Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. ~ Psalm 100:4-5
I’ve been meaning to talk about this for the last few months. I even recorded a video but I somehow deleted it, and I wasn’t going to do another recording so I decided to write it down. The Holy Spirit has been practically teaching me through praise and worship this year and I hope it leads you to lifting the name of Jesus higher through your praise and worship.
Let’s head to the story of David for a moment… David was a man that God referred to as a man after His own heart, he was also a warrior who led Israel into many victorious battles and he was also a worshipper. In fact he was so anointed that whenever he played the harp for King Saul who was tormented by an evil spirit, this demon would leave Saul and he would experience peace. Did you know that demons cannot stand it when we praise the Lord? Brethren, that is how powerful worship is!
Psalm 22:3 also says that, “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” This tells me that when we lift up the name of Jesus through our praise, His presence comes down. When His presence comes down the darkness has no choice but to scatter because He is the Light of the world.
Feeling depressed? Worship God
One of my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 61:3
I’d like to draw your attention to the phrase, “to bestow upon them a garment of praise instead of despair.” I dont know about you but whenever I feel low the last thing I want to do is to worship. But I have come to realize that the cure to our stress, anxiety, hopelessness, discouragement lies in praising God. The writer describes praise like a like a garment which is worn meaning that on we have to be the ones to pick it up and put it on.
The next time that you are feeling down, why don’t you take off the despair and put on the garment of praise and worship?
He also manifests as a healer through worship
This year, I’ve experienced healing during praise and worship. The Lord has healed headaches and even a stye that had developed on my eye. In one particular instance I was listening to a song while chatting with my daughter and realised as the song came to an end that my headache was gone just like that.
I also use worship as a tool to usher me into prayer especially when I’m feeling spiritually “dry” which if we are being honest we all have those days. I find that on such days, I begin by playing worship or even singing a song and before I know it, I begin to flow in prayer. I heard that in Pastor McDowell’s church, they play worship 24/7 and I’m told that that the presence of the Lord is so heavy in that sanctuary! So I would definitely suggest combining worship and prayer.
John 12:32 “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”
I will become even more undignified than this
I’ve learnt that when we worship the Lord is we are declaring and acknowledging His sovereignty and as we lift Him up, our problems shrink. I don’t know about you, but when I’m stressed and get into worship my problems don’t seem as big as they were before I got in the presence of God. When I worship the Lord, I find that I have a lot of things to be grateful for, thing I would have otherwise overlooked and I complain less. Worship reminds me of the goodness of God over my life.
Contrary to what many of us think, worship doesn’t have to be done corporately. You can do it in your home either individually or with your family.
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel–I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” 2 Samuel 6:20-22
Never ever look at someone praising the Lord, and look down upon him/her because you don’t know their story. You don’t know what they have been through and where God has brought them from. Michal despised her husband and as a result brought a curse upon herself.
And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death. (verse 23)
I know that this year has been tough on many of us, but as we head to the end of the year, why don’t you set aside between 10-20 minutes everyday and engage in some praise and worship? You will testify as you do this.
