“Praise Versus Thanks” is September 25’s entry from Dr. David Jeremiah’s ‘Turning Points with God: 365 Daily Devotions’.
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name." Luke 11:2
Many people mistake thanking the Lord for praising Him. Oftentimes we rattle off a list of things we are thankful for and move right to our requests, believing we have spent time giving glory to God. But there is a clear distinction between thankfulness and praise.
According to Merriam-Webster, to be “thankful” means to be “conscious of benefit received.” In contrast, the definition of praise is “to glorify, especially by the attribution of perfections.” The primary difference is that when we give thanks, our focus is on what God has done for us, whereas during praise, the focus is solely on Him.
The Bible lists a myriad of God’s attributes for which we can glorify Him. It tells us that He is holy (Leviticus 19:2), just, perfect, and righteous (Deuteronomy 32:4), merciful (Psalm 116:5), mighty and infinite (Psalm 147:5), and sovereign (Psalm 47:8), to name just a few.
So let’s remember to take a few moments at the beginning of each prayer to tell the Lord how much we love Him just for being the King of kings and Lord of lords.
To end, a quote from Ole Hallesby, “When I give thanks, my thoughts still circle about myself to some extent. But in praise my soul ascends to self-forgetting adoration, seeing and praising only the majesty and power of God, His grace and redemption.”
