Praise: The Weapon of Our Warfare

Sunday, October 15, 2006  From a study on worship from Jack Hayford's book "A Heart of Praise"

Psalm 21: 13 (AMP)  Your hand shall find all Your enemies.  Your right hand shall find all those who hate You.  Be exalted, Lord, in Your own strength, we will sing and praise Your power.

II Chronicles 20:22-30

22  As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the enemy and they were self-slaughtered

Psalm 147:1-11

1 Praise the lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God, for He is gracious and lovely.  Praise is becoming and appropriate. 

Revelation 19:1-7

1 …exclaiming Hallelujah, praise the Lord

3. the 24 elders and living creatures all fell prostrate and worship God

6. and a vast throng were all exclaiming “Praise the Lord”

7.  rejoicing and shouting for joy, celebrating His glory

It is always appropriate to praise You, Lord, to sing our praises.  Doing this takes our focus off the circumstances and places it back where it belongs – on you.   

Enable and empower me to keep focused on You, always.  May I become a constant and continuous worshiper!  From this day forward throughout all eternity.  

The Universe's Largest Choir

October 1, 2006 - From a study on worship from Jack Hayford's book "A Heart of Praise"

Psalm 68:24-26

24 They have seen Your procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, [c]into the sanctuary.
25 The singers went on, the musicians after them,
In the midst of the maidens beating tambourines.
26 Bless God in the congregations, Even the Lord, you who are of the fountain of Israel. 

It is ritual (that in today's worship) that the congregation participate.  However, we must not just sit back and be critics.  We are not the audience - God is.  

The worship leaders and choirs should be like directors leading the people to express their worship. Just as a choir has multiple voices and gifts, so each one in the congregation has gifts to offer that are essential for acceptable worship.  

Our private times of worship are not enough.  God inhabits the praises of His people as a whole.  The drama of worship is too grand a production to be produced by believers in lonely isolation from each others.  

Every member of the cast gathered to worship God is important.  We must not forsake the assembly of gathering together to worship our Lord (Heb 10:25)

Thank you, Lord, for the church; for believers with whom I can share life and faith in common.  And, when we assemble, grant me a sense of personal participation with them in worship instead of being a distance observer.  

Unfading Halos

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Isaiah 35:3-10 (The Message)

Energize the limp hands (Yea Lord, my hands are weak and bent and gnarly with arthritis). Strengthen the rubbery knees (My left knee is deformed, angled to the left and painful). BUT! . . .

God is here – right here! On his way to put things right. Courage! Take heart, my Dear. (v 6) lame men and women will leap like deer. The voiceless break into song.

Jean, it is not the condition of your body that really matters – it is the condition of your heart and spirit, of your relationship with Me. I am the One who causes your heart to sing (and whistle).

Sing, Sing, Sing to Me and with Me. Listen as I sing and dance over you with great joy.

Do not despair – Rejoice. You are my Redeemed One. (v10) I give you “unfading halos” of joy encircling your head. I welcome you home with gifts of joy and gladness. All sorrows and signs scurry into the night.

Keep praising me. Keep worshiping Me. You will never regret it!