Anb68 Praise And Worship

ANB 68, Praise and Worship Hey everyone, I want to talk this week about praising and worshiping God. There are many ways we can praise and worship God: living a life committed to His Word, praying regularly, honoring Him in all of our ways, preaching the Gospel, and maintaining an attitude of thanks are a few great examples. This week I want to talk about the musical parts to praising and worshiping God, what you would probably first think when you hear the words 'praise and worship.' After I rededicated my life to God there came a time when I desired to know His will for every aspect of my life. I knew the Bible says 'acknowledge the Lord in all thy ways and He will direct thy paths' (Proverbs 3:6), but I wanted to better learn how to hear what He directs. So I was praying one night and I had what we could call a vision. I'm not trying to get spooky here, but I did and it changed my life. It lasted maybe 2 seconds. I saw a small stereo system blaring praise and worship music to God. I then saw the Holy Spirit (in the form of a woman) attach two ear like pieces to the sides of the stereo. That was it. I quickly realized what it meant. The vessel that praises God is given supernatural ears to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. I believed this was the interpretation, so I decided to try it out. Life has never been the same. Praising and worshiping God has become one of the most vital and fun aspects of my life. When I begin to praise him (in church, but there are distractions, so usually best by myself), and try to focus my attention, a door is opened to the Holy Spirit. I will have a thought in an instant that I won't have any idea where it came from. When you have a thought from the Holy Spirit, you will feel it rise from your belly (John 7:38, John 16:13), rather than descend from your head. So I'll be praising and the Holy Spirit speaks, and because I am focused on God I can hear. Hallelujah. God is no respecter of persons and if He shows one of us a way to hear His voice the method will work for us all. So now we will turn to the Scripture so we make sure we have a sound foundation here. Let me show you how Praise and Worship is a key to experiencing more of the supernatural presence and wisdom of God in your life. "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise." (Psalm 100:4). Now in the Old Testament the Spirit of God dwelt in the Jewish temple, in the Holy of Holies. On the very outer edge of the temple were gates, after the person entered the gates they would come to the courts. There was first an outer court, then an inner court, then the Holy of Holies. What God is telling us is that if we want to get close to His Spirit we must begin by thanking Him for all He has done, then we must continue drawing close by praising Him. Christians are born again people and the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of God) dwells within them. So the very Spirit of God, Who knows all things and will guide you into all truth, lives right inside you. But for the amount of Holy Spirit presence and wisdom some Christians experience in their lives, He might as well be a million miles away. We have

to become ever-conscious of the Holy Spirit's indwelling. The Spirit of God brings life, power, joy, peace, prosperity, wisdom, might, and every other fruit of the spirit and Godly thing. Praise God. The seed for the fruits of the spirit is already planted within each Christian. But we have to learn how to draw from the Spirit. We have to learn to drink of those waters Jesus' spoke of in John 7:38. We have to get closer to the Holy Spirit so that we can learn the sound of His voice. The Bible tells us clearly that the way to get closer to God's presence is by thanks and praise. "But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabits the praises of Israel." (Psalm 22:3). From this verse we get the oft quoted Scripture, "God inhabits the praises of His people." Think of that, God Himself inhabits the praises that we offer up to Him. Even a clearer translation of the word 'inhabit' might be dwell. God dwells in our praises, He is in them. You can litterally get the very presence of God to surround you whenver you want. This presence will come in and change things. When you begin speaking God's praises God shows up in a mighty way. Think of Paul and Silas in jail in Acts 16. They sang praises and prayed to God so loud the others prisoners heard them, then God showed up in an earthquake and opened the prison for them (what a powerful methaphorical application we could see here, that God will deliver us from any trouble if we will praise Him and not worry). Praise the Lord. "Wherefore be you not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:17-20). What a powerful series of verses, God tells us to be wise and understand His Will, He then tells us to be filled with His Spirit. What are the practical ways we can begin to walk in those two spiritual concepts, singing God's praises often and thanking God always. Thank You Lord. I believe if we will do those things then we will begin to experience a much fuller and more understandable measure of God's presence. By speaking God's praises and thanks to Him we are inviting Him closer to us. He is inhabiting our praises and we are drawing closer to His presence. Praise God. So think about how you can develop your praise and worship life more. In church the songs are wonderful and live, and I have received great revelation from the Holy Spirit during church corporate praise. But I believe that the best time to praise God and get with His Spirit is when we are alone. We can just turn on some praise and worship music and dance around the room a bit, singing out loud and praying (in tongues, in the Holy Spirit, and in our native language). You can fill your house with God's presence by filling it with His praises. Come before Him with a thank offering and a praise offering. Do this consistently, do this expecting to hear from the Holy Spirit. When you are focusing on God and you have a thought that feels like it a) came from your belly and not

from your head and b) came out of nowhere, you can believe you heard directly from God's spirit practical and vital wisdom for your life. Let me close by giving you a few notes on how to tell whether you have heard from God or not. 1) God will never ever tell you to do anything that does not comply with the following rule, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). God will never tell you to cuss someone out or watch an ungodly tv show. God will never tell you to do anything that doesn't both love Him perfectly and love your neighbor perfectly. God will never tell you to go against the Bible in any way. 2) God will always tell you to do something that lines up in other ways with His Word and His methods that the Bible presents. God will not begin speaking to you, not on any continual, practical basis at least, if you are not developing a serious relationship with His Word. If you don't understand and apply the 1,000+ pages of His Word that you have, why should He give you more. Moreover, you won't understand His ways or methods until you read about them and meditate on them in His Word the Bible. If you feel that you have heard from God after applying these two mandatory criteria, then Praise God and don't stop. Write it down quickly and apply it. God will always tell you the most important thing you need to hear. Even if it seems minor in your own life, God knows what is best for you, and He has this wonderful ability to get right to the key issues. Glory to God.