By Pr Isaiah White
Psalms 145:19 says: “My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name forever and ever.”
Dale A Robbins defines praise as follows:
Praise means to commend, to applaud or magnify. For the Christian, praise to God is an expression of worship, lifting and glorifying the Lord.
It is an expression of humbling ourselves and centering our attention upon the Lord with heart-felt expressions of love, adoration and thanksgiving.
High praises bring our spirit into a pinnacle of fellowship and intimacy between ourselves and God.
It magnifies our awareness of our spiritual union with the most high God. Praise transports us into the realm of the supernatural and the power of God.
Unpretentious praise
There are many actions involved with praise to God. Verbal expressions of adoration and thanksgiving, singing, playing instruments, shouting, dancing, lifting or clapping our hands. But true praise is not merely going through these motions.
Jesus spoke about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, whose worship was only an outward show and not from the heart.
“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8).
Genuine praise to God is a matter of humility and sincere devotion to the Lord from within.
Unpretentious praise and worship pleases the Lord. He delights in the love and devotion of His children.
According to the scriptures, the various expressions of praise bring blessing to the Lord.
“The true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4:23).
Praising is a lifestyle
All too often, praise to God is something that many people leave at Church, an event that happens only when they come together with other Christians.
However, praise should be a part of a believer’s lifestyle, part of their daily prayer life. At work, in the car, at home in bed, or anywhere; praise to the Lord brings the refreshing of the Lord’s presence, along with His power and anointing.
“I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalms 34:1).
Praise is an expression of faith and a declaration of victory. It declares that we believe God is with us and is in control of the outcome of all our circumstances (Romans 8:28).
Praise is a sacrifice, something that we offer to God sacrificially, not just because we feel like it, but because we believe in Him and wish to please Him.
“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” (Hebrews 13:15).Praise wins
Since praise manifests God’s presence, we also realise that it repels the presence of the enemy, Satan.
An atmosphere that is filled with sincere worship and praise to God by humble and contrite hearts, is disgusting to the devil.
He fears the power in the name of Jesus and flees from the Lord’s habitation in praise.
“Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God” (Psalms 50:23).
When the children of Judah found themselves outnumbered by the hostile armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, King Jehoshaphat and all the people sought the Lord for His help.
The Lord assured them 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 means Praise), and knowing that God manifests His power through praise, they sent their army against their enemies, led by praises.
They went ahead of the army declaring, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever!” The scripture says:
“When they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten” (2Chronicles 20:22).
When God’s people begin to praise His name, it sends the enemy running. I challenge you to become a person of praise, and you will experience the release of the power of God.
Some Biblical expressions of praise:
- l Declaring of thanks (Hebrews 13:15)
- Clapping hands and shouting (Psalms 47:1)
- l Musical instruments and dancing (Psalms 150:4)
- l Singing praise songs (Psalms 9:11)
- l Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19-20)
- l Making a joyful noise (Psalms 98:4)
- l By lifting our hands (Psalms 134:2)
There could even be other non-biblical modes of praise, spirit-guided and divine accepted out there. All we need is to be led by the Spirit in praise.
