Probably the most misunderstood, actually misinformed areas of the local church is the function and place of Praise and Worship. For too long, the proverbial song service, or chorus time, has been incorrectly referred to as “the Praise and Worship part of our service.” Praise and Worship is not a “segment” of the service that serves as a buffer zone for seating late comers or a wake-up time before the Word is brought forth. Worship is the key to unlocking the door way into the Holy Of Holies. It is the act of our body, soul, and spirit that releases the Glory of God and the Anointing Power of the Holy Spirit onto and into every area of our being. As we sacrificially Praise Him, we offer up thanksgiving for His Mercy, His Grace, His Goodness, His Power over all, His Healing, His Love, His Friendship, and His Favor and Blessing. This “sacrifice of Praise” is a concept that is foreign to the earthly, natural man. The world's way is to worry, complain and fear their way through the circumstances of life. God's way is to Pray, Praise, and Rejoice through these same circumstances so that He might be glorified, so that His Glory will shine in and through us, and so that we might attain to the fullness and joy of who He is and the Hope of His Calling. As we daily renew our minds through Prayer and the washing of the Word, and as we begin to Praise Him with Love and obedience, then we will begin to operate on a higher level of victory and power. Our Praise becomes a weapon of war that releases the storehouses of heaven on our behalf.

As we start to experience The Power of Praise, an even greater phenomenon unfolds. We begin to Worship! You see, as we honor, Praise, and have celebration with God - we actually touch His Heart. Then as the reality of His Love, Mercy, and Grace overwhelms us, His Anointing pours over us, causing our every fiber to reverence and adore Him. Worship is our reaction to His Awesome Presence. The Church must come to the realization of the Power of Praise and Worship, incorporating both areas into the structure and vision of The Body. Focusing on one area, to the exclusion of the other, only allows a partial insight into The Fullness of our God. Once we tune in and tap into God's Plan for victorious living on this earth, we will walk in the maturity and wisdom of the warrior that He has called us to be!

Praise is a conscious decision on your part. God doesn't come down and twist your arm and MAKE you Praise Him. He allows us to make the CHOICE of Praising Him or not. The amazing thing is that whenever one of God’s servants in the Bible had a life and death choice to make, choosing to Praise God and serve Him, always brought victory and miracles. For instance:

Joseph was sold into slavery by his BROTHERS. He was wrongly accused of sleeping with his master’s wife. He was in prison for over seven years. All together, he was in absolute pain and misery for 20 years! Yet, he still chose to Praise and to obey God. The reward for his obedience to God - he was made the ruler of the WORLD by Pharaoh and second only to him in power. It was because of Joseph's CHOOSING to Praise and follow God, that the nation of Israel grew into the millions out of the small tribe of Jacob that came to Egypt to be saved from the famine that Joseph had so well planned for. (Genesis 37-47)

If you remember Paul & Silas in jail, you'll see that these two men were real examples of what it means to Praise God. Here they were, serving God, doing GOOD things, and they were arrested, beaten, put in stocks and then thrown in a prison. Now, if ANYONE had a right to complain, they did. They could have said, “God, why is this happening? We give up everything to serve you, and this is how you repay us?” Instead, they CHOSE to Praise God. Not FOR their bondage, but IN their bondage. In fact, they got so radical, that they actually forgot about their situation and started singing so loud, everyone heard them. Then, right in the middle of this prison God showed up! He caused an earthquake, broke off their chains and the doors flew open. The Bible says that ALL the prisoners' chains broke off! To bring the reality of this home to us, when WE Praise God, as a lifestyle, He will show up and not only Minister to US, but He can change the situations of our families and friends. The Bible doesn't say so, but I believe that some, if not all of those other prisoners either came to know God that day, or at least asked more about who He was! Praise and Worship releases God to work on our behalf. It's HIS law! To finish up on Paul & Silas, the jailer got saved when he saw what happened. So did his whole family, and all because of Paul and Silas’ CHOICE to Praise God. They could have sat in that prison all night, complaining or even just sleeping. Read Ephesians 5:19-20... Paul, was a man who went through many hardships, beatings & imprisonments, always lived in victory, because he chose to always Worship God. We're not promised an easy, bed of roses kind of life, but we are promised a life of Joy and Victory if we CHOOSE to Praise, Worship & obey God!

The Bible records several stories about men and women who chose to Worship and obey God even when they were staring death in the face. God’s Word is full of these examples. Now let's talk about a few other aspects of Praise and Worship.

God’s Word says that, “God inhabits the praises of His people?” (Psalms 22:3) Of course, that means the obvious - that He dwells with us and makes Himself known to us as we Praise Him - that He takes an ACTIVE part in OUR Praise of Him! We're not just throwing up trite, empty words and songs into the air. When we Praise, we become partners with God in a process of great spiritual proportion and deep intimacy with our Creator. When we CHOOSE to Praise God, even when we don't feel like it, or when our natural eyes don't see what we are believing for, God goes to work on our behalf. Praising God in our sickness, in our financial difficulties, in our relationships, in our every decision, gives Him the glory that Satan is so desperately seeking. When we give in to our flesh and complain and gossip and get bitter, then we are doing the opposite - we are attributing to Satan the opportunity to have the upper hand in our situations, and if I can be so bold, the devil then inhabits our negative attitudes. For every thing that God does or provides for us, Satan has a counterfeit for it, including Praise. Now, we could talk about this for days, but why do you think that tens of thousands of kids get together in a stadium and scream and shout for hours over some band? It's because we are ALL made to Worship - it's in our nature. The un-renewed, unsaved mind chooses to worship whatever it can get a hold of, because it doesn't know the Power of Praising and Worshipping God. Satan gets so mad when we Worship God, so naturally, he establishes the counterfeit to Worship. This should push us on to always speak positive, uplifting words to each other.

We could talk about Praise and Worship topics from now until Jesus returns. The main thing is that we begin to understand the Power of Praise and Worship in our everyday lives as a normal function, and not religious and complicated. But pure and simple!

Keep Looking to Jesus,