I didn’t have a very robust understanding of worship and I had never given much thought to creation’s connection to it.
In the past, I’ve tried to learn to praise God. I’ve used the alphabet (A, B, C) to help me praise him for his attributes: “Lord, I praise you that you are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning, the Creator….” And I’ve also used the names of God, and the I AM statements of Christ, and the praise prayers in the psalms to give me characteristics of God that I could praise. I’ve copied prayers from the Book of Common Prayer and borrowed from the Puritans their prayers of praise.
These were all helpful exercises, but they were lacking a key component. I was missing an immediate experience of joy, marvel, wonder, and delight—essential elements of praise.
I could think of all the reasons that God was praiseworthy, but that exercise wasn’t necessarily prompted by my personal experience of joy, wonder, or delight. I could read with sincerity the praise prayer of another, but it wasn’t my spontaneous outpouring at having been overwhelmed by the goodness of God.
The problem with how I was approaching praising God was that my words were a step or two removed from my feelings of joy. My head was leading, but at that moment my heart wasn’t feeling joyful; my thoughts were engaged but my passions were sleeping.
I didn’t see this immediately.
If you are struggling in how you are approaching Praise, perhaps like me, you need to re-engage your heart. Nature will help.
Devotional Activity
Perhaps you can carve out an hour from your schedule this week to immerse yourself in nature and let creation lead you into worship. If you are moved to create a poem, draw a picture, or take some photographs, be sure to do whatever will bring you joy. Record your experience in your Book.
The content of this post is from All Creation Sings by Luann Budd.