sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” to God.
Notice the emphasis on thankfulness to God before, during, and beyond the gathering.
The practice of gathering as a church to praise and thank God is connected to Jesus’ presence with us:
“let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (v15)
“let the word of Christ dwell in you” (v16).
From its earliest days after the resurrection of Jesus, the church began gathering to thank and praise God.
ACTS 2:46-47
46 “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. ...”
When we gather to sing songs of praise to God, we thank him for (1) who he is, and (2) what he has done in our lives and throughout history.
Gathering weekly to praise God together with the church is a way of pursuing and practicing an awareness of his presence with us. Throughout history, Christians have gathered on Sunday because it’s the day that Jesus rose from the dead. 8 The cross, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus reveal the greatness of who God is and what he has done for us. The gathered church proclaims this message every time it partakes in an important act of worship called the Lord’s Supper.
Are you committed to gathering with the church to praise God?
Why is gathering with the church important?
LEVEL 3: THE LORD'S SUPPER
Remembering Jesus’ death on the cross through eating bread and drinking the cup is sometimes referred to as “the Lord’s Supper” or “Communion.” Another traditional term for it is the “Eucharist.” Eucharist comes from the Greek word for “to give thanks.”
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26
23 “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
Possibly the prayer of thanks that Jesus offered was a traditional blessing said before eating bread and drinking wine. Now we have something even greater to thank God for—the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ. 9
Look at how Jesus told us to eat the bread and drink the cup: “in remembrance of me”. When the church practices the Lord’s Supper, we’re not only remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross but also that he is alive and coming again. We are reminded that although Christ is not physically present with us now, we will one day eat with him in the Age to Come. 10 Even as we await Christ’s return, through the Lord’s Supper, we can enjoy the presence of the Son of God by his Spirit and thank God for the greatest gift of all—his Son Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ—his person, incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension— is the greatest revelation of God to us. Jesus shows us who God is. Jesus shows us what God is like. Jesus shows us what God has done for us. 11 Therefore, when we remember Jesus through the Eucharist, we thank God for all the spiritual blessings we have been given in Christ. 12
As we praise God for Jesus, we practice and enjoy an awareness of his presence. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. 13
Do you thank God for Jesus when you take Communion?
How could you enrich your awareness of God’s presence during this practice?
PUTTING THIS INTO PRACTICE
It has been said that Christians cannot well praise God on Sunday if they are not praising him on Monday through Saturday.
Of the three levels introduced in this step, which are you already doing? Which do you want to focus on?
1 Matthew 28:20
2 Leprosy in the first century was a highly contagious skin disease. Once contracted, a person with leprosy would have to leave his or her family and friends to live in a leper colony outside the city limits. Victims were shunned by society and often lived lonely and shame-filled lives.
3 James 1:17
4 Acts 14:17
5 Romans 1:25
6 Exodus 3:12
7 Hebrews 10:25
8 Acts 20:7
9 John 6:35
10 Revelation 19:9
11 John 1:14, 18, Romans 5:8, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3
12 Ephesians 1:3-14
13 Matthew 1:23