Praising Your Way to Victory
Right now we are in a time when praise is of the utmost importance. Scripture tells us that we are in the last days, and while there is nothing new under the sun, this is the first time that many in this generation have experienced the level of adversity that we have seen in the last several months. The news is full of discouraging events, and endeavor to get our attention off of the One who is our refuge and strength, an ever-present hope in times of trouble. Praising God is one of the most important parts of your relationship with your Heavenly Creator.
Many articles and commentaries have been written over the years about praise, and we are thankful to those who have gone before us to bring understanding to this topic. The purpose of this blog, and the ones to follow in this series, is to give revelation of scriptural praise that exalts the name of Jesus above all circumstances. Praise that brings victory to the believer and honor to our Lord and Savior. So much of our praise is rooted in the soulish realm of carnality, and at best brings only temporary relief from the cares of this life. There is, however, a level of praise that involves entering into the presence of God through the revelation of Jesus Christ that allows the believer to praise in spirit and in truth, which guarantees victory in every situation!
So Dear One, read on to discover how you can praise your way to victory!
What is Praise?
In part one of our series, we’re going to take a look at what praise is, as defined by God! We also want to look at how God views worshippers. In future blogs, we are also going to look at what praise isn’t, and the different types of praise recorded in scripture. This is very important for the believer, because we want to come before the throne of God understanding the difference. It’s not that God will be upset or mad with us if we don’t fully have the correct revelation, but it always blesses God when we do things His way, as well as yields a better result for us!
According to ?? [please provide clarification on your source], praise means to comment, to approve, to give a favorable opinion, to glorify, and to highly esteem. When we praise God, we are honoring, esteeming very highly, and expressing our admiration of Him. Praise is an environment that is conducive to the presence of God. Psalm 100:4 tells us that we “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise (Emphasis mine).” The psalmist is using the illustration of the temple to help us understand that we can come before the throne of Heaven via having the right heart attitude.
God enjoys and basks in the praise of His people! In his excellent post entitled The Power of Praise, Jentzen Franklin states,
“You know what perfume does. It makes you smell nice: it draws people to you. In the Bible, incense represents people's praise to God. There was an altar of incense in the Old Testament Tabernacle. When the priest poured the perfume on the hot coals of the altar of incense, the scent would go up to heaven. The Bible says that God received the incense offering as a sweet-smelling savor of praise. (see Leviticus 2:)
Of course, under the New Covenant, we don't have to sprinkle incense on a fire. All we have to do is open up our mouths and give God the fruit of our lips, which is the fragrance of Praise in His nostrils. (see Hebrews 13:15.) When we praise God verbally, it's like spraying the most expensive perfume or cologne; it goes up to heaven and creates an aroma that gets God's attention. Praise is more than making a noise. When you praise Him, you invite the presence of God, the calm of God, and the serenity of God into your life. Praise is called the oil of myrrh. Remember the wise men who came to Bethlehem when Jesus was born? They brought frankincense and myrrh, which denote praise and adoration. Learn to be a worshipper.”
Friends of God
Beloved, God has given us so much. Praise and worship are the only things we can truly give to God. And really, they are the natural response to the love poured out for us by our Creator. King David understood this. He says in Psalm 116:17:
What shall I give to the Lord for all He has done for me? I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Praising Your Way to Victory! Part 2
In our last blog, we started a brand new series entitled, “Praising Your Way to Victory.” If you missed the beginning, we encourage you to go back and read it first here (insert link to blog). Then come here to this page to continue in the series.
We looked at what praise is and why it’s so important. This week we want to continue our study and further define what praise is by looking at some examples of what praise isn’t. This is important because many times we believe that we are praising God in spirit and in truth, as Jesus desires, but instead, we are coming before God’s throne with a wrong understanding.
Precious One, if you discover you fall into this category, and that you’ve been operating with wrong understanding in some areas, there is no condemnation for you! We are all learning how to honor God and walk with Him. The fact that you are reading this blog means that you desire to please Him and have sweet fellowship with Him! James 4:8 tells us that when we draw close to God, He draws close to us! He sees your heart and will help you.
Adam and Eve
For this blog, we’re going all the way back to the beginning in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis, we are told that God met daily with Adam and Eve to fellowship with them.
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.. Gen 3:8
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And
God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face
of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to
you, it shall be for meat. Genesis 1:28-29.
What were Adam and Eve talking to God about before the Fall? Well, before we can figure that out, we need to take a look at what they weren’t doing:
They lacked nothing, so they weren’t asking for provision. No, they simply enjoyed what had been lovingly provided for them. In the same way, when we’re in the presence of God, praising Him is thanking Him for what He’s already done. It’s resting in His provision and trusting that He will meet our needs.
They hadn’t sinned yet, so they weren’t asking for forgiveness. They had no feeling of shame or guilt to overcome. There was no need to try and hide any part of themselves; they could behold God without hesitation. Their eyes were NOT on themselves.
They hadn’t relinquished their authority to the devil, so they weren’t asking for deliverance. They were in perfect union with God and weren’t suffering from any type of oppression that needed to be dealt with before they could focus on God.
They had been given dominion over the garden, so they had no fear and they were not asking for protection.
Yet, Adam and Eve had constant, daily fellowship with God. He came to them every day and walked and talked with them. What could they have been talking about?
Last week, one of our definitions of the word praise is to “highly esteem.” If you have ever spent time around little children, their curiosity and innocence is heart-melting. When God fellowshipped with Adam and Eve, they adored and reverenced Him. They asked questions and hung on His every word. Later, they entered into deception, but in the beginning, Adam and Eve esteemed God above everything else.
Adam and Eve’s willing appreciation of God was a reflection of their being made in His image. So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created He them. Genesis 1:27.
They could choose to praise, or not to praise. And their praise was all the sweeter to God because it came from a willing heart and not from a robotic response.
Redeemed From The Curse of The Law
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) ~ Gal 3:13
We have been redeemed from the curse, so we should be able to praise God in much the same way as the first human beings before the Fall. I say “much in the same way” because we’re in an even better position than Adam and Eve because we can know God in a more intimate way than they ever did.
I can imagine some of you might be scratching your heads wondering how we could know God even better when they had the chance to walk with Him in the garden daily and talk with Him.
That’s a great question and one that we are going to cover….next week! We’re going to pause here, because we’ve given you a lot to meditate on in part two of this series. But we promise you, we will pick this up next week and the wait will be worth it! We encourage you to remember the scriptures as you take time this week to praise God and enjoy that time of fellowship with Him.
We’ll be back next week with part three. Until then, we trust God to keep watch over you and be your refuge and strength.
that you can praise God and be thankful for. You’ll be delighted at what He shows you!
We’ll be back next week with part four. Until then, we trust God to keep watch over you and be your refuge and strength.
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