Ignatius begins his Spiritual Exercises  succinctly with the sentence, "The human being was created in order to praise God our Lord".  Must "traditional Christians" of this century allow charismatics to be the foremost ones to reclaim the important function the praise of God has for a Christian?  Perhaps both these groups know that the praise of God should play a larger role in our life.  But there is no question that we do find it difficult to praise God without a purpose.  Here lies the meaning of the regular Prayers of the Hours: services of praise offered for people who no longer will or can praise God.  Indeed, in Psalm 148 human beings praise God on behalf of "the things of creation" which have no voice.  Whoever prays the Psalms regularly joining their own prayers with the Psalm prayers brings, therein, the "word" of humanity into the presence of God.  In the Psalm prayers the broad range of human experience from deepest need to exultant joy has become a language - a human language which is brought before God in this way.

Can we really combine all of these very diverse human experiences and feelings which have been expressed before God in the Psalms under the concept of the praise of God?  Can a cry of pain or a prayer of petition "unintentionally" be  praise of God?  I believe so.  That is to say, when we call to God for help we trust that God can and will help or that God will deny help because God's will is not our will, but goes beyond our understanding and grasp.  So we praise God in every cry of need, in every petition and in every intercession through our trust in God.  And when we confess sins for ourselves or as a representative for others, then that happens also as the glory and praise of God.  We give God glory whose judgment is just and right.  The Psalmist can even pray in deepest need, "I will praise the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalm 34:1).

- Psalm 34 (Praise God at all times)

- John 17:20-26 (Jesus intercessory prayer)

Linger gazing deeply upon Jesus, our "Advocate with the Father" (I John 2:1), just as in this place he opens the secret of his heart ...and let yourself with your intercessions be drawn into his intercession, praising God through your trust...

- Genesis 18:20-33 ( Abraham's intercessory prayer )

- Te Deum

Klemens Tilmann and Hedvig-Teresia von Peinen suggest gathering for prayer with one of the following words and lingering with it:
- "toward you",
- "for you",
- "of you" or
- "you" (the four "shortest prayers").