THE MANNER OF PRAISE - Praise Series

THE MANNER OF PRAISE - Praise Series

I focus on praise as something God commands and deserves, not only for what He does for us but also for who He is. I break down what praise means in Scripture and how to practise it with faith, words, and Spirit-led joy, even in hard seasons.

Chapter Markers
- 0:00 Why Praise Matters In Scripture
- 3:05 What Praise Means In Practice
- 8:10 Praising God Beyond What He Does
- 12:45 Praise In Faith And Trust
- 17:40 Praise Through Jesus And Confession
- 24:05 Praise Every Day Everywhere
- 30:15 Ask God To Open Your Mouth
- 36:05 The Garment Of Praise For Heaviness
- 40:20 The Holy Spirit Fuels Songs
- 43:15 Let The Word Shape Your Praise

Transcript

Why Praise Matters In Scripture

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So today we are on the theme of praise. It's one of the most important themes throughout the Old and the New Testament scriptures. The word praises reference about 248 times. That is in the uh Old King James Version. And in the New King James Version, which I tend to use most of the time, modern English, the word praise occurs about 237 times. And the reason why I look it up to see how many times praise the word praise occurs is because it tells us its significance throughout the scripture. And this is something that God commands us to give Him. This is something that we as believers we are called to do. So praise is something that is commanded in the Old Testament, and as we as believers, we have we have been called to usher in the praise of God. For now, I'm just gonna focus on the manner of praise because it's just the topic of praise is very extensive throughout the Bible. And um, you have the Thanksgiving of praise, sacrifice of praise. Um, what is the difference between praise, worship, and prayer, and also thanksgiving. There's a whole lot of um information about praise, but because of time, I just want to focus on the manner of praise, meaning that which way should we go about offering praises to God? That's gonna be my focus because I find that very interesting, and I know that this will be able to bless your heart, knowing that okay, I'm commanded to praise, I am called to praise, but how do I go about it? How do I do it? So that's where my focus is this morning. Like I always like to do to define uh a word before we digest, just to make sure that we are within the context of what I'm gonna say. So I look up what praise is in the in the embrac sense, it means to throw, to shoot, to cast. You know, you're you're casting something in God, something positive on God. It also means to give thanks, you know, to to to loud, to confess, and and to um what else? Yeah, to cast, to give thanks, to confess. And most times praise is being done through our our words, through our words, that's very key. And then in Greek, it's also a a thank offering, you know, to give thanks. So there's a there's a connection between giving praise and giving thanks, but there's a slight difference between praise and thanks. You know, in praise you can also include thanksgiving, and um, there's also a connection between praise and prayer and worship as well, and then in our common um English um terms, uh like in terms of now, it's an expression of gratitude for personal favors confide, uh, glorifying or extooling. I like that, glorifying because when you're praising, you're glorifying,

