Fifty Benefits That You Gain By Praising God
(Ephesians 1)
Illustration:I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.
C.S. Lewis.
1. Praise helps us appreciate all the past, present and future blessings we enjoy through the Holy Spirit. The Lord calls all believers to be intimate with Him and praise facilitates our nearness to God. Praise enables us to come closer to the Lord so He can come closer to us and help us resist the devil. (Vs 13)
2. Praise helps us understand how we were made God’s heritage and accessed His power. We praise God because He has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. (Vs 11)
3. Praise helps us appreciate the surpassing greatness of His power for us who believe. The way to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord is to study His characteristics revealed in the Scriptures. (Vs 19)
4. Praise helps us by focusing our attentions on God who is holy, pure and blameless in everything. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. People who are in intimate fellowship with the Lord are able to give greater thanks to the Lord for His power and sovereign control in all things. (Vs 4)
5. Praise helps us by giving us a greater incentive to live our lives in holiness, love and with a good conscience. God’s character gives us the basis and standard for all ethical and moral principles. (Vs. 4)
6. Praise helps us complete God’s primary purpose for creating us, which is to glorify Him. Failure to think correctly about God leads us to the sin of idolatry as well as to the sins of omission, commission, wrong disposition and faulty assumptions. (Vs 3)
7. Praise helps us feel a greater security in His everlasting love since He chose us in Him before the creation. Knowing God helps us enjoy richer fellowship with Him. (Vs. 3)
8. Praise helps us fully appreciate and appropriate God’s grace, goodness and peace. The more we know God the better we are able to enjoy His presence and grow in all aspects into Christ. (Vs. 2)
9. Praise helps us gain a greater awareness of how enriched we are through God’s blessings. It is our privilege to praise the Lord as He gradually reveals more ways that He has blessed us while we give Him greater glory. People who intimately know God are given greater clarity about how they can maximize their contribution to the qualitative and quantitative growth of the church. (Vs. 3)
10. Praise helps us gain a greater glimpse of God’s will, way and plan for our life. People who are drawing near to the Lord, through praise, are a constant channel of blessings to those around them. (Vs 9)
11. Praise helps us gain a greater maturity in all aspects of life as we grow up in all dimensions into Christ. People who are walking close to the Lord are able to follow God’s kingdom priorities instead of non-essential pursuits. (Vs. 9)
12. Praise helps us gain a rich contrast of the finite power of people versus God’s omnipotence. People who are in closer fellowship with the Lord are more willing to learn from every situation what God is teaching them. (Vs 18)
13. Praise helps us gain a richer sense of our spiritual, emotional, mental and physical tranquility in Christ. People who relate closely to the Lord realize how they can overcome any difficulty. (Vs. 3)
14. Praise helps us give greater thanks to God for what he has done for us and other members of the body of Christ. People who praise the Lord develop a deeper hunger for the knowledge of God. (Vs 19)
15. Praise helps us be willing to learn from every trial. People who are growing in the knowledge of the Holy One recognize their own human limitations and remain humble. (Vs 18)
16. Praise helps us grow in wisdom, knowledge and understanding of God’s character, His promises and His power for our life. People who stay in close fellowship with the Lord do not run ahead of Jesus or fall behind His footsteps. (Vs 9)
17. Praise helps us have a greater hope in our God who is able to empower us to overcome any disappointment. People who are focusing on the Lord’s glory are transformed from one degree of glory to another, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (Vs 18)
18. Praise helps us have a greater self-esteem. Worshipful people know that God has selected them for His purposes, companionship and empowerment. People who stay in intimate fellowship with the Lord are more loving, caring and willing to serve others. (Vs 3)
19. Praise helps us honor, worship and give maximum glory to the only One who deserves it. People who intimately relate to the Lord exude a great sense of security, confidence and hope. (Vs. 1)
20. Praise helps us learn more about the limitless power, reach and effectiveness of God’s strength so we are not tempted to work with our own strength. People who stay close to the Lord consistently give thanks to Him for their triumph over sin, death and evil. (Vs 18)
21. Praise helps us lift up our hearts in song with thankfulness. People who are not grateful for what tend to not be grateful for what they wish they could have. (Vs 9)
22. Praise helps us please the Lord by doing His primary will regardless of the difficulty in our relationships, circumstances or challenges. A deep knowledge of the Lord helps us resist all forms of evil. (Vs 11)
23. Praise helps us gain greater power, confidence and assurance regardless of our circumstances. People who try to pretend that they know God are living a lie unless they have trusted Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. (Vs. 13)
24. Praise helps us pray with greater conviction that God will give us wisdom and knowledge of Him when we need it. The greater intimacy a person has with the Lord the greater confidence they will have in all aspects of their life and relationships. (Vs 13)
25. Praise helps us realize that no Christian is greater than another because grace makes us all indebted to Him. The more a person knows the Lord the greater incentive they have for serving Him. (Vs. 7)
26. Praise helps us rest, relax and renew our mind through the certainty of God’s attributes, His promises and His purposes. (Vs 11) When a person realizes that God knows us fully, they will desire to know God more fully for all of His greatness. Those who grow in faith are able to do greater works as Jesus promised. (John 14:12)
