Is There Really Power in Praise?
Have you ever wondered how in the world people can go through tragedies, cares of this world, physical pain and disabilities, and all the other things that come with everyday life on this earth, yet still Praise God in the midst of it all?
They lose a loved one to natural causes, cancer, murder, or a car accident and yet they are still praising God!
They are in the worst financial struggle of their lives, losing everything and yet they stand and sing the Praises of God.
They have a prodigal son or daughter or even grandchildren who don’t want anything to do with our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, yet the Lord’s praise remains forever on their lips!
And let’s not forget the martyrs, like Stephen in the bible who was being stoned yet was praying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep/died. (Acts 7:54-60)
What does it mean to even Praise God?
I think this is where we can use a Dictionary to help us out.
Praise means:
1. the act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation; or laudation.
2. the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship: a hymn of praise to God.
The key thing to note is that Praise is done through words, whether speech or song and it’s more about acknowledging God’s character, focusing on Him and His goodness, mercy, and loving kindness.
1. Praise Can Alleviate Our Physical Pain
I first witnessed this sort of miracle of Praising God in the midst of our physical pain when my mom had cancer.
It was August 9, 2006, my 34th Birthday, when my husband and kids arrived at my Mom and Dad’s house. I had gotten the call the day before that my mom was sent home from hospice and all 6 of us kids needed to get there because it wouldn’t be long before she was gone.
My mom was my best friend…my sounding board…my prayer partner…the one I went to for EVERYTHING…the one I spoke to every single day sometimes 2-3 times a day.
I couldn’t lose her!!
We arrived at the house in the evening and when I walked in she was being helped off the toilet by my sister and brother-in-law, she was too weak to even stand by herself.
As she was standing up I remember her saying, “Oh Lord, thank you for being so good to me!”
Psalm 34:1 “…I will praise the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.”
I wanted to scream, “Being good to you Mom? Really, you’re dying of cancer and can’t even go to the bathroom yourself, and still, you’re praising Him. For what, He hasn’t healed you!”
This coming from a prayer warrior myself and seeing God work miracle after miracle through me and around me. 🤦🏼♀️
I was a force to be reckoned with in the spiritual realm because I know the power and authority God has given to us through his son Jesus Christ.
But this, watching my mom succumb to cancer, wrecked me to the core of everything I believed in!
Mind you, I’ve gone through many hard times raising my children. From one of them being arrested to another one of them coming out of the closet (that is a whole other testimony and story there) and the third one having to be sent to her Dad’s because she was out of control.
Through everything I went through with my children, I could always turn to Praise and Worship music to bring me into the presence of God where everything just seemed to melt away. But for some reason, when it came to the physical being of life I couldn’t get how people could praise in the midst of their bodily pain.
I didn’t understand how my mom could be so grateful and thankful to God when cancer was ravaging her body.
Until my gall bladder attack in 2019…
Gallstones…that is what they found in my gallbladder and three of them had escaped and were in my bile duct.
The pain was excruciating. If you’ve had gallstones or they traveled to your bile duct then you know the pain you’re in. I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was going to pass out. I thought I was dying and fear was trying to get the best of me.
I landed in the ER where I went 4 ½ hours with no pain medicine.
Right there, in one of the ER rooms, surrounded by a host of other people in their rooms I turned on my Praise and Worship music. I closed my eyes and focused all my thoughts and vision toward my Abba Yahweh and just began to praise Him with my whole heart.
I began to sing through the tears rolling down my face because the pain had become too much to bear.
I finally got it!
In the midst of this horrendous pain, I chose to Praise God and He sustained me.
Not only did he sustain me but the pain literally started to subside and I could breathe again.
After several songs, the doctor finally came in and gave me some medicine but to be honest I really didn’t need it.
I was so shocked!
I shouldn’t have been but I was. For that pain to dissipate as it did in that short amount of time still has me in AWE.
That is the Power of Praise! Of course, Praise goes so far beyond even our hurts and pains.
Praise Stops The Enemy Right In His Tracks.
The Songs of Praise is a powerful weapon when it comes to spiritual warfare and defeating the plans of the enemy.
Take Jehoshaphat for example. He was the King of Judah and was far outnumbered by the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir.
They wanted to overtake him and his kingdom YET GOD said nope, not today Satan!
King Jehoshaphat and all the people of Judah sought the Lord for His help. The Lord assured the people that this would be His battle. He told them to go out against them, and He would do the fighting for them.
So what did the children of Judah do? Being the people of “praise” (Judah actually means Praise), and knowing that God manifests His power through praise, they sent their army against their enemies, led by the praisers!
So on they went, ahead of the army declaring, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever!” And the scripture says, “…when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten” (2 Chronicles 20:22).
When God’s people begin to praise His name, it sends the enemy running!
Praise Will Crumble The Strongholds In Your Life
Then, of course, we all know the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho coming down!
Here is Joshua and all the Israelites just coming out of the wilderness after 40 years. All the older men have died leaving the younger generation to take the land that Yahweh promised them all those years ago.
There is Jericho, a city the size of a track field and a half, that is hedged in by its stone wall.
It is said that the walls of Jericho were approximately 4.9 to 6.6 ft thick and 12 to 17 ft high, as well as the tower 28 ft.
The Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war: you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”
Can you imagine the people inside Jericho looking out at what the Israelites were doing?
Here are the Israelites being led by seven priests who are blowing the ram’s horn (shofar) along with the trumpets before the ark of the Lord and not one person is saying a thing.
