Courting God: Preparing for Praise in my Everyday Life
by Jennifer Greene-Sullivan
This week, as I prepared to lead Courting God Bible study, the Holy Spirit brought something gentle but powerful to my attention.
I was sitting in my office, surrounded by notes and graphics, planning out slides and scriptures for our small group gathering. However, somewhere between the verses and visuals, I heard a quiet question rise in my heart:
“How and when are you offering Me praise?”
I paused because I knew the answer wasn’t what I wanted it to be.
I’ve always associated praise with those first few worship songs on a Sunday morning—the kind that stir your heart and lift your hands.
In that moment, I realized something was off. Praise isn’t just music. It isn’t just corporate. It isn’t just scheduled.
Praise is personal.
Praise is persistent.
Praise is the posture of a heart that recognizes God’s presence in the everyday.
⛅ Courting God: Morning, Noon, and Night
As I reflected, I wrote in my journal:
“My praise should be perpetual, just as my praying without ceasing should be. If I’m not bringing my heart of gratitude before God daily—if I’m not entering His courts with adoration born of relationship—then am I really walking with Him at all?”
It felt like a wake-up call. Not in guilt or shame—but in love. A call to more. The Holy Spirit is prompting me to prepare to praise with pure love and adoration!!
📖 Courting God Anchor Verse for Today
We have opened class for the last three weeks with Psalm 100:4:
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
It’s so familiar that it’s easy to overlook. I urge you to look again. This isn’t a suggestion. It’s a protocol—a heavenly invitation. Praise is how we step into God’s presence. Not just in a sanctuary, but in our homes. In our cars. In the ordinary places where life happens, especially in our living rooms!!
🔥 Takeaways from the Study: Courting God
Throughout our discussion tonight, we will lean into three main truths:
1️⃣ Praise brings us into God’s presence.
We don’t crash into God’s throne room with complaints. We come with gratitude and reverence. Praise prepares our hearts to meet the Holy One.
2️⃣ Praise shifts our perspective.
As we studied Psalm 13:5, we saw how praise helps us focus on God’s faithfulness, even when life is hard. It lifts our eyes from the problem to the promise.
3️⃣ Praise brings breakthrough.
Just like Paul and Silas in prison, praise can break chains. Not just physical ones, but spiritual strongholds. Acts 16:25–26 reminds us that the song often comes before the freedom.
🙌 A New Kind of Praise Life
By the end of tonight’s Bible study, we aren’t just talking about praise—we were practicing it.
In prayer. In silence. In gratitude.
I have prepared for class with this prayer:
“Lord, teach me to adore You in the mundane moments. Not just when the lights are low and the music is loud, but when my life is quiet. Prepare my heart for a lifestyle of praise—not performance, but real PRESENCE.”
💡 Final Thoughts for You, Reader
If you’re reading this and wondering how to praise God outside the walls of a church, start small.
- Thank Him as you wake up.
- Whisper His name in the middle of your workday.
- Sing when you’re doing dishes.
- Speak life over your children.
- Turn off the noise and tune into the Spirit.
Because praise isn’t a performance.
It’s a position. It’s a heart posture.
It’s how we come close.
Ultimately today, I’m closer than I was yesterday.
Come join me. Let’s enter His courts together.
🕊 Personal Prayer for a Life of Perpetual Praise
Lord, have I truly grasped the understanding that praise is not confined to three songs on Sunday morning? Praise is not a moment—it’s a lifestyle.
It comes in the morning, the night, and the noonday. All day, every day. Lord, help me grasp that my praise should be perpetual, just like my prayers without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). If I am not bringing a heart of gratitude, entering His courts with intentional praise—not out of routine or ritual, but out of pure love and adoration for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—then help me understand that I’m standing outside of a purposeful, living relationship with God. Lord, teach me how to appreciate You. Teach me how to adore You with my praise in the middle of the mundane. Not just when I’m in a corporate worship setting, but when I’m folding clothes, driving, cooking, or walking the dogs.
Prepare my heart for a praising protocol—
a new rhythm of love and recognition—
deep inside this growing relationship with You.
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The Aging English Major 