Praise

Praise

I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.

Psalm 34:1

It’s important for us to teach our children that worshipping God doesn’t happen only on Sundays when we’re sitting or singing in church. Praising God ought to happen throughout each day. Taking a walk in the spring and admiring the daffodils is an experience that prompts our praise, whether we do it at that moment or wait until bedtime to talk to God.

My eleven-year-old and I praised God one night when we received happy news of another cousin born into the family. When we visited the new baby and parents in Des Moines, Iowa, it was a worshipful experience for me. Holding a new baby in my arms is always cause for praise that God continues the cycle of life.

Reading a book about the universe together with a child is another experience that stimulates our praise. A book I enjoyed reading with my children was Spinning Worlds—a child’s guide to God’s creation in the heavens. Does your child know that:

• God covered the earth with a substance not found anywhere else in the whole solar system (liquid water)?
• One million earths could fit inside the sun?
• God made the sun the perfect distance from the earth, so that it gives us just the right amounts of heat and light? If it were closer, we would die from heat; if it were farther away, we’d perish from the cold.

If we regularly praise God for his creation and provisions, our example may prompt our children to do the same.

Father,

Throughout the day, as we notice something that you made or something you have done, may we remember to praise you for it. Amen.