We often think of “praying constantly,” but what about praising God constantly?
Prayer can be petitionary, a way of dredging up what’s stirring inside our soul and giving voice of it to God.
But prayer of praise, which Psalm 95 invites us into all this week, is something we may often see as a subset of prayer, rather than its ever steady backdrop (like the sound of those vuvuzelas blown constantly during World Cup games).
Today sitting with Psalm 95, my mind distracted by this and that, I sensed a command: “Spend the day just praising God.”
What has this meant for you–praising God? Have you ever done so all day? What did that look or feel like?
I sense it doesn’t mean to drop all else I’m doing today, but to go about my activities and commitments with that sabbath sense of orientation to the fulfillment of all things now, eternity here, in God.
Not a looking away from all that is in our lives, in our shared world, but not seeking to secure ourselves in it with accomplishments or a sense of “when this is done . . . then I can feel right.”
The glory of God shining in all things, visible or beheld in hope, as the day may be–that seems to be the direction to tack.
Those are my first thoughts. And what are yours, about praise?
Benedictine Oblate Musings 
I’m reminded of a Jewish tradition that calls for the saying of 100 berakhahs (“blessings”) a day. “Blessed are you, Lord,. . .” and fill in the blank with whatever you’re blessing the Lord for at that time. That would be about one praising of God every ten minutes. I tried it. It’s more difficult than one would imagine to make 100 in a day, but even if I didn’t succeed in reaching 100, in the effort I found myself constantly reminded of God’s presence. So, blessed be God for that!
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100 conscious blessings a day–sounds like it would organize the whole day’s attention indeed! Praise like a constant background might be different–but also cultivated by all those berakhahs.
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