What Praise Means In Practice

SPEAKER_00 3:05

you're extooling um God because of what he has done. And I and I realize that most times as believers, we tend to praise God for what God has done for us, which is good, but we need to go beyond just praising God for what God has done for us. What if God hasn't done anything for you that you're trusting God for? Would you still praise him or would you hold on to that praise that is due to him? So, praise is one of the things that is due to God, that you and I as human creatures we have to give to God, just as we give to God honor, we give to God wisdom, we attribute, ascribe power to God and worship. Praise is also part of that where we God owns it, you know, God wants it, and and and that is due to God, and we as created beings, it is our responsibility to give what is due to God, and praise is one of them. As a noun, as an object or ground or reason for praise, like for example, in Deuteronomy chapter 10, he is that praise and he is thy God. So, meaning that God Himself is praise, he is the object of praise, or is the ground or reason for praise. So we are praising God because God Himself is full of praise, he is thy praise, himself is is wonderful to behold, he is worthy of praise. You know, sometimes in in our human interaction, we praise people who are higher than us, who are greater than us, who are smarter than us. So God has all that combination, he is higher than us, smarter than us, greater than us, better than us, and and we'll find them very worthy of celebration. And that is why Himself is the ground or reason of praise, not just what he has done for us. Uh, praise as uh as an as a verb in the English term is to commend, to applaud, to express um approbation of personal worth or actions. And that's very important when it comes to praise that we tend to praise what is worthy to us. We don't just praise anything, we don't just praise any substance or any entity that doesn't have any worth. So we tend to praise things or entities or persons that have great significance, great worth. And um to extool in words or songs, we again we express praise through songs, through our speech, to express gratitude for personal favors. Again, thanksgiving is a component of praise because sometimes we praise because we want to express appreciation for what God has done for us. Um, also to display the excellence of, to display the excellence of. So when you're praising God, you're displaying his excellence, you're talking about how wonderful God is, how glorious God is. You know, that's also part of part of the praise. And then in Psalm 145, it talks about all that work shall praise thee, O Lord. So even the the created things that God created actually praise God. So your life can be a praise to God. When you fulfill your purpose, it's actually giving praise to God. You know, when a thing does what it's created for, gives praise to God because you are doing what is expected of you. So there are there are many, many verses when it comes to praise. Um, my my description based on my study um to summarize the definition and description of praise is that praise is an expression of worthiness, of consideration, confirmation, commendation, and celebration of who God is and what God has done. So we are we are expressing the worthiness, being considerate of what God has done and who God is, confirming by acknowledging it and commending, applauding, giving God the feedback that God you came through for me, and lastly, celebrating God, rejoicing in songs and psalms. Praise is also an inner response and outer reactions. Most times we tend to react in praise, but to be effective, let it be from an inner response, meaning that your spirit, your soul respond to who God is and what God has done, and then we see the outer reactions of you lifting up your hands as an expression of you shouting, of you screaming. So praise is the inner response and the outer reactions of believers to God at all times and in all places for who God is and what God has done. Because most times we tend to only praise God for what God has done, but not for who God is. So it's a combination of who God is and what God has done that we need to praise Him for. Now let's focus on the manner of praise. We praise in

Praising God Beyond What He Does

SPEAKER_00 8:10

faith. That's how we go about it. We praise in faith. Look what it states in Psalms 28, verse 7. The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise him. So we see the psalmist expressing praising God through songs. So one way that we can express praise is through music, is through songs, okay? But we praise in believing that God is who he says he is. We praise in faith, we praise trusting God. How can you praise someone that you do not trust? That they have your back, that they can come true to help you. So because the psalmist can trust God, and because he he knows who God is, because when it look what it says, it said the Lord is my strength and my shield. That is who God is to the psalmist, and then it also tells us what God has done for him that I am helped. God helped him, that's what God did for him. He helped him, but first of all, he ascribed praise to God's personhood. That God, you are my strength and my shield. And now this is what God has done for me. He praised him for who God is, he praises God for what God has done for him. That's that that tends to be the path that I've observed when it comes to the psalmist. He will praise God. God, I know this is who you are, you are trustworthy, you are kind, you are faithful, I love you, I exalt your name, I magnify you. That is you telling God who is to you. And now you're saying that, God, I remember this is what you did for me. You brought me to Canada, you gave me my PR, you pay our church rent. Now you're praising God for what God has done. And then that can help you now to trust God more, to trust God more, because you know who God is, and God has come true for you. So we praise God in faith. Another verse regarding this point is Psalm 106, verse 12. It states, then they believe his word, they sang his praise. But because we believe his words, we will sing the praises of God because the word of God actually tells us who God is, it describes who God is, it tells us how God displays his power. And we see instances in the Bible, how God divided the Red Sea for the children of Israel. It's in the word, and as a result of seeing all the intervention of God in the lives of people, in his word, we can put our trust, we can believe his word, and as a result of believing his word about who he is and what he has done in ancient past, we will sing praises of his wonders, we will sing praises of his works, we will sing praises of his kindness. So there's a reason behind giving praise. We give praise out of faith in God, we give praise because we trust him, we give praise because we believe in his word. The second point is we praise God through Jesus Christ. We praise God through Jesus Christ. So these are just the manner in which you and I we go about praising God. The first one was we praise God in faith. Now we praise God through Jesus Christ. Look what it says in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 15. Therefore, by Him, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. I mentioned something earlier on. There's a connection between praise and our spoken words. You cannot praise God in silence, you have to verbalize it, you have to confess it, you have to profess it. You have sometimes you have to shout, you have to cast. So you cannot praise God in silence, child of God. Jesus here is saying that, the Bible here is saying that in Hebrews 13, 15, that therefore by him that is Christ Jesus, okay? True Christ Jesus, who will inspire you, who is inside of you, who abides in you, will inspire you, will instruct you, will quicken your heart, will touch your heart to express a heart of gratitude. Continually, not just not just one day in church, not just when we're in church, that's when we sing songs of praise, we have praise and worship.

