Thanksgiving, praise and worship are all important practices for us believers. Gratitude is important. When Christ answers our prayers, we must give thanks. When He gets us through difficult situations, we must give Him the praise and the glory. Worship is due to Him because He is Holy. These three practices go together and used in combination with a genuine intention in our hearts, we will gain access to His presence. Praise, thanksgiving and worship is due to our a Lord and Savior. As believers, let us try to incorporate this in our homes during the week, and not only at church on Sunday morning.
Psalm 100:4 states “ Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” Here we see the remedy to getting into His courts (and presence by extension). Personally, during my own praise and worship sessions, I like to begin with giving God thanks through prayers or songs. Thanksgiving is a good way to begin giving worship. Gratitude means a lot to Christ. Remember the encounter Jesus had in the bible where He healed the ten men with leprosy? After the ten men were healed, only one man came back. Luke 17: 17-18 gives us Jesus’ response; “Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Beloved let us not be like the other nine who neglected praise and thanksgiving, because it means a lot to our Lord.
Praise is powerful. Primarily, it focuses on God, and credits him with deliverance or victory over whatever situation He brought you through, or currently going through (victory is already yours no matter where in the battle you are, so praise). Thanksgiving and praise blends effortlessly into one another. Praise however affects the enemy, your physical body and loosens you from whatever is shackling various areas of you life. There is a spirit of heaviness that can affect us. We may feel sluggish or static in life due to this evil spirit. Isaiah 61:3 shows us the cure for this spirit of heaviness; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” What is the cure for the spirit of heaviness? The garment of praise.
As stated earlier, praise can free us from bondage, both spiritually and physically. In acts 16, Paul and Silas were beaten and tossed into prison. The were shackled. At midnight the two men prayed and sang praises to God. This caused an earthquake and the prison shook, all the doors flung open and the shackles were broken. I know you might be going through a situation where you feel stuck, but I assure you with praise the chains will be broken. Another important thing to remember is that praise is not a feeling. When the heaviness of the situation is over us we won’t feel like rejoicing. You have to choose to praise and rejoice. As you go deeper into praise and thanksgiving then the heaviness goes, because the garment of praise is over you. Thank you Jesus for the garment of praise that frees us from heaviness and through our praising You break every chain.
Worship is different from the first two in its intention. We worship God because He is Holy. Holiness is His nature. Even in our salvation, the righteousness that we have is not ours, but His. We are saved when we accept Him as our Lord and savior, and acknowledge that He died on the cross for our sins. He was the perfect sacrifice. He knew no sin. For this reason we thankfully receive the gift of His salvation through His work on the cross. He rose on the third day and sits on the right hand side of the Father. He is Holy, and worship is due to Him. His blood cleansed and continues to cleanse all unrighteousness. He is Holy and worship is due to him because of His Holiness.
Conclusively, these three practices and the order of them is very important in attaining God’s presence. Once in His presence after giving thanksgiving and praise, we can partake in worshipping Him because of who He is (Holy). These spiritual practices causes God’s power to act on our physical bodies. The spirit of heaviness departs from us and through praise shackles are broken and we are free from whatever is detaining us in life. I encourage you to practice praise and worship in your home and not just at church. Let us partake more in praise and worship because He is worthy of it.
Psalm 100:4 states “ Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” Here we see the remedy to getting into His courts (and presence by extension). Personally, during my own praise and worship sessions, I like to begin with giving God thanks through prayers or songs. Thanksgiving is a good way to begin giving worship. Gratitude means a lot to Christ. Remember the encounter Jesus had in the bible where He healed the ten men with leprosy? After the ten men were healed, only one man came back. Luke 17: 17-18 gives us Jesus’ response; “Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Beloved let us not be like the other nine who neglected praise and thanksgiving, because it means a lot to our Lord.
Praise is powerful. Primarily, it focuses on God, and credits him with deliverance or victory over whatever situation He brought you through, or currently going through (victory is already yours no matter where in the battle you are, so praise). Thanksgiving and praise blends effortlessly into one another. Praise however affects the enemy, your physical body and loosens you from whatever is shackling various areas of you life. There is a spirit of heaviness that can affect us. We may feel sluggish or static in life due to this evil spirit. Isaiah 61:3 shows us the cure for this spirit of heaviness; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” What is the cure for the spirit of heaviness? The garment of praise.
As stated earlier, praise can free us from bondage, both spiritually and physically. In acts 16, Paul and Silas were beaten and tossed into prison. The were shackled. At midnight the two men prayed and sang praises to God. This caused an earthquake and the prison shook, all the doors flung open and the shackles were broken. I know you might be going through a situation where you feel stuck, but I assure you with praise the chains will be broken. Another important thing to remember is that praise is not a feeling. When the heaviness of the situation is over us we won’t feel like rejoicing. You have to choose to praise and rejoice. As you go deeper into praise and thanksgiving then the heaviness goes, because the garment of praise is over you. Thank you Jesus for the garment of praise that frees us from heaviness and through our praising You break every chain.
Worship is different from the first two in its intention. We worship God because He is Holy. Holiness is His nature. Even in our salvation, the righteousness that we have is not ours, but His. We are saved when we accept Him as our Lord and savior, and acknowledge that He died on the cross for our sins. He was the perfect sacrifice. He knew no sin. For this reason we thankfully receive the gift of His salvation through His work on the cross. He rose on the third day and sits on the right hand side of the Father. He is Holy, and worship is due to Him. His blood cleansed and continues to cleanse all unrighteousness. He is Holy and worship is due to him because of His Holiness.
Conclusively, these three practices and the order of them is very important in attaining God’s presence. Once in His presence after giving thanksgiving and praise, we can partake in worshipping Him because of who He is (Holy). These spiritual practices causes God’s power to act on our physical bodies. The spirit of heaviness departs from us and through praise shackles are broken and we are free from whatever is detaining us in life. I encourage you to practice praise and worship in your home and not just at church. Let us partake more in praise and worship because He is worthy of it.