The Power of Praise

February 22, 2023

What does it mean to praise the Lord?

When we break down what praise means we can conclude that it has to do with recognizing the greatness of God. Not necessarily talking to the Lord but it has more to do with you talking about the Lord and vocalizing to others what He means to you. It is describing His attributes, magnifying Who He is, and letting other people know just how faithful He is! It is speaking about Him in adoration for all that He has done in your life. Praise goes before worship.

1 Chronicles 16:4 states, “And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel.” Here we can see that David understood the importance of praising the Lord! So much so that he selected some of the Levites specifically for this particular task. They made it their mission to let everyone around them know exactly Who their God was and what He meant to them.

It extinguished any doubt that anyone had about Who they belonged to! They recognized the fact that the Lord is worthy of our praise regardless of the situation. What are some of the ways you can express true praise? There are several ways that one can administer praises to the Lord including, but not limited to: singing, dancing, shouting with a loud voice, through music, with the words that we use, and how we speak about Him to others.

If you want to know if you verbally express what the Lord means to you with those around you, ask yourself: if I didn’t let other people know that I was a Christian would they still know that I was? If your answer is a no then analyze why? Evaluate your relationship with the Lord; there are many ways that you can have a closer relationship with Him.

A lack of praise can indicate that there are some barriers between you and God that is preventing you from praising Him with your whole heart. God’s Word in 1 Peter 2:9 states, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

When the Lord snatches you out of the pit that you were in: spiritually oppressed, bound by the enemy, unable to spiritually see, and barely making it; you can’t help but to want to praise Him. Being pulled out of the darkness is what Peter is describing in this passage of Scripture. He is letting us know that we should want to proclaim or announce just how great God is considering all that He has done for us.

Praise is a powerful weapon that God’s people can take full advantage of on a regular basis. Unfortunately, a lot of Christians battle with living a life of praise because of the daily struggles in their everyday life. It is called a sacrifice of praise for a reason. You cannot just speak of the greatness of our Heavenly Father when everything in your life is going good. There is no doubt that one of the hardest things to do is to give admiration to the Lord during trials and tribulations.

To have the ability to thank God when you are really going through it is not an easy thing! The fact of the matter is that praise is the evidence of faith. It is the acknowledgement that you know that God’s faithfulness is going to help you find a way when there seems to be no way. He is your peace in the midst of the storm; don’t forsake the supernatural power that declaring the Lord’s greatness provides you with.

A lot of times the enemy gains the upper hand on Christians because of their lack of praise. We go through difficult times in our lives and blame the Lord for it. You feel as through: you’ve prayed and He isn’t moving mountains fast enough, He isn’t answering your prayer, or the fact that He let it happen in the first place. That is exactly what the devil wants, he loves to see us buckle under pressure and blame the only One that can truly help us in times of adversity.

It is important that we understand how significant praising God really is. I am going to go over three of the ways that praise can be used as a powerful spiritual warfare weapon. True adoration for God: will confuse the enemy, it will usher in the presence of God, and praise will bring you victory.

Confuses the enemy

2 Chronicles 20:21-23

“And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:

“Praise the Lord,
For His mercy endures forever.”

Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.”

There is a lot to unpack in these powerful verses of Scripture out of the Word of God. Here we can see that King Jehoshaphat is instructing Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to assemble together to get ready for war leading with praise. The Lord spoke to Jehoshaphat before the battle took place and made it abundantly clear to Him that “…the battle is not yours, but God’s,” 2 Chronicles 20:15.

Knowing that the presence of God was with them they lit fires of praise all the way to where the battle was to take place. Little did they know, their singing, loud voices, and praise music ushered in the presence of the Lord in such a mighty way that it actually confused the enemy. They were so discombobulated that they literally began to turn on one another.

Because these true worshipers understood the importance and spiritual power of praise; not only did they not have to fight the battle, but they were able to go to the camp and take all that their enemy had. The Lord interceded and confused the enemy because they took God’s Word at face value.

The same victory that they received that day is the same victory that we are afforded today! When all hell is breaking loose all around you, the devil wants you to bow down and fall under his demonic attacks. Instead, get yourself up in the strength of the Lord with fullness of joy and praise Him for all that He has done and all that He will do in your life. Whatever you might be going through is just a minor setback.

When you choose to give the Lord the adoration that He deserves even when you are being hit with the storms of life, watch how it completely confuses the enemy. He won’t know what to do next. Your praise in the times of heartache, turmoil, sickness, and death will cause the devil to have to regroup and recalculate his counterattack against you!

Ushers in the Presence of God

Psalm 22:1-3

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season, and am not silent.

