A survey asked people what they thought worship was. The common answer was, “it’s what you do in church.” Is that what you believe? Let us truly investigate what it is because until we understand what praise and worship are, we won’t understand the power they bestow.

What were you created to do?

First and foremost, we were created to worship. This is the reason why everyone worships something. Maybe you worship a boyfriend or girlfriend; maybe your car or hair. You spend more time with any of these than you do with God. We were all created to worship something. Worship is inside of us but as you read this, you will learn how to get it out and give it to the right One.

Examining Praise

Praise attracts God to our surroundings. Wherever you may be you will attract God when you praise Him. Praise invites God to take control of our day and make it more enjoyable. It is an expression of faith which results in declaration of what God has done, what God is doing and what God will do. When we are praising God we are praising Him for what he has done.

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. Hebrews 13:15

Praise begins with sacrifice. We need to give Him a sacrifice of praise. Many times we do not feel like praising God, thus the sacrifice.

5 areas that we must always praise God in

1. The person of God: referring to His character, nature, desire, how He reveals himself to us

2. The presence of God: His omnipresence is exalted

3. The promises of God

4. The power of God

5. His perfection: His holiness, majesty and beauty

2 requirements to praise God:

1. Faith: even if you don’t see or feel anything you have to pray

2. Sacrifice: to offer offerings, it is the same word used for the death of Christ

Characteristics of sacrifice of praise

1. It is expensive: You will give your time.  God wants something that is precious, not anything cheap

2. It is pure: You must do it with a pure heart.

3. Always voluntary: You do it by yourself without somebody telling you to do it

Examining Worship

Similar to praise; the main definition is an attitude of internal humility. We must humble ourselves before Him.

3 things to know

1. Expressed through visible acts of reverence

2. Internal, humble attitude before God

3. Expressed through service and sacrifice without expecting reward

Physical signs of worship

1. Singing

2. Shouts

3. Laughter

4. Giving

5. Kneel

6. Applaud

7. Dance

8. Rejoice, fun

9. Speak and sing in other tongues

10. Praise Him with music and instruments

How much power is there in praise and worship?

²² Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. ²³ And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. ²⁴ Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵ But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. ²⁷ And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. ²⁸ But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” ²⁹ Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:22-30

Let’s recap the passage

Paul and Silas were thrown in the inner prison which was the lowest and dirtiest part of jail; they were under the foundation. But in the midst of their situation, they began to praise God. This caused not only for the doors of the jail to open but for the foundation to fall and the walls come down!

When you start praising God, people will know and will be influenced. Not only do you get delivered but those around you get delivered too. The environment becomes yours. Everything around you becomes yours. When it’s the midnight hour, when it seems that your problem is the biggest problem, when it seems impossible, that’s when you have to start praising God! Things will start happening and occurring like it did for Paul and Silas. Many of us in the midnight hour begin hiding instead of getting up and praising.

The jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” The people around you will start asking you what they must do to be saved. They’ll want what you have. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. But not only will you be saved but your house will be saved too. They will be saved because you worship the living God!

Listen to this, even the people that back stabbed you will want what you have. Even your enemy will want what you have.

Next passage please…

¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 2 Corinthians 4:17

Whatever you are going through today is only momentarily. They are only momentary troubles. Some people want to kill themselves but don’t understand that their troubles are not permanent. Many people are in hell because they couldn’t wait just one more day, they went ahead and killed themselves.

We need to have a transfiguration of the mind before a transfiguration of the soul can occur. We tend to use God as a crutch and that is not what He is.

This is what happens

¹¹ And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions), ¹² and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets- ¹³ indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying:  ”For He is good, For His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 2 Chronicles 5:11-13

When you praise God with true intentions, God starts opening doors, He begins confusing our enemies and delivering us from them. When you start worshipping and praising God, the atmosphere changes and the unimaginable will occur.

Picture this from the passage in 2 Chronicles; their enemies were coming towards them at full speed and when they started worshipping, their enemies fell before them.

There is power in your praise and worship. When you start lifting your hands He begins to do something. Tell Him, “Deliver me how you delivered Paul and Silas, and the tribe of Judah.”

We must get delivered from the spirit of apathy and begin to take our place as soldiers and take from the enemy what belongs to us. This can be done with our praise and worship to the Most High, trusting that He will deliver us from our enemies. We must stand up and have a voice; we cannot be a generation that fears.

I am free by the power of the worship! I am free by the power of the praise!