Today, we want to look at “THE UNTAPPED POWER OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP.” “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 the Bible says, “Rejoice evermore.”
Do you know that God created you to praise and worship Him? In Isaiah 43:21 God said, “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall shew forth My praise.”
Therefore, it is the responsibility of everything God created to praise and worship Him. In Psalm 150:6 the Bible instructs us saying, “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord…”
When we praise and worship God, we are offering spiritual sacrifices to Him.
Hebrews 13:15 says, “By Him therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.”
What is praise? Praise is thanking God for the things He has done for you, what He is doing for you right now, and what He will yet do for you in the future.
David was a true worshipper of our God. Knowing the power of praise and worship David said, “I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Ps. 34:1).
What is worship? Worship is appreciating God for who He is. And you can only appreciate God for who He is if you know His names and their meanings.
Let us now look at the power of praise and worship: When true praise and worship go up the glory of the LORD comes down. The LORD Himself comes down in the form of a cloud.
2 Chronicles 2:12-14 says, “And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course: 12 Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)
13 It came even to pass, as 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 musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; 14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.”
Praise and worship usher in the Presence of the Almighty God. In other words, when you praise and worship God, you enthrone Him in your midst.
Psalm 22:3 says, “…O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel (His people).”
What happens in His presence?
1. In His presence there is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11).
2. In His Presence the power of God is released to destroy every yoke.
3. In His Presence there is no danger; you are fully protected (Ps. 91:1-12).
4. In His Presence there is no fear (2 Tim. 1:7).
5. In His Presence your mind is on things above (Col. 3:1-2).
In His Presence the power of God is released to destroy every yoke in the lives of people.
How does that happen? True praise or worship is like a supply of spiritual oxygen to the LORD. That is to say that when we don’t praise and worship God, we are actually starving Him of spiritual energy. But when He receives this spiritual oxygen, a divine chemical reaction takes place, and spiritual ATP is produced.
The longer and the more intense the worship is, the greater the amount of energy that will be produced. In other words, as the worship of the saints grow purer, more intense and sustained longer, the manifestation and experience of God’s glory will increase in intensity. This is when the Holy Ghost manifests Himself in our midst without restraint.
As God releases this spiritual energy, every yoke present in His Presence is destroyed. That is deliverance!
Examples of people that received deliverance through quality praise and worship abound in the Scriptures.
1. Paul and Silas. Paul and Silas were in trouble (Acts 16:16-26). But look at what happened when they began to praise God:
“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 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” (Acts 16:25-26).
Paul and Silas called upon the LORD in their time of need, and He delivered them from their predicament.
2. A certain woman that worshipped Jesus (Lk. 7:37-38; 43-50). Mary stood at the feet of Jesus behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.
Mary had to work for one year to earn the money to buy that alabaster box of ointment with which she anointed Jesus.
The cost of that fragrant oil was estimated at 70,000.00 US Dollars or 44.1 million Nigerian naira. That was a quality seed – the right kind of offering.
Mary did not mind who was there or what they thought about her, but she worshipped the Lord with her whole spirit-man, her whole soul – emotions, desire, will, and mind.
Her tears did not wet any other part of Jesus. Her tears wet the feet of Jesus, but with her hair she wiped the tears away. What a total worship! For her tears to wet only the feet of Jesus meant that she must have bowed down to worship Him. She bowed to the lowest level, and that is the level of His feet. That is humility! Realize that she did not start from His head or hands but from His feet. I believe that as she bowed low before the Lord, she sang the song: “Down at Your feet O Lord is the most high place.”
By doing that, she was simply obeying Psalm 95:6-7 which says: “O come, let us worship and bow down: Let us kneel before the LORD our God and Maker. For He is our God; And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand”.
The Bible says that the hair of the woman is her glory (1 Cor. 11:15). The hair of the woman is the most valuable thing in her entire body. With that which was the most valuable part of her body, she worshipped Jesus. She also anointed Jesus with the most expensive ointment. She worshipped Jesus with her all. Mary knew that worshipping Jesus is appreciating Him for who He is.
I believe that Mary, as she wept at the feet of Jesus, lifted up her voice and eulogized Jesus saying, You are: The Ancient of Days, The Lilly of the Valley, etc.
What happened when this woman worshipped Jesus in this manner? By the time this woman (probably Mary Magdalene) finished worshipping Jesus in this manner Jesus said to her, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace” (Lk. 7:50).
Conclusion: Whatever the issue in your life is, the way out is to praise and worship a holy God who created you and knows everything about you. Watch out for the next edition of the Good News from the Pulpit!
Your friend, I. I. Madubunyi (Senior Pastor, HOG)
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