As our relationship with each Person of the Holy Trinity gets closer and we know our own identity better, the Holy Spirit becomes more active in our lives. People around us see noticeable changes in us because we are being molded and we can also feel the difference. Our prayer life begins to evolve from a purely petitional or intercessory style, which tends to be like a monologue, to one that is more relational. That is, we converse with and relate to God more for who He is, rather than focusing on what He can do for us. And for what He has done for us, we become more grateful.

As our relationship with God continues to grow, praising God out of gratitude becomes a natural response to our overall experience of God as a loving Father, and as our saving Lord.

That explains the numerous accounts of people praising God in the Bible.

However, for many of us, we find ourselves praising God only when we are told or feel obligated to do so, for example, during the liturgies. Praising God out of obligation or without a genuine heart is not meaningful to us. On the other hand, praising God with conviction and the right attitude can intensify our intimacy with God, and thus have a transforming effect on us!

Typically, we praise others when we are grateful to them. When we face difficulties in life, we are often reminded to count our blessings. It is done so that we can be made aware of God's graces and providence in our lives, and we become more grateful, hopeful and joyful as a result. Such intentionality will slowly become natural the more we taste the goodness of God through a more frequent and deeper encounter of God's love led by the Spirit. As this "mechanism of gratefulness" is activated by the Spirit, we praise God more. At the same time, the Spirit joins us in our praises. As we praise more, the Spirit's presence in our lives becomes stronger.

In the end, praising God is not a task to be completed. Rather, it will become a habit, or even a way of living.

As we praise God out of a heart of gratitude, we fix our gaze on the loving care and power of God, rather than our weaknesses, deficiencies, and sinfulness. It helps us to overlook our brokenness while lifting our spirit and soul to our Almighty God.

Praising God gives us Joy

While God doesn't need our praises, He wants more of us! As we praise God, it engages our heart and our being more than just our mind, which helps us connect to God more readily.

Praising God gives us New Lenses

Praising God "opens doors" to blessings from above in times of troubles. Not that blessings are absent at times of trials but our eyes and hearts close in to make us blind to blessings as we focus our attention only on the imminent hurdles and sufferings.

Praising God helps us refocus our gazes on God, turning our inward-looking self-centred mode back to other-focused Christ-Centred mode. As we praise God, we are also giving the Spirit permission to act upon us. When He acts, both healings and miracles begin to happen! And signs and wonders begin to accompany our works.

Here we can witness that not only does praising God bring us joy and hope amidst sufferings, but God also responds and accompanies us with miracles and wonders! And we begin to taste what it is like when the Spirit lives and acts in and through us. That is the reason why it is even more important to praise God during trials and storms in our lives!

Praising God unifies us before God

As we sing praises to God together, we can have a very edifying experience when our different voices blend together harmoniously. It unifies us and helps break barriers of our differences. It brings tremendous joy to God to see us in perfect communion, enjoying each other's company and abiding in Him. As you can imagine, praising God together can intensify our encounter with God. It is like singing together with all the angels and saints, giving us a real taste of Heaven on earth.

Most important of all, praising God helps tune our hearts to the movement of the Holy Spirit, which makes us more attentive to His prompts and inspirations. And by humbling ourselves to receive His divine empowerment, the Spirit helps conform us to the Father's will!

Dear God, thank you for making me aware of my lack of gratitude and not making enough effort to praise You. I beg you to forgive my ungrateful heart with all the disappointments and heartbreaks that I have caused You through the years. Please replace my heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Bless the Lord, O my soul, don’t allow me to forget all your benefits! (Psalm 103:2) I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen!

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

My beloved child, I forgive you. It is consoling to me to see your penitent heart. Give me your heart, and I will give you a new one. My only wish is that you remain always with me, and that your joy be complete! I love you always!

If you find this reflection helpful and have not registered to receive our daily email, we invite you to sign up here. If you have a Facebook account and would like to share your thoughts there, we invite you to join this Facebook group .

Sincerely invite you to share the reflections that inspires you by this day's retreat.