But You are holy,
Enthroned in the praises of Israel.”

This particular Psalm written by King David begins with him questioning why God has left him during his time of need. He goes on to say that his cries in the daytime are not heard and neither are the ones made during the night. How many of us have gone through situations in our lives when we feel like the Lord is absolutely silent? I know that we can all relate to what David is describing in this powerful Psalm.

I have gone through trials in my life when I am on my knees pouring my heart out to God and I feel like He is completely ignoring me. It is in those moments that you have to take a deep look at your faith. Do you trust Him even when He is silent? Do you trust Him when you don’t understand? Do you trust Him when you don’t agree with His decision?

It is so easy to develop negative attitudes when we don’t get exactly what we want and when we want it. We have to recognize that the Lord does not respond to our temper tantrums; He responds to the power of our praise. God makes it clear to us that He expects us to continually have praises in our mouths, Psalm 34:1. When you can praise your Heavenly Father regardless of the circumstance, it is a powerful thing!

David recognizes this in this Psalm. He understood that even though he was going through tribulation in that moment that the Lord was working things out in his favor. Psalm 22:3 states, “But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.” In other words he is identifying the fact that the Lord is Holy even though the trial that he was facing at that very moment was threatening to take him out!

Then he goes on to say “Enthroned in the praises of Israel,” other definitions of enthroned are inhabits or dwells in. David acknowledged that praise and adoration for the Lord is what would usher in the presence of God to the point where He would dwell and remain in that space.

We have to get to a place in our lives when our faith remains strong even when difficult times hit. Just like Jonah was able to praise the Lord when he was in the belly of the great fish, we need to be able to speak about God’s greatness even when we don’t feel like it. Those are the times that we need to press into Him even more. Remember the joy of the Lord is our strength!

Praise brings victory

Psalm 106:47

“Save us, O Lord our God,
And gather us from among the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.”

Here we can conclude that the Psalmist is disclosing to us that praise has the power to bring forth victory. How is that possible? When you stay in the posture of continual praise, you can rest assured that you will find the Lord in the midst of your praise. As the Scriptures that I highlighted before stated, He inhabits the praises of His children.

When you are going through a dark, lonely, and trying time in your life; praise can literally change your entire atmosphere. The devil cannot stand to be around the praises to our Heavenly Father. If you feel like you are dealing with spiritual oppression of any kind, begin to give adoration to the Lord. Wear your praise like a piece of garment.

Isaiah 61:3 states, “To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Breaking down this verse of Scripture we can see that the Prophet Isaiah through the leading of the Holy Spirit is explaining to us how to receive victory from the spirit (demonic spirit) of heaviness. The answer that he is giving us is that we need to put on the garment of praise. In other words, allow your praises to the Lord to become so consistent and natural to you that it becomes like a piece of your clothing.

Your victory lies when you open up your mouth and give the Lord all the praise and worship that He is owed and deserved. The devil cannot reside in a powerful atmosphere that is giving acknowledgement to how great our God is. Do not let the enemy make you think that there is no way to overcome the stronghold or oppression that you are facing regardless of how much control it has over you.

The devil is a liar! Your praises usher in the presence and power of God which in turn can provide you with your victory over any scheme, device, strategy, or foothold that the enemy would every try to throw your direction.

Conclusion

Never underestimate the power of your praise. A lot of Christians don’t fully understand the spiritual weapon that giving adoration to our Heavenly Father affords us to have. When you have the ability to praise the Lord through the good times, the bad times, through every trial, and every tribulation it is such a powerful thing.

True adoration for God: will confuse the enemy, it will usher in the presence of God, and praise will bring you victory. One of the reasons that believers of Jesus Christ miss out on the use of this powerful weapon is because their trials and tribulations consume them. The last thing that they want to do in those moments is thank God for how great He is.

These are actually the times when you want to draw closer to the Lord and praise and worship Him that much more. That is where you are going to gain the strength to defeat the devil in the first place. Get in the habit of praising God when things are going great in your life and when you’re facing the storms of life. Never underestimate the power of your praise!

Also, don’t forget to check out my other blogs:

The Dangers of Pride

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 1

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2

The Spiritual Laws of God-Restoration

The Spiritual Laws of God-The General Principles

The Spiritual Laws of God-The Power of Your Tongue!

The Spiritual Laws of God-Having an Understanding

The Power of Your To ngue

Proverb Scriptures that will Help You Tame Your Tongue!

If you’ve missed any of the other weekly quotes, no worries I am listing them down below:

Positive Quote for the Week: Be Mindful of Your Words