unknown 12:44

No.

Praise In Faith And Trust

SPEAKER_00 12:45

It should be done daily, continually. It's a sack to offer that sacrifice of praise. And and I like the word sacrifice because, like I said, we tend to give God praise for what God has done for us. What if God hasn't answered your prayer at that time? What if currently things are not working out for you? It's hard, honestly speaking, to be able to offer the sacrifice of praise. But you cannot offer that sacrifice of praise on your own human power, on your own human will. That is why you need to do it through who? Through Jesus Christ, who will inspire you, motivate you, give you a reason to offer a sacrifice of praise. To who? To the Father. He will motivate you to do that, to offer that sacrifice of praise, and you can do it through the fruit of your lips by giving thanks to his name. In all circumstances, give thanks, praising God. God, I'm I'm currently at work, things are a little messy, but I want to thank you. I praise you because of who you are. You are good, you're kind, you're merciful. I remember in the past when I had challenges in my workplace, you came true for me. It's like you are you are believing the word of God in order for you to give praise to God, like we read previously. So we praise God through Jesus Christ. Another verse to confirm that is Philippians chapter 2, verse 9 to 11. It states, Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Because of Jesus Christ being exalted, because of his name being above every name, and at that name every knee will bow, every knee will confess, every knee will praise that Jesus is the Lord, Jesus is the master, Jesus is the King, every knee will confess. Again, another definition of praise is to confess, to tell the reality of Jesus, to tell the truth about Jesus, who he is, and what he has done on the cross on our behalf. If you don't want to do it now, you will do it on that day when you will confess wow, this is indeed who Jesus is, the Lamb of God, the King of kings, the Lord of Lord, all for the glory of God the Father. Because he is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of our praise. The worthiness of praise we see clearly in Jesus. He is highly exalted. Like I said, we tend to praise people who are better than us, smarter than us, stronger than us, more important than us. And Jesus is all that combined because the Bible said, at that name, every knee shall bow. That name is above every other name. So he deserves our praise. And we can praise God when we praise Jesus. Okay. The third point is we praise God at any time in any place. Not just limited to our church attendance or our church gathering. We praise God at any time and any place. Praise is actually part of those spiritual practices along with prayer, petition, supplication, worship, and thanksgiving. All of them are together. We praise God at any time in any place. Psalm 104.33 states, I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. See, David said that the dead will not praise God. Because when you're dead, you cannot open your mouth to celebrate God, you cannot open your mouth to commend God. So as long as you are alive, as long as I live, you will sing praise to God while you have your being, while you're breathing. You will sing the praises of God in your life. As long as you're alive. That is why, Charlie, what I'm here to encourage you, never give up on your life. As long as you have your breath, you have a reason to thank God, you have a reason to give praise to God. Because God has not given up on you. Don't give up on yourself. Okay. Psalm 145, verse 2 states, every day I will bless you and I will praise your name forever and ever. So praise is that that one of those things that is due to God now and forever. Do you know when we get to heaven? All we're gonna be, most of the things that we're gonna do, some of the things that we're gonna do, we're gonna be worshiping, praising God.

