Francis West - Understanding the Power of Praise: Experiencing Gods Power Through Praise

UNDERSTANDING

THE

POWER OF PRAISE

Experiencing Gods Power through Praise

FRANCIS WEST

Copyright

A LL RIGHTS RESERVED . Contents of this book may not be reproduced in any way or by any means without written consent of the publisher, except brief excerpts in critical reviews and articles.

Any scripture quotation in this book is taken from the King James Version, except where stated. Used by permission.

All texts, calls, letters, testimonies and enquiries are welcome.

Printed in the United States of America

2019 by Francis West

About the Author

F RANCIS WEST IS AN itinerate Minister, former Pastor and Business owner. He has written more than five books and several booklets. Francis lives in Murphy N.C with his wife Anna. They are blessed with two adorable children.

Chapter 1: What Is Praise?

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name . Psalm 100:4

P RAISE IS CLOSELY LINKED to prayer; it is one of the ways in which spirituality is expressed. To understand its power, you need to know what praise means.

So what is praise?

Praise means to commend, to applaud or magnify. The act of commending God is to entrust ourselves into His care. As Christians we should always recommend others around us do exactly the same. Praising God isnt an option, it is a necessity. Throughout the book of Psalms, we constantly see or hear how David expressed his confidence in God knowing well that He will prove Himself worthy.

Oh Lord my God, in Thee do I put my trust: save me from them that persecute me, and deliver me Psalm 7:1

Preserve me, Oh God: for in Thee do I put my trust Psalm 20:7

Praise can also mean to show approval for God and His personality. For you to ever approve of anything, be it product or a person, you must have either used the product or have had a relationship with that person prior to that time. For you to praise God by expressing approval of him, then you must have had a relationship with him.

This is the point where most Christians who want to praise God miss it. A strong relationship is needed before gratitude can be showed. Expressing approval to God basically involves reciting the wonder of who he is until it begins to make sense to people around you.

Perhaps one of the most popular scriptures that express a strong approval of God is Psalm 23. David approves of God as the most faithful and caring Shepherd anyone can possibly have.

Another facet of Praise involves glorification. The glorification process identifies and accentuates the most admirable qualities of God. This form of praise is quite popular in the scriptures where Gods qualities such as his faithfulness, his righteousness, his goodness and his mercifulness are recognized.

O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsel of old are faithfulness and truth Isaiah 25:1

Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

For Christians, praise to God is an expression of worship, adoration and glorification of the Lord. When we give praise to God, we humble ourselves and focus our attention on the Lord with love, worship and thanksgiving.

Another form in which praise can manifest is in making boasts. Everyday humans make their boast in a variety of things.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.Psalm 20:7

A lot of us, even Christians, have sometimes find ourselves boasting in our own ability. It is natural instinct to do just that. We appreciate all the cheers and applause that we can get to help us feel bigger than we actually are. That is the beginning of our sinful nature. It takes the Holy Spirit to humble us and bring us to submission.

One of the major ways to submit to God is to praise him and make your boast in his faithfulness. Praise is boasting in God and in the power of his word. When we praise God, we are basically expressing confidence in his power, in his grace and in his ability to change us. We make boasts in God because of all the things he had done in the past, those wonders he had wrought through our hands. David was praising God and making boast in him when he told Saul that by the help of the Lord, he had been able to kill a bear and a lion.

David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

God works miracles through praise. We plead his intervention through prayers having faith in His grace, but we invoke divine intervention through praise; pleading may take time, but invocation isinstantaneous. Praise is celebrating God for who He is. By so doing we invoke His intervention in our issues.

It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, 2 proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at nightPsalm 92:1-2

Praise shows the kindness and loyalty of God to us. His intervention is invoked by celebrating the faithfulness, efficacy and reliability of God's word. We can make things happen through praise.

It is celebrating God for who He is and what is written concerning you; regardless of your current situation. By celebrating God for who He is, He turns around what is happening to be in your favor.

In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. - Psalm 56:4

In God will I praise his word: in the Lord will I praise his word.- Psalm 56:10

By praising God, you celebrate the power of the scriptures and the infallibility of Gods counsel. It is telling God that you believe in what He has said even if it is yet to manifest in the physical realm. It is celebrating the integrity of Gods word and that is what will provoke His intervention in your affairs. Therefore henceforth, dont just praise God for what has happened; rather, praise Him to make things happen.