Living In Heaven's Reality Pt. 4 - Praise: The Expression of Faith : Pastor Tony Samuels

If we are going to live in Heaven’s reality, we must understand the power of praise. So what is praise? Praise is: the expression of gratitude for personal favors conferred; a glorifying or extolling; to extol in words or song to magnify the Lord. So praise is expressing our gratitude to the Lord; it is magnifying the Lord for His greatness. Believe it or not, when we talk about praise, we are talking about focus. To praise God, you are not focused on your problems; you are focused on God Himself. You have to make the decision to praise God in every circumstance. David said, “I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Notice, he said, “I will bless the Lord at all times;” he made a decision to do it.

If you are going to live in the reality of Heaven, you must become a praiser of God. Praise has the power to change the very atmosphere around your life. Psalms 22:3 says: But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Your praise will manifest the very presence of God in the atmosphere surrounding your life. You know if God is in the house, the devil can’t be there!

Psalms 8:2 says: You have built a stronghold by the songs of babies. Strength rises up with the chorus of singing children. This kind of praise has the power to shut Satan’s mouth. Childlike worship will silence the madness of those who oppose you. The power of praise is amazing! The challenge is, many times when we go through things, the last thing on our mind is to praise God. In order to praise God, you have to bypass the way you are feeling; the rising emotions, the feelings of wanting to quit. That’s why when you praise God, another benefit is that it will change you. The circumstance my not change right away, but you don’t have to wait. Praise will move you into the heavenly reality, and you will experience change before the situation changes. I can tell you, when you tap into this, it won’t be long before the changes you desire will begin to manifest.

You are changed when you begin to praise God. Look at Psalms 30:11-12: Then he broke through and transformed all my wailing into a whirling dance of ecstatic praise! He has torn the veil and lifted from me the sad heaviness of mourning. He wrapped me in the glory garments of gladness. How could I be silent when it’s time to praise you? Now my heart sings out loud, bursting with joy—a bliss inside that keeps me singing, “I can never thank you enough!” People that praise God experience miraculous turnarounds.

Now, the Bible clearly says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. One of the reasons God loves praise is because praise is an expression of your faith in Him. Look at the expression of Abraham’s faith in Romans 4:20: But he did not doubt or waver in unbelief concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and empowered by faith, giving glory to God. Abraham gave God the glory before the promise showed up. If you are waiting on something to happen before you praise God, you are not living in the reality of Heaven. On the contrary, you are living in the reality of the natural. God wants us to praise Him before it shows up, so that we would understand who He is and praise Him based on that. So let’s open our mouths, and begin to praise our God!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! - Psalms 150:6