10 Scripture-Based Praise Starters

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens. — Psalm 68:19

Are you ever at a loss for how to praise God?

Praise should be an intrinsic attribute of our prayers. But sometimes it can be challenging to find words adequate to the task. Fortunately, the Bible is filled with examples of how to express our adoration. For instance, in Psalm 68:19, David says, “Praise be to the LORD, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”

Here are ten Scripture-based sentences to serve as “praise starters.”^*

1. God the Creator — I praise you, God, because “You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you” (Nehemiah 9:6).

2. God the only Lord — I praise you, God, because you are “the LORD, and there is no other; apart from [you] there is no God” (Isaiah 45:5).

3. God the Almighty — I praise you, God, because “who is like you, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you” (Psalm 89:8).

4. God the Prince of Peace — I praise you, God, my “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

5. God whose nature is love — I praise you, God, because “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16).

6. God the triumphant — I praise you, God, “who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14).

7. God the faithful — I praise you, God, for you keep your covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love you and keep your commandments. (See Deuteronomy 7:9)

8. God our refuge — I praise you, God, because my salvation and my honor depend on you, oh God; you are my mighty rock, my refuge. (See Psalm 62:7)

9. God the performer of miracles — I praise you, God, for “you are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among all the peoples” (Psalm 77:14).

10. God the deliverer — I praise you, God, for though I am poor and needy you are my help and my deliverer. (See Psalm 70:5)

Put It Into Action

Using “praise starters” based on Scripture can help us build a vocabulary for expressing our adoration of God. This week as you read the Bible, pause to pray a passage of each time in God’s Word into a reason to praise Him.

*This list is adapted from Bob Hostetler’s “31 Ways to Praise: Creating a Vocabulary of Praise,” accessed December 29, 2014, http://westwoodpc.org/clientimages/43146/documents/31way_praise.pdf.

Devotional drawn from the NIV Lifehacks Bible ebook.