Real Praise
I.
Theirs is no verse of
scripture that exempts the believer from experiencing pressure. There are however many verses of
scriptures that exempt the believer from experiencing defeat in the pressured
situation.
A. We have an adversary who
comes to steal, kill, and destroy-1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10
B. We should not be
surprised or think it to be strange when we experience pressure-1 Peter 4:12
1.
The
righteous will experience affliction, persecution, and pressure, but if they
will live by faith and obey God they can experience victory no matter what they
may be facing-Psalm 34:19
2.
John
16:33-Be of good cheer, you can have victory in the middle of a pressured
situation
C. Psalm 40:1-3-God is a God
who delivers people from the pit, the dark place, the pressured situation
1.
In
the midst of pressure it’s your responsibility to resist the enemy steadfast in
faith, standing on God’s word refusing to cave in under the pressure-James 4:7,
1 Peter 5:9
II.
Hebrews 13:15-We are
praising God when we are giving thanks to God with the words of our mouth;
praise happens when you open up your mouth and give thanks to God (That is as
much praise as a full worship band playing music and singing your favorite
praise song)
A. Praise is a lifestyle
that must be engaged by the believer everyday
1.
Praise
is not just the thing you do before the preacher starts preaching
B. Most of the praising you
do will be done when there is no music playing
III.
Praise on it’s highest
level is when thanksgiving is expressed towards God for something that hasn’t
come to pass yet; it’s thanksgiving faith
A. Hebrews 11:1-Faith is
seeing something as real fact that’s not revealed to the senses
1.
Faith
thanks God because it believes it has the victory, when it doesn’t see it
2.
One
of the highest levels of faith and thanksgiving is not thanking God for what
has happened, but thanking God for the victory that hasn’t manifested yet
a. It takes little to no
faith to thank God for the victory that just showed up-that’s no sacrifice of
thanksgiving
b. It takes faith 2 thank
God for the victory that looks like it’s never going to show up
3.
If
you believe you have it as your present possession then there’s no need ask
anymore; the only thing left to do is say thank you Lord-Mark 11:24
a. The voice of faith isn’t
a crying begging voice, but it’s one that says thank you Lord because it
believes it has received
4.
Joshua
6-In the dark place you don’t wait for your victory to show up before you thank
God, but rather right there in the troubled place you give God thanks for the
victory that’s not here yet
B. Colossians 2:7-When we
are really rooted in faith we will be abounding in thanksgiving
1.
There
is nothing more revealing about the your level of faith than the level of your
thanksgiving
a. Faith people are thankful
people
C. Follow the example of the
Master
1.
John
11:1-4, 41-44
a. 4-Jesus believes &
speaks & it’s supposed to come to pass
b. 41-He lifted his eyes to
Heaven
1)
If
you’re going to operate in faith and in thanksgiving you can’t allow yourself
to think about what you are not, what you don’t have, or what you can’t do.
Only think about, talk about, and thank God for who you are in him, what you
have in him, and what you can do in him
a) People become ungrateful
when they start looking at what they aren’t, what they don’t have, and what
they can’t do
2)
He
looked at what He couldn’t see not what he could see (2 Corinthians 4:18)
a) If he would have looked
at that tomb and got his eyes on that he could’ve gotten to the place where he
was feeling sorry for himself, saying this doesn’t work, why didn’t God do it
c. 41-This is the voice of
faith because it doesn’t look like God heard him in verse 4
1)
He’s
thanking him for the victory that he, can’t see & isn’t manifested yet
2)
He’s
not complaining about what hasn’t changed, what hasn’t manifested,
3)
He
speaks to a man who is dead like he’s a live b/c that’s what he believes
d. His thanksgiving
connected him to his victory
D. When you engage faith and
thanksgiving like this, the peace of God engages you-Phil4:6-8
1.
You
make your requests known to God in every thing by 1) Prayer-Believing you
received 2) Supplication-Passionate 3) Thanksgiving-Thank you I have it
a. Thanksgiving is the
activator of peace that passes understanding
b. You can’t thank God for
your victory and worry that’s not going to show up at the same time; you can’t
thank God for your victory and be afraid you won’t be victorious at the same
2.
