Praising the Lord Always
Study Text: Psalms 34: 1 - 3
Introduction:
-. Praise is your verbal and physical response to the greatness of God. It is the recognition and acknowledgment of who God is.
-. Praising God usually has two dimensions: Thanksgiving and Worship.
- Thanksgiving is your response to the interventions, acts and goodness of God in your life. A means of acknowledging and appreciating God for His interventions and blessings.
- Worship on the other hand is ascribing glory and adoration to God over your creation, existence, preservation, blessings, and accomplishments.
-. The Bible instructed and recommended praising God as a worthy responsibility of everyone. This is not only because it is good and rewarding to do so, but also because God deserves and is worthy of our praises.
-. We shall be discussing the topic under three subheadings:
1. The Practice of Praising God Always
2. The Purpose of Praising God Always
3. The Power in Praising God Always
1. The Practice of Praising God Always
- As Christ-followers, we build many important spiritual habits into our lives, some of these include: Prayer, Bible reading, Gratitude, Giving and so on. All of these usually play a critical role in our spiritual journeys and wholeness.
- But one of the necessary habits we should all cultivate for our spiritual well-being is the habit of praising God always. It is particularly important when we are facing challenges and passing through difficult situations.
- What makes praise so important for you and for those who follow God is because God inhabits the praises of His people and there will always be Divine Visitation whenever there is heartfelt praises unto God. Psalms 22:3
- Praise lifts your spirit in times of discouragement and unhappiness. Psalm 42:5-6
- There is no doubt we have a lot in our world today to be discouraged about. But the Bible reminds us to both praise God and remember what he has done in our lives when we are down.
- Praising God is so energizing. It takes your eyes off your troubles and puts them on Jesus.
- Praising God will help you to sense God’s presence. God is always present with us, but our praises will create a suitable environment for the manifestation of His presence.
-. The following attitudes and practices will help us in cultivating the habit of praising God always:
1. Always Meditate on the Greatness and the Goodness of God in and around your Life.
-. A sincere meditation on the greatness and goodness of God in our lives and around us will always provoke a genuine praises unto His name.
2. Carefully Study Scriptural Portions on Praises and Characters that Praise God.
-. By meditating regularly on scriptures instructing on praising God, how God was praised and the people that do praise Him in the Bible, you will develop a heart that delight in praising God at all times.
3. Consciously Develop the Attitude of Focusing on your Immediate Blessings.
-. There are so many things we are looking unto God for. Sometimes we are so occupied with our expectations and are unable to recognize our immediate blessings and appreciate God by praising Him.
-. Count your blessings, name them one by each, it will surprise you what God has done. A grateful heart is usually a joyful heart, and it is better motivated to trust in God for the awaiting blessings.
4. Always See God behind every Success and Achievement.
-. Recognize that all that you are and all that you have come from God alone and praise Him for this at all times.
-. This will equally give you hope and strengthen your faith in God in difficult situations and life challenges. Philippians 4:13
5. Turn All your Idle Hours to Hours of Praising God
-. There are so many activities of the day that do not require our active attention and concentration. We can form a habit of praising God alongside the activities.
6. Develop your own Words and Styles of Praising God.
-. When we express our praises unto God in our personal words, songs and styles, it helps better in developing a habit of praising Him.
7. Make Use of Known Materials for Inspiration.
-. There are so many song of praises and hymns available around us. We should use them for getting inspiration and not for pleasure or entertaining purpose.
- The challenge we should all receive is to learn to make praise our natural response for everything we face in life. We should develop the habit of praising God at all times in your life and encourage your family members to do the same, and then you will see the wonders of God.
2. The Purpose of Praising God Always
There are several purposes of praising God at all times:
1. To Proclaim and Publicize God’s Greatness.
-. Our praises unto God apart from honouring Him, will also introduce Him to those who do not know Him, and their souls can be won to God.
-. When Paul and Silas were praising God, the other prisoners were hearing them. They all benefited from the great deliverance and turned to God.
2. To Appreciate and Celebrate God's Goodness.
- God is always pleased with our appreciation and thanksgiving. We need to praise Him for giving us life and health. To appreciate Him for all His blessings and goodness in our lives.
3. To Acknowledge and Anticipate our Eternal Inheritance
-. How much do you value your salvation and redemption? Our continual praises unto God is an indication of acceptance of all our redemption benefits and our assurance about our eternal inheritance waiting for us in heaven.
-. If you find it difficult to praise God in difficult situations, you are ignorant of your eternal value or worth.
4. To Testify to His Protection and Renew our Confidence in His Power
-. Our praising Him always is a testimony that He is the one protecting us from the enemy and granting us all round victories.
-. This also indicate our confidence and assurance in His power to show up for us in our situations.
5. To Connect to His Mercy and Establish His Faithfulness.
- It is of the Lord’s mercy we are not consumed. We still mess up even when we are saved but He still shows us mercy and forgives us.
-. When we praise God always, we will stay connected as beneficiaries of His Mercy.
6. To Create an Enabling Environment for Fellowship
- God inhabits the praises of His people and praise is the key that opens the door of His Court.
-. The Psalmist says: Enter His gate with Thanksgiving and His Court with Praise. No one who comes with His praises will be rejected.
7. To Activate and Accelerate a Favourable Response to Prayers
- Praise attract His presence and demonstrate our trust in Him.
-. Because God is honoured and magnified by our praises, heaven will be opened upon our prayers for accelerated response from God.
3. The Power in Praising God Always
-. Wherever the praises of God is raised, He will usually come down and the power of His presence will be manifested for supernatural signs and wonders.
- In 2 Chronicles 20, we read about three enemy nations who ganged up on Israel. The only chance Israel had was for God to miraculously save them.
- So, King Jehoshaphat as instructed by God organized an unusual battle plan. He put a choir in front of the army as they marched into battle.
- The Bible says as soon as the Israelites started praising God, confusion ensued, and the enemies were defeated.
- The Lord wants to fight your battles too, so take time to praise him in advance.
- Praise breaks chains and opens the prison doors. You or your familymembers probably have certain things holding you back. You might feel stuck, like nothing has changed in your life for the better.
- It sounds odd, but there’s no better time for you to thank God and praise His name than right now.
- Paul and Silas did this in Acts 16 while they were in prison. In the middle of the night, the two decided to have a praise session, while the other prisoners were listening to them.
- As they praised God, the Bible says, “The prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!” (Acts 16:26).
- That story is a miracle, but it is also a metaphor of what God does in our lives when we praise him.
- When you need to be set free from any Satanic afflictions and oppressions, praise the Lord wholeheartedly, and His power will manifest for your deliverance.
- Some people need to be free from a negative attitude, an addiction, or habit. Total liberation is possible through the power of God as His people can praise Him.
- Gods power manifesting when we praise Him can break the yoke of curses, Satanic covenants, evil cycles and the power of failure. It will break the chains holding you back.
-. During the time of Praising God, His power can manifest for divine healing of all manner of sicknesses and diseases, for restoration of what the enemies have stolen or destroyed, and for several supernatural signs and wonders.
Conclusion:
-. Make up your mind to cultivate the habit of praising God always and at all times in every situation, and you will always enjoy the blessings of His presence.
-. There is no kind of miracles, signs and wonders that can not take place when we praise God wholeheartedly. This is because God will always come down during praises and manifest His power.
