The Bible states that unrighteous refuse to offer praise to God. Rom 1:21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. & Rev 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.
But God's people have & always will be a people of praise. It isn't surprising that the Word of God reveals many ways to express our love, gratitude & worship to the Lord. A survey of Scripture reveals we are to praise God with our mouths, through our bodily movements& through the playing & singing of music.
Thee Hebrew words of the Old Testament demonstrate how believers are to use their mouths in praising God. (1) Hallal means "to be vigorously excited; to laud, boast, rave, & to celebrate." This type of praise is done with aloud voice. (2) Barak Is "to bless, to declare God the origin of power 7 success, prosperity & fertility; to be still." This praise may be quite & hushed, (3) Shabach, means "to commend, address in a loud tone, to shout." As we set our hearts on worship God acceptably, the Holy Spirit will teach us how & when to use our mouths in offering praise to God.
Bodily movement is also associated with praise, as we see in two old Testament words for praise (1) Todah means "to extend hands in thanksgiving." (2) Yadah is to worship with extended hands-to throw out hands, enjoying God."
It is time God's people realised that raising hands in worship is not a new charismatic fad; rather it is a scriptural principal. For example, the psalmist commanded, "Lift up your hands in the sanctuary & bless the Lord" (Ps 134:2). In Psalm 107 urges longingly " Oh that men would praise [yadah] the Lord for His goodness & wonderful works to the children of men."
So as you worship God, obey the leading of His Holy Spirit. Don't be afraid to stand, knell, bow, dance, clap your hands or lift them up to the Lord. Each of these forms of praise is perfectly scriptural when done decently & in order.
We are not only to use our mouths & our bodies in worship; we are also employ music in praise, Zamar means "to pluck the strings of an instrument, to praise with song," & tehillah is the word for singing in the spirit or singing the hallals or psalms. We can worship God through singing songs of praise.
We must not be afraid to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit & to let Him teach us how to our mouths & bodily movements & our music to worship the Lord.
After we have brought our petitions to God our Father, we should return to praise. The words,
"For thine is the kingdom & the power & the glory for ever & ever," are idle words to most people. many believers do not realise that God has lovingly invited us to become participants in His kingdom, His power & glory.
"For the kingdom is the Lords," declared the psalmist Ps 22:28 & Jesus said "Thine is the kingdom Matt 6:13. He also said "Fear not little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Lk 12:32.
Paul also teaches that we are partakers in God's kingdom. "Giving thanks to the Father... Who has delivered us from the power of darkness & has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son" (Col 1:12-14). To Timothy Paul said " & the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, & will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom: to whom be the glory for ever & ever" 2 Tim 4:18)
Therefore as you pray "For thine is the kingdom" praise God your Father who delivered you from the powers of darkness & translated you into the kingdom of love & light. Make the faith declaration " The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work & preserve me into His heavenly kingdom." Give God praise because He has invited you to be a participant in His kingdom.
David wrote, "In thy hand is power & might) 1 Chron 29:12), & he declared "Be thou exalted, Lord, in thou own strength so we will sing thy power" (Ps 10:12). God made the earth by His power for ever.(Ps 66:7) Yet God our Father has made us participants in His power. He gives strength & power to His people (Ps 68:35) & gives power to get wealth (Deut 8;18) He gives power to faint (Isa 40:29) & keeps us by His power (Pet 1:5) And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power (1Cor 6:14).
Jesus declared Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Lk 10:19 Just before His ascension, the Lord instructed His disciples.
Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” Lk 24:49 In Acts 1: 8 we read again the words of Jesus promising the power of the holy Spirit: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. & in 1 Corinthians 4:20 He affirms For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. Give praise to God your Father because He has invited you to be a participant in His power & has made His power available to you. This what the psalmist says who the King of glory is: The Lord strong & mighty, the Lord mighty in battle (1 Chron 16:20) God Himself declares. I am the Lord: that is My name: & my glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Isa 42:8 God's Glory is the manifested perfection of His character, especially His righteousness. We know all people short of the glory of God (Rom 3:22), yet He has invited believers to be participants in His glory. Jesus made it possible as we see in Heb 2: 9,10 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. Paul assured believers that if we suffer with Him, we will also be glorified together. Suffering was of little consequence to Paul, for he knew that the presence sufferings cannot be compared with the glory which will be eventually be revealed (Rom 8:18) As we behold the glory of the Lord that is His character &ways of God exhibited through Christ-we are slowly changed into His image by the Spirit of God (2Cor 3:18),& the character & ways of the Father & the Son are formed within us. As we are Brought into Christ's likeness we will enter into eternal blessedness, for God our father has called us into eternal glory. (1Pet 5;10) Is it any wonder Paul charged believers that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 1 Thess2:12 David urges believers to witness to others of God's kingdom power & glory: All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, And Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. Ps 145:10-13
We praise You Father, for thine, is the kingdom the power & the glory forever, yet you have invited us to become participants. May we never leave or enter Your presence without humbling bowing before You & offering a sacrifice of praise. May we proclaim with David: Therefore David blessed the LORD before all the assembly; and David said: “Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all. “Now therefore, our God, We thank You And praise Your glorious name. 1 Chron 29:10-13
Prayer outline1. The Kingdom A. Praise the Lord because He has translated you out of the kingdom of darkness & into the kingdom of love & light. B. Make the faith declaration: "The Lord shall preserve me from every evil work, & preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom." C. Praise God because He has invited you to be a participant in His kingdom. II The power. A Praise the Lord because He has invited you to be a participant in His power. B Meditate on the power of God your Father. Measure your problems against His mighty, miraculous works & His great love for you. C. Make this faith declaration: "I am strong in the Lord & in the power of his might. I have been endued with power from on high. Greater is He who is in me then he who is in the world. My Father gives me strength & power to get wealth. He gives power to the faint. As my day so shall my strength be. He keeps me by His power. He has given me power to tread in serpents & scorpions, & power over the enemy. Nothing by any means shall harm me.
III The Glory A Behold the glory of the Lord-the character & the ways of God exhibited through Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to that you be transformed by the renewing of your mind by the Word of God. B. Ask the Lord to help you walk worthy of Him & to help you serve Him as He deserves to be served. C. Praise Him & give Him glory. If the anointed presence of the Lord seems to be fading in our lives this may be because we are not rising early day by day, worshipping & receiving from Him what we need. If we are not beginning each day by entering into God's presence with thanksgiving & into His courts with praise, we are carelessly neglecting God's exceeding & precious promises by which we are partakers of the divine nature (2Pet 1:4). & not allowing Him to be our righteousness, sanctifier, peace, healer, provider, banner, shepherd & the overflowing present One in us. Therefore often taking His name in vain.
If we do not set the rudder of of our life (that is our tongue) upon God's priorities for our life declaring, " Thy will be done in me, my family, my church& my nation," our priorities will seem to be upside down much of the time. If we are not praying specifically & tenaciously every day, "Give us this day our daily bread," Then we will not prosper in many areas. When we do something wrong we must confess our failures to Him & He will freely forgives the moment we do. If we don't rise every morning & say "I confess every known sin to the Lord, even the ones we don't know we have committed – I accept that you have forgiven me, & I also set my will to forgive those who have sinned against me." We do not need to fight battles of fear & depression, we can expect to win when we put on the Lords armour, then we know how to effectively wield the sword of the Spirit, or skilfully employ the shield of faith to ward of the devils attacks.
How can we fight the good fight of faith when we do not pray in our prayer language daily &live in an attitude of prayer. Praise may not continually flow out of or spirit to God, but we can & should put on the garment of praise (tehillah) for the spirit of heaviness by singing songs of praise to God. Isa 61:3 Each day Of our life we need to thank God that, because of the blood of Jesus, we can call Him Father. We must also praise His glorious names, appropriate his mighty promises & seek to sanctify His name through our manner of living. I am so busy these days, but it's mostly work for the Lord, so I have His peace inside of me, in my home & at church, this is because I prayer over myself, my family & my church, also this nation, "The Great South Land of The Holy Spirit," declaring that God's priorities in those areas are set in order.
