Being Specific with our Praises

In the hallway at my church, I saw a mom kneeling (being at her son’s level), looking straight into his eyes, saying, “I am so proud of you for doing that. You are such a kind and generous boy!”

I was impressed. And, I was impressed when Carl and I were visiting his family last weekend. Five of his brother’s grandchildren were there. Two of the little girls were drawing and would show their pictures to us. We all oohed and aahed at their handiwork. They continued to color and draw more pictures. They loved that praise!

Those are exactly the times when we can make use of a teachable moment by using praise. What do I mean by praise? Not simply giving a generic statement, like “good job!” or “wow!”

We need to make sure praise is SPECIFIC and IMMEDIATE. By communicating exactly what it is we like and notice, we are letting children know that we notice them and their actions. And that is helping children feel good about themselves, about the choices they made or the way they acted. And it causes a potential repeat performance.

When Carl and I were dating, I started keeping a log of the reasons why I liked him – later it became “loved” him. I was specific. Number one was “He makes me laugh more than I’ve ever laughed in my life.” Number two was “He is my greatest cheerleader. Every day he sends me a note of encouragement about my blogs.” Etc. BTW, I’m up to 75 reasons why I love him. I am most often specific about why.

That is how praise can be so powerful. And, if young children and loved ones appreciate being praised, I think about our Heavenly Father. He isn’t sitting around waiting for us to praise and thank Him, but I think we should be more specific with our praises and thankfulness to Him.

The Bible urges us to be specific in our requests AND our praises. Instead of a simple “thank you for everything,” I think God must love it when we tell Him what we’re specifically grateful for.

Those little kiddos learn kindness and encouragement from parents who are specific in the praises of them. God does, too. So, when we pray, we should be specific when we tell Him what we’re grateful for, too!

Thanking God in advance is a big step of faith. When we have the faith to thank God ahead of time, miracles happen. The more thankful we are, the more God works in our lives. Psalm 22:3 says, “God inhabits the praise of His people”. He uses our thanksgiving as an instrument of power in our lives.

Even before our prayers are answered, it is good to thank God in advance. Carl and I are in the throes of getting his home ready for an estate sale the week after next. In our morning prayer time, we thank Him for plenty of buyers and plenty of sales!

Let’s be, with specificity, “thankful” people – “thanking” people! By the way, I am so thankful for YOU, my dear friends, who encourage me each day with reading my blogs and/or commenting or just “like and loving” them. I LOVE YOU!