Do you need to set your affection on the Lord? (Col 3:2)
Do you want to increase your love of the Lord? (2 Tim 3:4)
Do you sometimes not know what to pray? (Rom 8:26)
Perhaps you should practice praising the Lord.
Yes, it takes practice.
No, praise is not listening to half an hour of emotional music, closing your eyes, and waving at the ceiling. Praise does not require singing, pouring out your feelings, or repetitively singing “Hallelujah.”
Everyone knows that Hallelujah means “praise ye the Lord,” but merely saying “praise the Lord,” without knowing what it is you are praising, is an empty exercise.
Praise requires knowing what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, holy, and good (Phi 4:8). Otherwise, what are you praising God for?
Thanksgiving requires you to consider the good things you receive from God, but praise requires you to consider the good things about God.
Thanksgiving works to turn every complaint about what we don’t have into gratitude for what we have been given from God.
Praise turns every complaint about wicked people and an unjust world into acknowledging the glory of God.
You cannot praise evil, but you can praise God.
People fail. God does not. (Praise!)
I am weak, but Christ is strong. (Praise!)
The world is corrupt. God is right, just, and true. (Praise!)
That person is hateful, but God is loving. (Praise!)
The world gets ugly. God is beautiful. (Praise!)
Praise is the enemy of complaint. You are very adept at complaining. This is evidenced by your ability to make a long list very quickly. Do you even have a list of things you praise God and others for?
You are likely not very good at praise.
Practice makes perfect.
The more you think and speak praise, the more your affections, love, and prayers will be full.
For Your Edification,
Justin “Praise the Lord!” Johnson