One morning I awoke earlier than usual. It was 5 o’clock, with dawn just breaking over the mountains. I collected my cup of coffee and settled into the old rocker. Suddenly, I realized a symphony of bird song was literally surrounding me. The air was liquid with music, as if the whole creation were praising God at the beginning of a new day. I chuckled to hear the old turkey gobbler that had recently joined our family, gobbling away down in the woods at the top of his voice as if he were a song sparrow.

And I learned a lesson. I had been beginning my days with petitions, and I should have been beginning them with praise.

When the disciples asked our Lord to teach them how to pray, He gave them what we commonly know as the Lord’s Prayer. The very first line is one of praise: “Hallowed be thy name.”

In the 17th century, John Trapp wrote: “He lets out His mercies to us for the rent of our praise, and is content that we may have the benefit of them so He may have the glory.”