27. Praise helps us see how everything in life is created and held together for God’s purposes, plans and interests. A deeper knowledge of the Lord delivers us from temptations as we focus on things above rather than on our problems. (Vs 9)
28. Praise helps us see how God’s eternal plans are worked out according to His perfect will. The better we know the attributes of God the more we are able to grow in faith, love, hope, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. (Vs 11)
29. Praise helps us see how God’s eternal purpose makes sense beyond man’s finite ability to understand people, events or problems. Our greatest ambition in life should be to give God glory by knowing Him and making Him known. (Vs 11)
30. Praise helps us see that unless people are fitting into God’s plans they will be unfulfilled. As we grow in our appreciation of God’s attributes our worship of Him is enriched. (Vs 12)
31. Praise helps us share with others God’s riches, blessings and joy. People who know intimately commune with the Lord are more apt to see their prayers answered. (Vs 7)
32. Praise helps us understand our identity, privileges and responsibilities in Christ. People who consistently spend devotional time praising God for His attributes are given greater power to witness. (Vs 1)
33. Praise helps us understand our inherited entitlements in Christ. God tends to multiply people who consistently praise Him for His truth and love. The more a person knows the Lord the greater motivation they have to see others won to Christ. (Vs 5)
34. Praise helps us understand the blessing of the promises given through the Holy Spirit. People who know how to praise God for His many attributes are able to gain a greater understanding of the Scriptures. (Vs 13)
35. Praise helps us understand the way God has worked His will throughout history even though men may not understand. People who praise God for His wonderful characteristics are able to see life more from the proper eternal perspective. (Vs 9)
36. Praise helps us understand why non-Christians are unable to perceive spiritual truth. People who praise God for all His attributes are able to gain more of the power and perspective of Jesus Christ. (Vs 18)
37. Praise assures us that Christ will supply every Godly organization, family and church with His provisions to do His will. People who praise the Lord for His Biblical attributes are able to gain a greater love for people. (Vs 23)
38. Praise assures us God’s purposes; plans and results will supersede all others. People who are on intimate terms with the Lord always look for a way that God works everything together for good. (Vs 22)
39. Praise assures us that any human, demonic or organizational plot against God’s plans will fail. People who are in a deep relationship with the Lord are more apt to live by faith than by fear. (Vs 22)
40. Praise assures us that Christ is able to fulfil everyone with His meaning, satisfaction and power. People who have a deep and broad knowledge of God realize how it makes earthly riches, popularity, or power seem insignificant by comparison. (Vs 23)
41. Praise assures us that Christ is able to make everything beautiful and complete in His time. People who know the Lord intimately are much calmer as they are confident that God’s timing is always perfect. (Vs 23)
42. Praise assures us that Christ will fill His body with all the necessary gifts to accomplish His will. People who know the Lord are more appreciative of the way God works through a multitude of spiritual gifts in a wide range of cultures. (Vs 23)
43. Praise helps us focus on God’s priorities of worshipping Him, loving Him and our neighbor as oneself and completing His great commission of Matthew 28:18-20. (Vs 22,23)
44. Praise assures us that Christ will work through His church in the implementation and accomplishment of His will. Knowing God helps one realize how dependent we are on the Lord for the working out of His will through His power, grace and love. (Vs 22,23)
45. Praise assures us that Christ’s body will have the full measure of His personage, power and promises. Churches whose leaders are not in intimate fellowship with God deprive their people of many blessings. (Vs 23)
46. Praise encourages the 500 million born again Christians in the world to build up one another through the corporate praise of God and His attributes. Those who really know God are able to love in a way that Jesus loves us. (Vs 9)
47. Praise helps lift our perspectives above and beyond the things on this earth to eternal values. Life becomes richer when we realize all the resources that are available to us in God, Christ and the Spirit. (Vs. 3)
48. Praise helps lift us above discouragements. Those who are consistently worshiping the Lord are given greater joy, strength and the ability to multiply Christ’s kingdom. (Vs 7)
49. Praise reminds us of our wonderful redemption, deliverance and salvation in Christ. Those who are true worshipers gain greater fellowship and partnership with others who are likeminded worshipers of the Lord. (Vs. 7)
50. Praise reminds us that we are created to be witnesses to the 5 billion or more non-Christians in the world. People who are close to the Lord desire to please the Lord in all respects while bearing fruit in every good work as they increase in the knowledge of God. (Vs. 7)
51. Praise helps us bring others to worship Him so His kingdom and righteousness may grow in quantity and quality through the ministry of His church. “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. (Vs. 22,23)
Conclusion:A conference at a Presbyterian church in Omaha. People were given helium filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. Since they were Presbyterians, they weren’t free to say "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord." All through the service balloons ascended, but when it was over 1/3 of the balloons were unreleased. Let your balloon go.
Bruce Larson, Luke, p. 43.
