From yesterday – If there is any truth to this perception, then the key to increasing our praise for God is to become more invested in life’s simple blessings, and show care not to take them for granted.  “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” (Psalms 150:6) 

This is where the subject of spiritual discipline comes to play in our prayer life.  No, we don’t want a cold, formalistic approach to prayer that robs us of our spontaneity.  It also doesn’t make sense to turn our praise into a guilt trip.  Rather, we need some means of scheduling times of reflection into our lives for the purpose of increasing our appreciation for God and His mighty works.

The Psalms are a good example of such reflection.  They were written in various contexts, but at heart they were the result of personal meditation.  This is obvious in David’s declaration, “When I consider your heavens,the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)  While we may not consider this to be an overt expression of praise, it does show David was one who intentionally considered God’s person and providence.

In our culture, we have so many distractions and so few margins it is hard to build this process into our lives.  We are more likely to pray for God’s deliverance or strength in the moment than take time to contemplate His handiwork.  Certainly,  some seasons of our lives are more conducive to such delving than others, but delve we must lest we miss some of God’s greatest blessings.