A New Release Of Corporate Praise
By Bob Brasset
http://www.extremehealing.ca/
Forty years ago Merlin Caruthers released a bestselling book, Prison to Praise, to the Body of Christ. God used that simple but powerful book to help usher in and sustain what was then known as the Charismatic Renewal.
Today, forty years later, in a time of transition, we stand posed on the threshold of another powerful outpouring. It's time for a new fresh understanding of the power and purpose of praise.
Hebrews 13: 15 states, "By Him let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving praise to His Name." In order to understand more fully what true scriptural praise is, and how it differs from worship, let's look at what praise is not.
What Praise is Not
Praise is not:
· Just singing or music
· Just done in Church
· Just a warm-up to worship
· Mindless
· A singsong.
· Just a group expression
· Only for "happy" people
· An optional extra
· To satisfy God's ego
· Ever to be half hearted
· A spectator sport or a performance.
· Sporadic or occasional
What Praise Is
The Bible describes praise in great detail. It gives the many examples from the lives of many saints in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Many songs and words of praise are recorded directly and the benefits and blessings that accrue from this powerful practice are recorded in great detail too. Hebrews 13:15 tells us to offer praise to God continually. When I first read that passage, I thought, "How can anyone praise God continually? Does this text really mean what it says?"
In the context the writer to the Hebrews is contrasting the old and new covenants. Under the old covenant the smoke of the Old Testament sacrifice ascended to God continually. Now, under a superior covenant, we too are privileged to offer to God a continuous sacrifice, not for sin, but a sacrifice of praise, and then I saw Psalm 34:1 "I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth." I thought, "But you might go overboard." Then I thought, " Bob, your problem is not in praising God too much,. It's in not praising Him enough!"
Praise Is a Sacrifice
I realized that feeling or no feelings, with or without goose bumps; God invites us to praise Himand not just a smattering of sporadic praise, but continuously. It's to be in good days and in bad days, in blessings or in adverse circumstances, during good or bad weather, when I'm exhilarated or when I'm discouraged - even in sickness or in health. I don't praise God [B]for adverse circumstances. God is not the author of evil, but I praise God in adverse circumstances.
An Option?
Praise is not optional extrafor Christians. Psalm 50:23 says, "Whoever offers praise glorifies me." And so I realized that our praises always glorify the Lord. Some people say, "I praise the Lord in my heart quietly." That's certainly good but God wants us to use our voices to praise Him. Psalm 66:8 says, "O bless our God, you people and make the voice of His praise to be heard."
One woman describes an experience of the power of praise during a healing meeting:
"While I was worshipping and praising the Lord, I looked up and saw
an angel sitting on the ledge of one of the windows high above the pulpit A little doubtful of what I'd seen, I closed my eyes and began praising God again. A minute or so later I opened my eyes and this time the angel was hovering above the pulpit. He was about seven or eight feet tall with long, flowing robes of a beautiful grayish white color. Although his hair and face were the same color, I could distinguish his features. As I looked at him, he turned to me with an expression that seemed to say, "Watch what we're going to do now!" Then he and several other angels started hovering around the room. They'd go down and then up to the ceiling, then back down again, brushing against the members of the congregation as they praised the Lord. I watched them for a couple of minutes and while they hovered over us I was impressed that they were rejoicing with us as we were rejoicing in God. There was a prophecy after the time of worship that said we had touched God with our praises, and I knew without a doubt that God had blessed me by opening my spiritual eyes to see these angels."
Another woman, unaware of what the first woman had seen, said that during the singing of praises she had heard angelic voices joining us in praise. After the praise, the people came forward to testify. Scores of people crowded the area around the podium and told of their healings. A young girl who had vision problems in one of here eyes testified that during the praise and worship time she saw Jesus come to her, lay His hands on her eyes, and heal them. Her healing was verified by her ability to read when someone held a printed page a few feet in front of her. She easily read it, something she said she would not have been able to do before her healing.
But the most dramatic healing involved a two year old boy with cancer whose mother said he had never walked more than a few stumbling steps. As tears welled up in her eyes, she placed him on his thin legs, and the audience burst into praise as the child walked across the floor.
The entire healing-miracle meeting was a reminder that our praise and worship touch something in the supernatural realm far beyond our understanding “ a fact that should encourage us to commit ourselves to praise and worship on a much deeper level than our present involvement. A prophecy during the last session of the meetings challenged the audience not to be afraid to enter this deeper form of praise because it is actually the gate in the King's throne room. Our commission and privilege then is to say with the Psalmist:
"Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name: make His praise gloriousBless our God, O peoples, and sound His praise abroad" (Ps. 66:1 “ 2, 8 NAS)
As we glorify God's name in this way, it will make an impact upon the heavens, and we will witness ever-increasing demonstrations of the power of God in our own lives and the lives of those whom we touch.
Psalm 22:3 says, "The Lord inhabits the praises of His people." You know that praise brings the presence of God and God's presence expels Satan's presence. Satan is allergic to praise. It does three things to Satan and evil spirits.
· It paralyzed them
· It binds them
· It banishes them
Praise, also, leads to worship. Praise and worship are somewhat different. We are told to, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, come into His courts with praise." Praise is the entrance way the door to the "Presence".The symbolism derives from the tabernacle of Moses. As we move from the outer court to the inner court and finally to the Holy of Holies, our praise changes to worship ang then to sheer Glory and we are in awe of our Lord and Father God who lavished His love upon us by sending His son.
Someone said, "You praise until a spirit of worship comes, then you worship 'till the Glory comes . Then you remail in the Glory. .Genesis 22 comes to mind. Abraham and his son Issac were making their way up Mount Moriah. He told his servant to wait there...that he and the lad would go and worship. I imagine with tears running down his face but still hope in his heart, he built his altar and worshipped Jehovah This is the sacrifice of praise. There came a depth of worshp in his heart which words could not express but he bowed his heart and will to the will of the Father. This is worship and is arrived at, usually, through praising God for His greatness and His wonderful attributes..
BILLHEIMER
Paul Billheimer wrote a book Destined for the Throne. In it he says, "A massive programme of personal and corporate praise could put many psychiatrists out of business empty many mental hospitals."
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