Praise Through Jesus And Confession

SPEAKER_00 17:40

We're gonna be worshiping, praising God, telling God, like displaying his attributes, like declaring his qualities. Wow, what an awesome God you are! You are worthy. And if you read the book of Revelation, it states all the worthiness of God. You know what is due to God, wisdom is due to God, glory is due to God, majesty is due to God, power is due to God, blessing is due to God, thanksgiving is due to God. This is all praise to God because of who God is and what God has done. Who is worthy to open the scroll? The Lamb of God, the Lamb of God, who's worthy, that's praise. So Samus is right that you and I we are gonna praise God forever and ever. We're gonna praise his name again. That name that is above every name. At that name, every knee will bow, every knee will worship, and every knee will confess. That's what we're gonna do. Because to worship means to bow, to praise means to confess. So you will humble yourself at the same time, you will exalt Jesus because he is highly exalted, because he deserves it, he deserves our praise. Psalm 146, verse 2. While I live, I will praise the Lord, I will sing praise praises to my God while I have my being. Again, it's just an it's just uh a pattern that we see here from the psalmist that he is constantly sharing with us, reminding us that while we have our being, we should constantly praise God, sing praises to God. How the psalmist go about is singing, because David is an instrumentalist, David is a worshiper. So how he expresses his praise to God is by singing. When you read the book of Psalms, that entire book is actually a book of praise. A book of praise and a book of prayer. That's what Psalm is all about. Book of praises and book of prayers about David, praising God and calling on God, commending God, celebrating God, and also crying out to God. Combination of that in the book of Psalms. Powerful book to recommend. If you if you want to learn how to praise God, read the book of Psalms. Because David sometimes will ascribe, attribute glory to God. It will tell us why he's praising God, for who God is to him on a personal level and what God has done. So we are reminded to praise God at any time in any place. Okay, not just in church, not just in our homes, not just in the morning, even at work. Few times when you're on your break. God, I thank you. God, I praise you for giving me the strength to be able to do my work, you know. God, I thank you for my manager. You know, simple things like that. That's also part of praise, you know. So, verse uh the fourth point is we praise God with the help of God. We praise God with the help of God. So I'm just stating the manner how we go about praising God. We praise God with the help of God. Look what it states in Psalms 51, verse 15. Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise. Like I said, praise is an inner response with an outer reaction, an inner response with an actual outer reaction influenced by the Holy Spirit, motivated by Jesus, helped by God. Because the psalmist is saying that at times I don't want to declare praises to you, God. At times I don't feel like praying because of my circumstances. We tend to do that, humanly speaking. Just like Jesus was saying to his disciple, your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak. You're not able to stay up to pray with me. That can also apply. Your spirit really wants to wants to jump, your heart wants to live for joy, like John the Baptist when he heard Mary was coming. Did the child live for joy because the Messiah was in the womb of Mary? The seed of the woman is finally here. Can you imagine a child praising God? All creation will praise God, you know, so that's very powerful. So we need the help of God to open our lips, to open our mouth to show forth his praise, to open our lips, not to be silent in the workplaces, not to be silent in our families, not to be silent in our communities. Say, God, open my mouth, open my lips, open this big mouth of mine so that I can show. Fought your praises of who you are, declaring who you are and what you have done for our church, what you have done for my family, what you have done for Uganda, what you have done for Canada. In Psalm 40, verse 3, it says, He has put a new song in my mouth. Who has done that? Praise to our God. Many will see it and fear and will trust in the Lord. You see, the outcome of your praise attracts fear of God and faith in God from others. Let me say that again. The results, the outcome of your praise, you you doing it, you showing it forth, will produce fear of God and faith in God when many will see it because they're wondering look what you're going through, my sister. But you're still joyful with songs. Look at what you're going through. You have a new song in your mouth. Have you noticed this? Me, I can personally attest to this in my own personal life that some songs will come in my head randomly. Some of them are popular Christian songs. I'm not a musician, but some of them are just new songs. Sometimes these songs are in line with the scripture. My God, I'm not a musician. Why am I singing this song? Why is this song coming up? That used to happen in the morning. So this is just a reminder that God might not just give you a word. I know we as believers we want a word. Yes, God will give you a word. But God will also give you a song. Maybe at that moment, what God is expecting from me is to sing the new song that He has given me. But I will just brush it up because I didn't know what it was. But this verse is telling me that God has what it takes to put a new song in your mouth. You don't have to be a choir master. You don't have to be in the choir for you to have a new song. Okay? You don't have to, let me say it again. You don't have to be a choir master in the choir for you to have a new song to praise God.