You
praise (give thanks) a lot between amen and there it is
a. Thanksgiving is the
language of faith
3.
If
there is anything you need in the dark place, in the pit, it is the peace of
God
a. You can access that peace
and unlock it with praise and thanksgiving in your mouth
IV.
The purpose of praise; Praise
has many positive effects in the life of a believer-Psalm 8:2
A. The way some people talk
you would think God ordained praise for the sole purpose of having His ego
stroked; God is not insecure; He does not need you to tell Him He’s good
1.
Was
the sole purpose for you being created to praise and worship God? If by that
you mean sing God songs, that is laughable; we got a whole generation that
believers that and knows nothing about authority over the devil
B. God ordained praise to
stop Satan’s attack in your life
1.
Praise
is a powerful tool that captures the mind and mouth of the believer and stops
the enemy’s attempt against their life
a. It’s not the praise that
stops Satan it’s the mouth that stops him
2.
When
Satan has no place in your mouth or your mind he has no access into your life
a. Satan cannot do anything
in the life of a believer who refuses to give their thoughts or their words to
anything he is saying
b. Isaiah 26:3, Proverbs
30:5-Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusts in you; God is a shield to
those who put there trust in Him
c. When your mind is fixed
on God, God will keep you in perfect peace and be your shield. That stops Satan in his tracks and
leaves him and the outside looking in
3.
In
times of pressure Satan is constantly after our minds and when you are in the
dark place be sure to engage the powerful tool of praise
a. Allow praise to capture
your mind and mouth and thwart the enemy’s attack in your life
V.
Praise is an act of faith
that provokes joy and joy becomes your strength and strength is what you resist
the enemy with
A. Rom4:20-Praise
& strength go together; Many translations of Psalm 8:2 translate strength
as praise
1.
When
praise is truly engaged joy comes alive in the heart
2.
Nehemiah
8:10-The level of your joy determines the level of your strength
B. James 4:7-You need
strength to resist the devil and see him flee
1.
Proverbs
24:10-People are defeated in trying times because their strength is small
C. In the pit you can’t
afford to be weak if you want to win.
When you are facing trying circumstances you can’t allow yourself to get
feeble.
1.
In
the middle of trying times when you begin to praise God it will provoke your
joy and joy will then be the strength you need to resist the devil and win
2.
Many
people are weak b/c they won’t praise; they are feeble because they won’t give
thanks
D. Hebrews 13:15-It’s a
sacrifice of praise when you don’t feel like doing it
1.
Nobody
feels like praising God in the dark place, however, the ones who despise to
praise God inspite of how they feel are the ones who
will walk in victory
2.
Sacrifice-Suffer
something for the sake of obtaining something
a. You’re
giving something up in order to obtain something more valuable to
b. B/C
God calls it a sacrifice of praise I know it’s going to cost me something and
I’m not going to feel like doing all the time & it’s not going to be easy
all the time
3.
Thanksgiving has nothing to do with
feeling thankful; you act on this verse by faith
4.
Our
sacrifice of praise when our mouth starts thanking Him not when music starts
VI.
If there is anything you
need in trying times it is the presence of God-Psalm 22:3
A. When we praise God with
thanksgiving on our lips God inhabits our praise
1.
Where
praise is his presence is; if you’ll praise God in the pit, God will get down
in the pit with you and get you out of the pit
2.
You’re
not praising or worshipping God if you’re sing something contrary to His word
B. Psalm 23-In a hard time
he got praise on his lips (1-3) and God inhabited his praise and jumped in the
valley with him
1.
The
presence of God can fill the dark place and comfort you and encourage you and
rid you of all fear
VII.
What sound is coming from
your pit?
A. Psalm 118:5-Maybe you are
in a dark place, but when we come by your house we should hear rejoicing
1.
One
of the most challenging things that you’ll have to do as a believer is engage
praise (thanksgiving) in the dark place
2.
The
people who end up winning are the ones who when it was the darkest their
thanksgiving and praise was the loudest
B. Philippians 4:18-Does
your pit stink?