Praise is giving honour and adoration to God; it means to be thankful for God’s blessings, and to declare our appreciation to God and to others. It can only be truly given when one has a thankful heart and is accepting of the awesome magnificence of God.
Worship means to prostrate oneself, to bow down, to fall face down, to pay homage and to pay respect.” Sincere worship is the highest form of honour and respect that we can show towards God.
God has been faithful to us. As we reflect on God’s purpose for mankind we need to know that humans were made to worship God and God expects us to honour Him with our praises. When we praise God sincerely, we gain spiritual strength and victory in our circumstances.
Psalm 100 tells us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord and to serve the Lord with gladness and come before His presence with singing. We should know that God is the True God and it is He that hath made us. Worship that is contrary to true worship and distorts godly worship is not a joyful noise. Only those who serve God sincerely can make a joyful noise.
We must understand that offering praise is a sacrifice. We offer praise just as we would offer our tithes. When offered right, praise is orderly, spiritually enlightening and not confusing. Satan is covetous he does not like when we praise God. Therefore he places in the mind of man ideas which distort truth; especially regarding praise. When the Church of God fell into apostasy manmade rituals and dry ceremonies were introduced. Worship in those assemblies became dead, solemn, methodical, pious and stereotyped. Worship then become highly sophisticated and engineered by man. This type of worship lacks the presence and power of the Spirit of God.
In worship centre where God is not truly honoured, evil thrives. Satan has to ensure that he has places where he can plant his agents which include those who are members of secret societies but are also assumed to be good religious leaders. That is why presently we have so many ungodly people occupying high positions in places of worship.
Remember that the Scriptures warned us that we are fighting against spiritual wickedness therefore we should put on God’s armour. True worshippers should stand spiritual guard against the tricks of the devil. They must be on the lookout for false teachings because righteousness and falsehood cannot be unified. True worshippers cannot be concerned about popularity; our concern should be maintaining God’s truth amidst the present high level of falsehood and demonic worship which is infiltrating the minds of God’s creation and places of worship.
In an effort to turn people’s mind from Truth the devil had caused confusion to develop regarding the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul had to address the issue in 1st Corinthians 14 and until today the confusion still remains. Presently there are many teachings regarding the reception and manifestation of the Holy Spirit. However, I entreat you to study and sincerely ask the Lord to lead you into His Truth.
Before offering praise as a sacrifice to God, we must examine ourselves and ensure that our conscience is right and in tune with God. When David sinned, he did not take up a tambourine and dance and sing before God. Instead, he confessed his sins and pleaded for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Many of us take church going as a cloak for our sins. We act pious on the pulpit, in the choir and in the pew, our voices loudly proclaim God’s glory but our hearts are far away from Him. This is corrosive worship. It is unacceptable to God. This type of worship leads to demon infestation. Did you know that many individuals who in our human eyes and to our human ears are speaking in tongues and manifesting in the Spirit are in fact in the control of demons?
Be reminded that Jesus stated that those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Psalm 15 advises us about those whom God accept. He accepts those who walk uprightly, work righteousness, speak truth in the heart, do not backbite, do no evil to their neighbour, do not condone with sin, honour God’s people, do not swear, don’t surcharge others nor oppress others.
Worshippers must follow God’s Commandments and the Testimonies of Jesus Christ in this way we walk uprightly and work righteously.
It is amazing how much time church goers find for gossiping and walking from place to place creating mischief. The word of God encourages us to spend our time in praise to God. Even our actions should be in praise God. Ephesians 5:19-20 tell us that we should speak to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. If this advice is followed then mischief would be wiped out and there would be love, peace and unity within the Assemblies. As a result, the world would be a better place because Christ like behaviour would be exhibited by believers.
Ephesians 4 further tells us how true worshippers should behave. Let me list a few behaviours which should not be present in the lives of believers: lying, stealing, anger, laziness, corrupt conversation, wrath, bitterness, unforgiveness, malice, covetousness, hard heartedness or any form of deceit.
Praise and worship is not about how many songs you know, how well you sing, how well you preach, what positions you hold in the congregation or how long you have been attending church. It is about the cleanness of your heart and your connection with God. Remember God is not mocked and whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap. If you have sinned and you are unwilling to repent, I would ask you not be daring and go into the Lord’s house to offer an unacceptable praise offering it is best that you rebuke the devil and repent of your sins.
O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Isaiah 25:1
Writer - A. E. Fisher
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