Praise Every Day Everywhere

SPEAKER_00 24:06

That new song that God inspired in you, that God helped you to have that song so that you can praise Him. Sing it. Sing it because praise and worship are weapons that we can utilize to defeat the enemy. Praise and worship are weapons that invite the power and the manifestation of God. Praise and worship are weapons that we can utilize to usher the presence of God against your enemy. As our pastor preached on Sunday. True praise, God the battle was the Lord, and the Lord defeated the enemies of Judah. So I'm here to remind you that God can put a new song in your mouth so that you can praise him. Sing that new song, write it down, because God is speaking to you through that song. Capture it. Isaiah 61, verse 3. To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes. The oil of joy of mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. That's very powerful. That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. The for the spirit of heaviness is the garment of praise. The remedy for the spirit of depression is the garment of praise. Ask yourself, why do you feel heavy at times, even in church? I learned this principle a long time ago. Whenever, for me personally, whenever I feel heavy in church, what I try to do is just to praise. To battle the spirit of heaviness is to put on the garment of praise. Heaviness pretty much takes a toll on you. It's like when you're worshiping God, you're doing the work of God, you're dragging your legs, you're slowing down, it's boring. There's no life, there's no energy, there's no zest. None of that. That is why you have to pray that God, I put on the garment of praise. What is garment that you and I would put on? It covers our head. Some of them cover our head, starting from our neck all the way down. So you start praising God with your entire being. So that your spirit can be lifted up. Your soul can arise from the spirit of heaviness and walk into the spirit of joy, rejoicing. Who can make that happen? God. God, put on the garment of praise on me while I'm in church. Or while I feel lonely, while I feel depressed, while I feel like no one is there for me. While I feel like my whole world is shading apart. David said, When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Lead me to that rock that is worthy, that is higher than I. That rock that can that can help me to put on the garment of praise. It's a garment. We have the garment of righteousness. Symbolizing you have to put it on every day because we put on clothes every day. When you shower, you put on your clothes. You don't walk butt naked. So we need to put on the garment of praise so that we don't give any space to the spirit of heaviness from the devil. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. To make both the spirit and the flesh willing and in line, put on the garment of praise. This is very applicable in church service. When the atmosphere is dry, we have to use human power or human means. We need what the garment of praise. And the last point is we praise God through the Holy Spirit moves us to do so. So all the points that I've mentioned regarding the man of praise. We started off by faith. And then I said, as long as you are alive, we need to praise God at any time, anywhere. And then I also said that now we praise God with the help of God. Now we see the last point. We praise God through the Holy Spirit. So for you to praise God, you have to involve the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, in faith, in the word, as long as you're alive. So we praise God through the Holy Spirit, moves us to do so, inspires us to do so, activates in us to do so the Holy Spirit. Look what it says in Luke 1, 67, as Zacharias started his praises, prophecies to God, if you read all the way down. But it says in 67, now his father Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, When you have time, you can just read from 68 all the way where it ends. But how was he able to do this? How was he able to sing the praise of God and prophesy about what's coming? Because he was filled with the Holy Spirit. So when you have the spirit of heaviness, the opposite thing that you watch you need is you need the Holy Spirit. Because God is spirit, and God has not given us the spirit of fear or heaviness, but a spirit of what? Power, love, sound mind, self-control. And the Bible said

