Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Praise Him!!!!

This is a subject that is so dear to me, because I was a praise and worship leader for 12 years. I truly believe Christians as a whole don't grasp the power of praise! I was reading an article on it yesterday and it provoked me to write about it on my blog. So bear with me as I get on my stump......

What is praise? Dictionary.com says, to offer grateful homage to (God or a deity), as in words or song. That seems a little too ordinary so lets look deeper. The strongs defines praise in several ways. It says praise is to boast, to rejoice, to sing songs, to celebrate, to be foolish and the giving of thanks. Just think of all the times that the Word of God tells us to Praise the Lord. Just for instance Psalm 150 ends by saying, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!" The Amplified Bible says, "Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!" Imagine that, with every breath of life we should be praising the Lord!

We don't praise Him because we feel like it. We don't praise Him because we are at church or at a christian concert. We don't praise Him because everything is perfect in our lives. We praise Him because of who He is! We praise Him because He loves us! We praise Him because He sent His only Son to die for us so we could live eternally with Him! We praise Him because He created us to praise Him! Isaiah 43:21 says, "The people I formed for Myself, that they may set forth My praise."

I also believe that we can see in the Word a pattern of praise followed by victory. In Joshua 6:5-20, we read about the children of Israel at the Wall of Jericho. The Lord commanded them to shout with a great shout and that the wall would come down. The wall didn't fall until they shouted. II Chronicles 20:21-22 tells of how a whole army was defeated through praise. "And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: 'Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.' Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated." Acts 16:25-26 tells us that Paul and Sylas prayed, and sang praises. It was during this time of praise that the answer to their prayers came. The Bible says that suddenly there was a great earthquake.....and everyone's bands were loosed!

Prayer is important, indeed, but sometimes we need to go beyond prayer and enter praise. Instead of begging God to do something, let's focus on praising Him for what He has already done! Let's praise Him, knowing that He has heard our prayers! Let's give thanks, knowing that He will answer our prayers! Let's rejoice in His wonderful works!! Psalm 107 repeatedly says, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"

Psalm 117:1-2 Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.!!

7 comments:

Elisabeth said...

Thank you for that post! i love it!

"We praise Him because of who He is!" AMEN!

Elias said...

great post! thanks for sharing!
praise is powerful! i love to look at the prayers of great men in the Bible and see that a lot of the time their prayers begin with praise:
Neh. 1:5; 2 Kings 19:15; Acts 4:24

oh that we would also begin our prayers with praise that we might better realize to Whom we are praying!

angela said...

when the morning falls on the farthest hill, i will sing His praise, i will praise Him still!

The Hermyzoo! said...

Hi, I came upon your blog today and I have really enjoyed reading your posts. We are also adopting three beautiful kiddos from Haiti. I look forward to having more time to read up on your adoption journey and your family.

Many wonderful reasons to SMILE!
Tanya

Brandy and Troy said...

AMEN SISTER!!!!!!!!!!

Lisa said...

Wow Michelle...that was powerful.
Thank you for sharing the verses on praise!
I love Psalm 18: 1-3 "I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worhty of praise, and I am saved from my enemies."

Praise the Lord!!!

Shannon H. said...

We were created for His glory and to worship him, PRAISE him.

Shouting out an AMEN!

Great post.