Most Christians
believe that praising God and being thankful is good; however, many
think it is optional, something to do after they have served the Lord in
other ways. Some Christians only praise God when their circumstances
are good and they have a reason to thank Him. The truth is that praising
God is not an option. Praise has a powerful effect on the believer, the
devil, and on God. It is our highest calling.
In Deuteronomy, God pronounced a curse on the children of Israel:
"Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with
gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things" (28:47). Even though
we are not under the Law, this verse tells us that God wants us to have
joyful and thankful hearts. Jesus was joyful. Hebrews 1:9 tells us that
praising God at all times is part of the normal Christian life:
"Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of
gladness above thy fellows."
How does praise affect the believer? When we praise God, we are
acknowledging that it is not our own efforts that produce blessings and
prosperity. In Deuteronomy, chapters 7 and 8, the children of Israel are
told to remember to thank God for the abundance they will receive. God,
not their own efforts, gave them wealth. Praise makes us humble.
Thanksgiving is also a way to abound in faith. Any time we operate in
a high degree of faith, praise is present. Colossians 2:6-7 says, "As
ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." When you are believing
God for something and it is completed, praise is a natural response.
What some people often neglect is that they can increase their faith
with praise, and their answers will come more quickly.
By focusing on your problems instead of praising God, you become
self-centered and prideful. Praise forces you to get your attention on
God and off your problems. Some people say that they are praying, but
they are so focused on their problems that they are actually
complaining. If you focus on the Word of God, faith will come. How do
you keep from focusing on the problem when you are in pain or have no
money? The most important thing you can do is praise God. A negative,
complaining attitude won't change overnight, but beginning to praise God
will start the transformation in your attitude. If you have always been
negative, you must practice thinking on positive things. Philippians
4:4 tells us to "rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice."
When we pray, we should begin with praise and end with praise. The
Lord's prayer gives us this example, and Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, "Be
careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of
God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus." When you pray with thanksgiving, the peace of God
will keep your heart and mind.
Praise will build you up spiritually and keep you from crumbling,
"for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Neh. 8:10). The Apostle Paul
was persecuted and suffered far more than most of us, yet he put it all
in perspective in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18: "For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are
temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." First, Paul
said our affliction is just for a moment in light of eternity. He looked
into the spiritual realm. Praise will push you into the spiritual realm
to see what God has done for you. Paul and Silas praised God in prison.
It was the praise that released the power of God and the earthquake
that delivered them from their captivity.
Praising God doesn't just affect us; it is a powerful weapon against
the devil as well. Psalm 8:2 says, "Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that
thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger." In the book of Matthew
(21:16), at the time of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Palm
Sunday), Jesus quotes from Psalm 8. When he quoted this verse, he
interchanged the words "perfected praise" for "ordained strength." This
is a tremendous revelation: Praise is strength (Neh. 8:10)!
Some people are so involved in spiritual warfare that their attention
is on the devil more than on God. There is a place for fighting and
resisting the devil, but focusing too much on the devil is not good.
Praise is a powerful weapon against the devil that has no negative
fallout. In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat appointed singers to lead his
army into battle with praise unto the Lord. When they went into battle
singing and praising God, the Lord set an ambush, and their enemies were
defeated.
Why does praise defeat Satan? Satan's sin was jealousy of God. He is
still driven by jealousy today (Is. 14:13-14). Even if he can't get
people to worship
him, his goal is to keep people from worshiping God. He seeks to draw
attention away from God. When we worship God, we thwart Satan's plan.
We have learned the power of starting a service with praise. Praise
makes the devil flee and releases the anointing of God. Even the secular
world knows the benefits of praise. The medical profession says that a
person who is joyful is more healthy than a person who is morbid and
depressed. Praise stops a negative attitude.
The most important reason to praise God is that it ministers unto
Him. Acts 13 describes a situation at the church in Antioch. Verse 2
says, "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said,
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called
them." This is an awesome statement. They ministered to the Lord. How do
we minister to the Lord? We often think we serve God only by
ministering to other people. This happened in Matthew, chapter 8, with
Peter's mother-in-law. She waited on them and did household duties. That
is a ministry; however, in this instance in Acts, they were fasting,
praying, and ministering to the Lord. They were worshiping and
glorifying God. That also ministers to the Lord.
The truth is that God desires ministry. God is complete and
self-contained, but He needs us to love Him. Any person who loves has a
need to show that love and a need to have that love returned. That is
the reason for the creation of man in the first place. In Revelation 4,
John saw a vision of what is happening in heaven. He saw twenty-four
elders and four living creatures that don't cease praising God. In verse
11, the elders said, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure
they are and were created." This tells us that God's original and
current purpose for creation is for His pleasure. God created us to be
full of praise, joy, and thanksgiving. He is blessed by His creation.
We are often so service-oriented that we think we have to minister to
others or work at the church to bless God. We think our net worth to
God is our service. We forget that if it blesses God, it doesn't have to
touch anyone else. He longs to know us personally and intimately. There
are hundreds of times in Scripture that God solicits our praise. Psalm
100:4 says that we should "enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and
into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name."
I married Rose Adunni because I love her and want to share my life with
her. Rose is an excellent homemaker and keeps a clean house, which
blesses our family. However, if she cared more for the house than for
me, it would cease to minister to me. It is the same way in our
relationship with God. Service is not a substitute for a relationship
with God.
Our number one priority must be to love God personally. Praise is
giving of yourself to God — an intimate communion with Him. If we would
praise and seek God first, during our prayer time, other things would be
added unto us. (Matt. 6:33)
John 3:16 tells us that God gave His Son that we might have eternal
life. Christians often think eternal life begins when you die and go to
heaven, but John 17:3 tells us differently. Eternal life is now.
Intimately knowing God is eternal life. Praise is a way to begin this
love relationship with God.
"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God
continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name"(Heb. 13:15).
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