Ask God To Open Your Mouth

SPEAKER_00 30:15

the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, it is peace, joy, and righteousness in who? In the Holy Spirit. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 18 to 20. It states, and do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. See? He said, guys, don't don't don't don't be drunk with wine and then you utter nonsense. Instead, you know what? Be drunk in the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. And when you're filled with the Holy Spirit, he will lead you to praise God. He will lead you to express that praise by singing songs, hymns, spiritual songs, with instruments, making malady in your heart. Who? To the Lord. So the Holy Spirit can help us to sing spiritual songs. Hmm. In your heart to the Lord. Make some sounds in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You're singing and you're giving thanks. You're praising and you're giving thanks always for all things, the good and the bad, the challenging and favorable conditions in your life, your successes, your failures, being in once, having plenty. In all things, you're giving thanks together, Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. By the Holy Spirit, you will sing songs to encourage yourself, comfort yourself. Luke chapter 10, verse 21. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in the spirit and said, Wow, yeah, you can actually rejoice in the spirit. Again, to combat that spirit of heaviness, you need the Holy Spirit to rejoice in, to take away that heaviness, to take away that dullness, to take away that tiredness, to take away that weakness, to activate, spark the fire in you, to open your mouth, to thank God, to open your mouth, to sing to God. The Bible states that Jesus rejoiced in the spirit and he said, I thank you.

unknown 32:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 32:43

So Father, I'm so happy in my inner man. I'm so happy in the spirit. I'm so rejoicing. I'm so joyful. I'm so glad. First of all, I just want to thank you, Father, of who you are. You are the Lord of heaven and the earth. Again, that the pattern I'm seeing here with David, they always starts. Jesus and David start praising God for who God is before they even mention what God has done. Okay? Said, My father, you are the Lord of heaven and earth, meaning that you are the creator, you are the master, you're the one in charge. And now look what you have done. You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Why is he thanking God? He's thanking God for who God is and what God has done. Even so, Father, for it seems good in your sight.

unknown 33:36

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

Praising God, that God, what you're doing, is very good. You know, the thing, the spiritual things, you have hidden them from the so-called wise, proud people, the Pharisees. You have hidden those things, the mysteries of the kingdom of God. You have hidden them from the wise and the prudent. And then you reveal them to who? To babes like us. Who have no clue, no experience in the Torah, who are still children, who are still dependent. That's why Jesus is, that's why Jesus is rejoicing. Because of the fact that God is in charge. And this so-called wise and prudent and arrogant and proud religious people think that they know God. But those things that are mysterious, the truths, God has eaten them from them and revealed them instead to babes. That's why the Bible said, Let the children come to me, for such is the kingdom of God. Babes. That is why the Bible never calls us adults of God or in the intelligence of God or the wise of God. No, the Bible calls us children of God. Children of God entering heaven, not adults. Because we depend and trust in God as our Father. That father and children type of relationship is what we have with God. And that's what Jesus Christ has come to tell us. That we're no longer strangers or servants or friends. We are now children of God. Behold, what manner of love that the Father has given us that you and I we should be called children of God. He's rejoicing in his spirit because of our identity in Christ. That we are children, we are babes that the Father has revealed the mysteries of the kingdom. Acts chapter 2, verse 11. The Bible states, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our tongues the wonderful works of God. See, even when you're speaking in tongues or you're speaking in another language, you're declaring the wonderful works of God. That's what praises. You praise God for his wonderful works. Wow.

