PRAISE GOD! PRAISE JESUS OF NAZARETH, PRAISE THE HOLY SPIRIT! What does Praise do? Everywhere you go, you hear Jesus-followers saying, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord.... Why? For what reason? Some others say, I dont have much to give praise about, life has been pretty tough, and Im hurting But as we will see, giving praise to God has so much more than a positive mental attitude: Acts 16:23-26: “And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: (24) Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. (25) And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. (26) And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” This Bible story begins with the illegal arrest of Paul and Silas. Because they had cast a spirit of divination out of a girl, the local Philippian authorities beat them and then threw them into prison. Besides the trauma of the severe beating, they were fastened in stocks which clamped their arms and legs in an immobile position, extremely uncomfortable to the point of painful. The atmosphere there was depressing. According to the standards of that day, a prison looked more like of a dungeon, a dark, damp, stench-ridden place, with no facility for waste or comforts of any kind. Yet, in spite of the throbbing pain in their bodies and the disheartening atmosphere, at midnight Paul and Silas were heard praying and singing praises to God! What a strange sound this must have been to the other prisoners, who were used to only hearing the groans or cursing of those who had been beaten. Then suddenly, there was an earthquake that shook the prison! The doors flung open, and amazingly, the bonds of Paul, Silas, and every other prisoner were released! What caused this mighty discharge of power? Praise releases Gods power. Paul and Silas knew how to strengthen themselves in the Lord, look beyond their circumstances and how to elevate their hearts toward heaven through praise. Psalm 22:3 reminds us that God inhabits the praise of His people. This means that God dwells in the atmosphere of praise. Praise is what heaven looks like. Praise is a gate. Praise is a faith-step that we make into a habit, so that we can enter into the secret place of Gods presence. Psalm 100 tells how God will manifest Himself, and how we magnify His presence in and around us: Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, enter to His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him and bless His name! (100:4) Praise brings us into a sweet intimacy with the Lord. Praise is a vitamin. Praise means to applaud, to commend, to magnify. It is how we humble ourselves, paying maximum attention to God, remembering His deeds, His mighty works, His Names, adoring Him and giving thanks. That sweet intimacy releases love, power, the gifts of the Spirit; once you taste and see how the Lord is good, youll want it every day, like a daily vitamin. And what a vitamin it is! Praise chases off the enemy of our souls. When the children of Judah found themselves outnumbered by the hostile armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, King Jehoshophat and all the people sought the Lord for His help. The Lord assured the people that this would be His battle. He told them to go out against them, and He would do the fighting for them. So what did the children of Judah do? Being the people of “praise” (Judah actually means Praise), and knowing that God manifests His power through praise, they sent their army against their enemies, led by the praisers! So on they went, ahead of the army declaring, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever!” And the scripture says, “...when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten” (2 Chronicles 20:22). ....so when the Scripture says the battle is the Lords (2 Chronicles 20:15), it does not mean that we do nothing, it means that we set out to intentionally and demonstrably praise God. Here are some ways the Bible tells us how to give God praise: Declaring of thanks (Heb. 13:15) Clapping hands and shouting (Psalms 47:1) Musical instruments and dancing (Psalm 150:4) Singing praise songs (Psalm 9:11) Psalms, hymns, & spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19-20) Making a joyful noise (Psalms 98:4) By lifting our hands (Psalms 134:2) By being still (Psalms 4:3-5, 46:10) By being loud (Psalms 33:3, 95:1-6) Praise is not something we do, it becomes a lifestyle of who we are in Christ. Because of the victory we have been given the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, every day is a another day to give God praise. When we dont feel like it, we give God praise anyhow; thats why it is sometimes called a sacrifice of praise.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 19:50:00 +0000
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