I go boldly into His Throne room & declare that His righteousness, joy,& peace shall come & that His will be done. No longer am I worried of frustrating circumstances. Instead experience the abundant provision of Jehovah-jireh, He sees my needs ahead of time & makes provision for them, but I do not take God's blessings for granted. Every day in prayer I set my will to make God's kingdom my priority, & then I pray my needs, claiming & receiving God's promised provision. You too can experience more & more freedom from frustration by setting your priorities straight. The day you answer the call to prayer, He will meet your every need. If you are plagued by guilt or problems with people, remember you must forgive. Believe me that just doesn't happen automatically. Every day we need to forgive our debtors before we can receive God's washing & cleansing, then set our wills to forgive those who may have wronged us that day. As we learn to release & forgive our offenders & offences to God, we become candidates for the supernatural. If you want to stop letting the devil pushing you around, if you want to leave him sitting in the dirt for a change, you must learn to put on the whole armour of God each & every day, & pray a hedge of protection around yourself, your loved ones & all you have. Learn to overcome satan in prayer & by the blood of the Lamb & by the word of your testimony, if you do, you will be an overcomer. If Jesus needed to pray every day, how much more must we. In order to illustrate the importance of prayer in the life of our Lord, here is just one day in His life. After walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee calling Peter, James & John to follow Him & become fishers of men, Jesus went into the synagogue at Capernaum, there He taught the people, concluding His message by casting out an unclean spirit out of a man who had disrupted the service. Next He went to the home of Peter & Andrew & healed Peters mother-in-law of a fever. That evening when the sun had set, a crowd had gathered at the door of Peters home. They brought to Jesus everyone who was sick or demon possessed & He healed them. He may have been quite exhausted when His head finally hit the pillow. I don't think so because everything He did would have been in His Fathers strength. In the next verse we see Mk 1:35
Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. That pattern continued throughout Christ's ministry. At the place of prayer Jesus found the power & guidance He needed to fulfil His Fathers will each day. He was the Son of God, yet He prayed. Jesus was the busiest, most important man who ever walked the face of the earth, yet prayer was the primary focus in His life. It is time we made an agreement with God to meet Him every day, If you choose to make it early morning, jump out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off, don't roll over & mumble the reasons why you need more rest, get up & give your heavenly Father the first part of your day. If you need coffee to wake you up then those extra minutes spent in the kitchen will be time well spent. To develop an effective prayer life, you must overcome three enemies: interruptions, drowsiness &wondering thoughts.
The telephone & the doorbell can become dire enemies of the believer who seeks to make a discipline of prayer. That's why many choose to pray early morning before the distractions begin. David didn't have a telephone or a doorbell but he did have eight wives, ten concubines twenty two children & a kingdom to run, so it's not surprising that he chose to prayer early in the morning, in Psalm 5:3 he said: My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. If you feel the enemy of drowsiness when you pray you could try standing & or walking rather then sitting I ask the Lord to keep me awake & He does. If your thoughts wander & you have a difficult time concentrating, I generally come & sit quietly at His feet (so to speak) & sooner or later I come into His presence this takes time maybe ten minutes or much longer but I get in to the place where I can pray in His presence. Always pray aloud & not quietly in your head, Pastor Anne Edgar at Victory life Bible training Centre said that was only thinking about prayer & not praying.
I thank God for that lady, she taught me all I know about prayer. Always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit & pray over each request in the manner He directs, for God has sent His Spirit to come to your aid in prayer & plead in your behalf with groanings to deep for utterance (Rom 8:26). Learn to be sensitive by using your prayer language, praying in the spirit & listening for the Holy Spirit's promptings. At times the Spirit will lead you to verses of Scripture & turn them into petitions or bold declarations of your faith. Sometimes you may find yourself weeping or travailing over an urgent need. Sometimes you will break out into worshipful singing or laughter as God's peace & joy flood your heart. Prayer Guide. 1. Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. A. Picture Calvary & thank God you can call Him Father by the virtue of the blood of Jesus. B. Hallow the Names of God corresponding with the five benefits of the new covenant, & make your faith declarations.
Benefit. Name. Meaning. Sin Jehovah-tsidkenu The Lord My Righteousness Jehovah-m'kaddesh The Lord who Sanctifies. Spirit Jehovah-shalom The lord Is Peace Jehovah-shammah The lord Is There Soundness Jehovah-rope The Lord Who Heals. Success Jehovah-jireh The Lord's Provision Shall Be Seen Security Jehovah-nissi The Lord My Banner. Jehovah-rohi The Lord My Shepherd. II Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. A. Yourself. B. Your family (mate, children, other family members. C. Your Church (pastor(s), leadership, faithfulness of the people, harvest. D. Nation (city, state, & national political & spiritual leaders, a specific nation. III Give us this day our daily bread A. Be in the will of God (prayer life, church, work habits, obedience in giving. B Believe it is God's will to prosper you in all areas of your life. C. Be specific. D. Be tenacious. IV & forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. A . Ask God to forgive you. B. Forgive & release others.
C. Set your will to forgive those who sin against you V & lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. A. Put on the whole armour of God. 1. The belt of truth. 2. Breastplate of righteousness. 3. Feet shod with the preparation of peace (readiness) of the gospel of peace. 4. Shield of faith. 5. Helmet of salvation. 6 Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 7. Praying always in the Spirit. B. Pray a hedge of protection. The Lord is your refuge, your fortress, your God; in Him will you trust). 1. Because you have made the Lord your habitation. 2. Because you have set your love upon Him.
3. Because you have known His name.
IV For thine is the glory, & the power & the glory, for ever & ever. A. Make your faith declarations. B. return to praise.
Acknowledgement Larry Lea.
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