The Garment Of Praise For Heaviness

SPEAKER_00 36:05

The works of creation, the works of salvation, the works of deliverance, the works of healing. You're praising God for all of that. Who God is, his worth, his works. You're declaring it to others, and that's what the disciples were doing after the Pentecost experience. They were speaking in tongues, and people could hear them in their local language. In this case, the Cretans and the Arabs were saying that, ah, we hear them speaking in our own language. What were they speaking? They were praising God, the wonderful works of God. And I said, when you praise God, the end result is it will attract the fear of God, faith in God. It will make people to believe in God. It will make people to fear God. It will make people to be attracted to come to God. Like ah, my dear, you're singing the praises of God that this God deliver you when you had demonic oppression. That this God healed you from cancer. I know you have severe mental health. Now you're telling me you're singing, you are you struggled with depression before, and today, this morning, you're at work and you are you are you are celebrating. This is an opportunity for you to say, Yes. I know. God the Son, God the Father, God the Spirit made it possible. And you also can have this. You also can have this attitude of appreciation of life. You also can have this attitude that nothing will face me in life. Our countenance matters when people see us as children of God. Are you a glooming believer within your family at work? It doesn't show in your face that you are happy being a believer. It does not show in your face that you serve a happy God. Sometimes it shows in our face that our God is full of burden. It shows in our face that the Christian work is hard. Our face is so staunch and strong. No smile, no giggling. Ah, my sister, my brother, is it because of hardship in life? When the Bible states, in all things give thanks. Because people are watching you. And we have been called and commanded to show forth his praise. So praise is very important, child of God, honestly speaking. It's not just for us, it's for God and also to be a testimony so that people can see, wow, you're full of praise. To who? To the God of the heaven and earth, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 10, verses 44 to 46. It states, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. Okay. He was preaching, the Holy Spirit playing his role as always. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished. That is the Jewish people. They believed and they were astonished, they were amazed again. Many, as many as came with Peter. Why? Why? Because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. Because of the Holy Spirit, Peter was able to speak and preach the word boldly. In the circumcision, the Jewish people that rejected Jesus Christ believed and they were astonished. And the Holy Spirit was also spreading, being in the Gentiles also. For they

The Holy Spirit Fuels Songs

SPEAKER_00 40:20

heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. They were able to hear their own languages. What they were speaking in tongues about.

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Wow.

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So tongues speaking, either in local language or in spiritual language, that tongue speaking should magnify God. That tongue speaking should praise God. So we don't just speak in tongues just to wage warfare. We also speak in tongues, the spiritual tongues I'm talking about, to praise God. Tongues can also, in this case, mean people's local language. Okay. Colossians chapter 3, verse 16 to 17. That's our final verse. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or in deed, do all in the manner of the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through him. This is my concluding verse of all we have captured. Let the word of God dwell richly in you. Because like I like I stated before earlier on that it takes the word of God to tell us who God is and what God has done. And knowing information or knowledge about God or receiving revelation about God, now you're able to target your praises to God. You're praising God based on the word of God. So let the word of God dwell in you. Let it be in your heart, let it be richly, just as you want to be rich with money, with Canadian dollars. The Bible is encouraging you and I to be rich in the Word of God in all wisdom, in awe, in all wisdom, in all aspects of life. Not only when the word of God has dwelled in us in all wisdom, richly, it's an opportunity now for us to share it, to teach, to preach, and encouraging, admonishing one another with what we know about God in the word and making songs in psalms, in hymns, in spiritual songs derive from the word of God, derive from your experience in the word of God. That is why most of the gospel songs that are meaningful, most of them tend to derive from the scripture, tend to derive from the word of God. The songs that we sing, oh glorious God, we praise your name. The reason why this song makes sense if you're a spiritual person is because praise is a theme in the Bible. Glorious is a theme in the Bible. So you're singing a song that the themes are from the Bible. But if you're singing a song that the themes

Let The Word Shape Your Praise

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are in the Bible, it's not gonna be effective. That's why in our contemporary where some of these gospel artists they only have one line and they keep repeating, God has changed my life, God has changed my life. Yeah, that's a that's that's your own personal song. God has changed my life, but there's no there's no um meat in that song from the word. Okay, God has changed your life. Is there anything that we need to know about God in that song based on the word of God? Not just sing one line, God has changed your life, God has blessed me, oh, God has blessed me. Oh, yes, okay, blessing is a thing from God, God has blessed me. Songs such as Amazing Grace, how sweet that sound. You see, you're singing about grace. Because grace is a theme and a person in the Bible. And if you have studied the word grace, the song will make sense to you. Child of God, you see, the Bible should be the foundation for everything when it comes to our walk with God. If you want to pray effectively, pray based on the word of God. If you want to praise effectively, praise based on the word of God. That's why the Bible is encouraging you and I to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. Be wealthy in the word of God in all wisdom. And then you can derive spiritual songs, prayer points from the word of God.