They march around Jericho once and then go back to their camp.
I’m sure they thought they were crazy but knew that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was up to something.
When that seventh day came, they marched around Jericho seven times and on that seventh time Joshua said, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!”
And so it happened that the people shouted while the priests blew the trumpets and the walls fell down flat.
It was through obedience and the praises of His people, that those walls came tumbling down.
Hallelujah!
God is the same today as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow. Let your praises be heard…shout for joy…make your enemies flee.
Praise Melts Away Worry and Anxiety
We all know that what we focus on is magnified like 100x and the enemy makes it soooo much bigger than what it actually turns out to be.
This is why God’s word tells us to focus on the good things, the things that are praiseworthy!
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippines 4:8
When we choose to posture our heart to honor God with the fruit of our lips in praise we are saying Lord I chose to focus on You and not the things of this world.
Try It right now!
Say, out loud, Lord I worship you, I praise you because:
You are greater than this problem I’m worried about!
You are greater than the bills I can’t pay!
You are greater than this job I just lost!
You are greater than cancer!
You are greater than this fear!
You are greater than this sin I struggle with!
You are greater than this doubt and unbelief I struggle with!
You are greater than this addiction I’m battling!
You are greater than [fill in what plagues you at night time]!
Oh how wonderful and freeing it is when you finally decide that you will bring a sacrifice of Praise for Him in the midst of the hell that is going on around you.
Praise Opens up the Prison Doors
You may not be in a physical prison cell, but I can tell you that the majority of people on this earth live in a spiritual prison all day long!
It’s the Prison of:
Hate
Envy
Shame
Guilt
Sin
Unforgiveness
Hopelessness
Addiction
Fear
Anxiety
Worry
…and the list goes on and on.
We all remember the story of Paul and Silas right?
“The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a great earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” Acts 16:22-28
Hallelujah! Glory to God!
Whatever it is that has you in that spiritual prison, get up and PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Through Praise, there is a supernatural power that WILL open those prison doors and set you free.
You just have to accept it and walk up out there. 😉
Praise Helps Others to Believe and be Set Free
Continuing on with the story of Paul and Silas, the jailor just knew for sure everyone was going to run and that meant his life was as good as gone. But Paul shouted to him before he could kill himself that they were all still there.
Then we see…
“The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.” Acts 16: 29-34
The transformative power of true praise unfolded as they shared the word of the Lord, leading the jailer and his household to be saved.
If there is one thing I have learned in my relationship with The Holy One of Israel, it is that this life is not about me and as much as I hate saying this…it’s not about you either!
It’s becoming true worshipers, sharing the good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with the lost and brokenhearted.
It was the transformative power of true praise that led that jailer and his household to be saved.
I truly believe that when we Praise God in the midst of our trials and tribulations, in the midst of our loneliness, in the midst of our doubt, fear, and unbelief, in the midst of hell…others will see God’s presence in our lives.
And my prayer is that they too would ask, “What must I do to be saved?”
Praise Sets You Free From The Spirit of Heaviness (Depression)
This one I can attest to all day long. I have battled with this spirit most of my life and one of the FIRST things I do when I feel this spirit trying to control me is I IMMEDIATELY go straight into Praise and Worship.
There is so much spiritual power when you surrender your feelings and emotions to the Lord and CHOOSE to Praise Him even when you don’t feel like it.
If you want to know How to Praise God in the Storm check out my other post here.
Scripture tells us in the Old Testament, “…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.” Isaiah 61:3
If you remember, this is the VERY scripture in the scroll that Jesus read from in the Synagogue recorded in Luke 4:17 about 700 years later.
He was basically telling them all that He was the fulfillment of this prophecy. In this, He was telling them that He was going to give them beauty for ashes, oil of joy for their mourning, a garment of praise in place of that spirit of heaviness. It’s up to us to receive what Jesus is giving us.
Praise Opens the Door for God’s Blessings
Let me ask you this, you have two kids that are totally different. One is always telling you what an amazing parent you are pointing out the character traits they love about you, thanking you all the time for things you’ve done for them, and always lifting you up.
The other child is always telling you what poor parenting skills you have, how you never help them or take them anywhere, how they can’t wait to leave you and never look back.
Which one are you going to want to do more for?
When it comes to the Lord, we are His children and if I’m being honest, I have actually acted as both of those children. The one that has sung His praises in difficult times and the one that has cursed Him when I thought He should have handled situations differently. (🤦♀️ Like I knew better than God)
The thing is, these blessings are not just material things, although He does pour those blessings out also 😉
It is peace, in the midst of trials
Joy in the midst of mourning
Patience in the midst of waiting
Hope in the midst of calamity
Faith in the midst of doubt
This one thing I know…whether you are praising Him at home, in the car, at work, or in worship service, you can’t help but be reminded of His goodness and mercy, forgetting everything you’re going through.
As you sing His praises you realize what a great God we serve and that His goodness does follow you all the days of your life.
If you are having a hard time coming up with
Just read Psalm 100 out loud. This Psalm
“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100
Always remember “…you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;…” 1 Peter 2:9
For we serve a Great God who is for you, your family, your businesses, your properties, your entire life! He is truly worthy of our praise!
There is POWER In your PRAISE!
I challenge you to become a person of praise, and you will experience the release of the power of God in and throughout your life.
Let me know in the comments below how Praise has ministered to you…
Until the next post…
Be Blessed,
Audrey
