“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.”
As I’ve mentioned in earlier blog entries a problem I often have is inconsistency in my prayer life. Whether it be distractions from my surroundings or thoughts attempting to exalt themselves above God, in order to get to a place where I can pray without hindrance I usually have to endure some spiritual warfare. Whenever I have trouble praying I am beginning to make it a habit to praise. When I praise God, I am promised in His Word that He will inhabit my praises. When He inhabits my praises, I begin to feel His anointing cover me as His presence grows stronger. My mind then begins to clear up, and I am in a better position to pray effectively. The Bible also makes it clear that when we know not what to pray the Holy Spirit prays for us, and as Paul makes the distinction in 1 Corinthians 14, praying in the Spirit is one and the same as praying in tongues. Jude told us to pray in the Holy Spirit to build up our most holy faith, because as Paul pointed out: when we pray in tongues we edify ourselves. My praise usually evolves into praying in tongues, which then leads to me praying in English. I know the formula, but to know and to act upon that knowledge are two different things. This is where consistency comes into place. Daniel prayed 3 times a day consistently, even when an edict went forth in Babylon making it against the law to pray to the LORD. Because of Daniel’s consistency, when his prayers were hindered, God sent angels to war over the words that he prayed. My battle right now is consistently acting upon the knowledge that God has given me – for to know to do and not do is sin.
Today was a great day. I’ve been out of the job for almost a week now. A few days after I was laid off I got call out of the blue from a contractor that works with ESPN asking me to work a day job at the Orange Bowl running wires for the cameraman. It was my first time attending a football game as UM went up against Georgia Tech. The first thing I noticed was how excited and riled up the fans were. As I ran the sidelines throughout the game I occasionally looked up at the packed out crowd at Orange Bowl Stadium and was amazed to see thousands of people praising the University of Miami, along with a few hundred routing for Georgia Tech. They had so much pride in their school and in their football team. They cheered when UM scored touchdowns and made big plays, and booed at Georgia Tech as they took the field (and eventually won the game). As the praise was building up I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if all of these people were instead praising the True and Living God. I saw myself preaching before them by the 50 yard line, leading them in praises to the King until the Shekinah Glory of the LORD rested upon the stadium as the glory cloud did during the dedication of Solomon’s Temple. Preachers always say, “if you can shout and make noise at a football game, you can surely shout praises to the God who saved you!” And you know what, those preachers are right, because if we don’t praise Him, as Jesus said the very rocks will cry out.
Proverbs 24:7
“Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.”
In this scripture, Solomon equates praise and thanksgiving to wisdom – as we see in Psalm 100 above, his father David wrote that we are to enter into the LORD's gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Proverbs 1:7 says that fools despise wisdom, therefore those who do not open their mouths to give God praise and thanksgiving are fools. As my mother Prophetess Jean pointed out a few weeks ago, the word “gate” in this context refers to a fortified city, the gate of heaven and pertains to our salvation. If we have truly been saved, we will show our gratitude by giving God His due praise and thank Him for His graciousness in sparing and transforming our very lives.
Praise is a necessary duty of every son and daughter of God. Praise removes every hindrance and creates an atmosphere conducive for God to move. The garment of praise is a weapon that God has given us to defeat the spirit of heaviness (depression, anxiety, fear, pain). God has created us to praise Him, and we might as well get used to it now, because when we get to heaven it will be one of our jobs. Praise and thanksgiving gets us into a place where God will hear us, and once He hears us, praise and thanksgiving shows Him that we believe that He has heard us and trust that He will answer our petitions.
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