Before You Say You Have Nothing to Praise God For…

Published May 5, 2026 · Updated May 14, 2026

Okay, so you woke up this morning, remembered approximately fourteen things you forgot to do yesterday, checked your phone before your feet hit the floor, and somewhere between the second cup of tea and the third “MOM!” from down the hall — the idea of sitting quietly and praising God felt about as realistic as a solo vacation to Athens.

Same.

Here’s what nobody tells you about being a grown woman of faith in her 30s: it’s not that you stop believing. It’s that life gets loud. And busy. And layered. And the things that used to fill you up — worship, wonder, just sitting with God — start feeling like luxuries you’ll get back to when things slow down.

Spoiler: things don’t slow down.

So instead, gratitude becomes something you owe rather than something you feel. Prayer turns into a to-do list you never finish. And praise? Praise starts feeling like a performance you’re not quite dressed for.

But what if that’s not actually a faith problem? What if it’s a perspective problem?

They Still See It

Watch a small child for five minutes.

Really watch them.

They stop for a ladybug. They squeal at bubbles like they’ve just witnessed a miracle — and honestly, have you looked at a bubble lately? They thank you for the wrong flavor of juice with the same enthusiasm as if you handed them a gift. They find a stick on the ground and it is, without question, the greatest stick that has ever existed.

They are not trying to be grateful. They just are.

Jesus said something that probably made every adult squirm a little:

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” — Matthew 18:3

Not childish. Childlike. There’s a difference.

Childish is a full meltdown at the grocery store because you said no to the Hotwheel set. (We’ve all witnessed it. Some of us have done it — spiritually speaking.) Childlike is still being capable of wonder. Still being able to reach up and trust that someone bigger is there. Still noticing the small things because you haven’t yet been convinced they’re small.

We got convinced somewhere along the way. By bills, by busyness, by growing up. We got so good at managing life that we stopped marveling at it.

What if the problem isn’t that God has gone quiet — but that we’ve forgotten how to listen at that frequency?

So What Even Is Praise?

Before we get to the list, let’s settle something — because praise has become one of those churchy words that can feel intimidating, like you need the right voice, the right playlist, and at least two hands raised before it counts.

You don’t.

Praise is an intentional act of expressing admiration, gratitude, and reverence to God — for who He is and for what He has done.

That’s the full picture. Both halves matter.

Praising God for what He does is gratitude — for provision, for healing, for showing up when you didn’t even ask.

Praising God for who He is is something deeper. It’s saying: even if nothing went my way today, You are still good. You are still faithful. You are still worthy — not because of what I received, but because of who You are.

David understood this. He wrote full-on worship poetry while hiding in caves, running for his life from people who wanted him dead. He wasn’t waiting for perfect circumstances to praise. He was praising through the circumstances because he knew who God was regardless of what was happening around him.

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” — Psalm 34:1

At all times. Including Tuesday at 4pm when everyone is hungry and dinner isn’t ready.

Children do this naturally. They don’t overthink it. They just say what they notice. They praise God for the sun because it’s warm and because He made it and that’s just really cool to them. No filter. No performance. Just honest, eyes-wide-open, wow.

So — what would it sound like if you sat down with a 4 year old and asked them:

“Hey, what makes you want to praise God? What are you thankful for? And what do you love about who He is?”

They might say something like this.

27 Childlike Reasons to Praise God

(For who He is AND what He does — because both count.)

“They praise Him for what He does…”

“The sun — it comes back again every morning. It didn’t forget us.”
“Water when I’m thirsty — and then I feel okay again really fast.”
“Sleep time — and then I wake up and it’s a new day!”
“Big loud cars that go vroom vroom super fast!”
“When someone says my name and they smile big like they’re happy I’m there.”
“Running super fast and my legs don’t stop me.”
“Throwing something and it goes whoosh and lands right there!”
“Rain when it’s hot and everything feels cool again.”
“Bare feet in the grass and it tickles and feels nice.”
“Finding a stick and it becomes a sword or magic wand or something cool.”
“When something breaks and someone helps fix it instead of saying no.”
“Laughing so much my tummy hurts and I can’t stop giggling.”
“When I build something and it stays up and doesn’t fall.”
“Little flowers growing in the ground cracks like they just wanted to come out.”

And they praise Him for who He is…

“That God is always in a good mood when I come to Him. He’s never like, ‘Not now, I’m busy.’”
“That He’s bigger than the thing that’s scaring me. Even the really big thing I don’t tell anyone about.”
“That He doesn’t lie. Ever. Some people do, but He actually can’t.”
“That He’s patient with me. Because I need a LOT of patience from people.”
“That He’s everywhere at the same time. Like He’s with me AND my grandma AND my friend who moved away. All at once.”
“That He’s kind. Not just nice — actually kind. There’s a difference and I know it when I feel it.”
“That He knows everything about me — even the embarrassing stuff — and He still wants to talk to me.”
“That His love never runs out. Mom explained it like a cup that never gets empty. I liked that.”
“That He’s creative. Like — He didn’t have to make octopuses. He just wanted to. That’s so funny to me.”
“That He’s holy — which means He’s completely good all the way through, with no bad mixed in anywhere. No one else is like that.”
“That He forgives. Not just a little. Like all the way, for real, every time.”
“That He’s close to people whose hearts are hurting. He doesn’t stay far away when things are hard.”
“That He’s good. Just… good. Even when things aren’t. He’s still good.”

Maybe Nothing Has Changed

Here’s a thought — and I say it gently, woman to woman.

Maybe God hasn’t moved. Maybe His goodness hasn’t shrunk or gotten harder to find or decided to take a little sabbatical while you’re in survival mode.

Maybe you’ve just been too tired, too full, too responsible to look up, too busy.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” — James 1:17

He does not change like shifting shadows. Every good thing — every warm cup of hot chocolate that didn’t go cold for once, every unexpected laugh, every morning you opened your eyes — is still coming from the same Source it always did. The gifts are still arriving. We’ve just stopped checking the mailbox.

That’s not a character flaw. That’s just what happens when life gets heavy and loud and full of things that demand your attention. You start managing instead of marveling. You get through the day instead of living inside it.

But the small things are still real. The ordinary gifts are still faithful. They show up every single day whether you notice them or not — quiet, steady, unremarkable proof that you are not forgotten.

“The Lord’s mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:22–23

New every morning. Not new when you earn it. Not new when you feel spiritual enough. New every morning, period — whether you made it to quiet time or whether you ate a granola bar over the sink and called it breakfast.

That’s who He is. And that part hasn’t changed.

Just One Thing

You don’t have to overhaul your prayer life this week. You don’t have to manufacture joy you don’t feel or perform a gratitude you haven’t found yet. You don’t need a journal, a candle, or a perfectly quiet house. (Ha.)

Just pause today, at some point, and notice one thing.

The light coming through the window. The temperature of the air when you step outside. The sound of someone in the next room who loves you and whom you love.

Notice it the way a child would — like it’s new, like it matters, like it might actually be a gift from Someone who knows exactly what you needed to see today.

Because it is.

And so are you.

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” — Psalm 139:14

What’s one small thing you’ve walked past this week without really noticing?

If this gave you permission to exhale today, share it with a friend who needs the same.