Reasons To Praise God was taught by Rev. Dunamis Okunowo on the 3rd of October 2021 during the 2nd Service at Shouts of Grace Center, Joke Plaza, Beside Trans Amusement Park, Bodija-UI Road, Ibadan.
In his teaching, Rev. Dunamis made mention of the following important points:
1. You praise God because of who He is
Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, [in] the mountain of his holiness.
Psalm 48:1 (KJV)
2. Praise glorifies God
Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”
Psalm 50:23 (NKJV)
You must learn to render unto God the sacrifice of praise. Sometimes praise has to be your sacrifice; you are in that mess, but you still choose to praise. You still choose to dance. This was exactly the attitude of Paul and Silas when they were cast into the prison. This is one of the numerous reasons to praise God.
So Paul and Silas prayed and sang, and then there was an earthquake! They was a ‘suddenly’ and they were delivered.
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 (NKJV)
Everytime the devil wants to mess you up, he gets you quiet (depressed, no energy to praise God, etc)
You have to make up your mind that no one will steal your joy.
You have to learn to be a God-praiser.
3. You go up with a shout
God has gone up with a shout, The LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Psalm 47:5 (NKJV)
You don’t go up with depression; you go up with shouts of joy. This is one of the numerous reasons to praise God.
There’s a shout for sadness, but your shout should always be the shout for joy.
Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, “Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
Psalm 35:27 (NKJV)
There’s a connection between your shout for joy and your bank account.
The above are some reasons to praise God.
To listen to messages of Rev Dunamis, go HERE or HERE
There is a very popular verse that talks about how to worship God. This is probably one of the most common verses in the scriptures. I am sure you must have heard it quoted by your Sunday school teacher from time to time.
What verse am I talking about?
It’s the last verse in the book of psalms.
Psalms 150:6 (KJV) Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
“Praise the Lord” is one of the most used sentences in Christianity. Used both by those who know the meaning and those who don’t. It is used every service day in churches, every other time during family devotion, and as often as one can remember.
We sometimes get so familiar that it no more makes meaning to us. Just like we can get familiar with our parents and teachers and miss out on what God has packaged inside them for our profiting.
One of the meanings of the word praise is to “worship”. So the psalmist is telling us to worship God.
Psalms 150:6 (TPT) Let everyone everywhere join in the crescendo of ecstatic praise to Yahweh! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
I love that!
The crescendo of ecstatic praise!
Children, as long as you have breath, you are expected to worship God. Your duty is to reverence him and pay homage to him. Do not join the group of those who complain, murmur, and grumble, rather, give God quality worship.
Do you know God destroyed an entire generation because they murmured?
1 Cor 10:10 (ASV)Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer
Declaration: My children are worship beings. They spend time worshiping the father. Amen
Prayer: Lord, teach my children the mystery behind worship. Let their worship be always acceptable before you.
How often do you praise the Lord? During family devotions in the mornings? On the assembly ground at school? Sunday school?
Psalm 145:1 “I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Everyday I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”
You must have a personal time where you praise the Lord . There are so many ways to do this. Some ways are:
1. Reading psalms of praise from the bible. 2. Play and sing along to praise songs. 3. Sing from your heart praise songs. 4. Write love letters to God telling Him how much You love Him. 5. Write poems of praise.
When you praise the Lord, you are exalting Him over everything and everyone in all the earth and heaven. You are acknowledging Him as your Lord. God enjoys our praises. He delights in them, and he wants us to continually praise Him.
Only God deserves your praise. Make it a daily habit of praising God. You don’t have to spend long hours at it unless you are led to do so. And ensure that the time you have put aside for praising God is used for that. Don’t allow distractions.
Focus on God and His mightiness and splendor. He wants to hear you praise Him always. It is a good thing to praise the LORD! And it’s something you should learn to do always. Praise the Lord!
Prayer: Lord, thank you for receiving my praises. You are the Almighty God. The Lord highest. I praise You with all my being. Help me to always praise You. Amen.
Action points: Praise the Lord for some time today. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you new ways to praise God.
You should learn how to pray from the Bible. The bible is full of so many power-packed prayers from ordinary people like you and me; people who faced one issue or another at different times in bible history.
It’s a reservoir of prayers said out of fear, pain, and loneliness. Some were faced with destruction and had to cry out for help. Some more said prayers out of confusion, hopelessness, and despair.
Prayers for mercy, deliverance, and strength are found in the bible, said by people who were faced with huge challenges. This is one of the reasons you should learn to pray from the Bible.
Sometimes, God can lead you to a particular book, chapter, and verse in the bible as a guide to pray with. Remember the part where obedience was mentioned, in the last post? When directed to read from the bible, obey. That way, you get to know what God wants to teach or tell you about that burning issue in your mind.
Someone you can read about in the Bible is David. His story will encourage you to pray from the Bible. You will see the many times and ways he prayed to God. He asked for help, encouragement, forgiveness, provision, and deliverance. He even asked God to punish him alone and not the people for the sin he committed in 1 Chron. 21:1-13.
David praised and worshipped God a lot in the psalms. His prayers also show that he too had fears and prayed about them. He had hope in God to save him from all his enemies. And the Bible records that God gave him victory over all his enemies.
Learn to pray from the Bible. When David was afraid, lost, and unsure of what to do –
“Later David prayed to the Lord. David said, “Should I go up to any of the cities of Judah? The lord said to David, “Go”. David asked, “Where should I go?” The Lord answered, “To Hebron”. 1 Sam. 2:1 ICB
When he sinned against God in 2 Sam. 2:12, he owned up to it immediately – “
…I have sinned against the Lord.”
As you learn how to pray from the Bible, which includes reading and meditation from the bible, God will bless you.
Prayer: Lord, as you lead me to read the bible, help me to grasp the meaning of what I read. Help me meditate on these readings so I can learn how to pray. Amen.
Action point: Read some Psalms of David. Note the different ways he prayed for help, forgiveness, and other things.
Your fellowship with other Believers is one of the great habits to imbibe, and today we would start with a scene that happened in Jide’s life. Jide took the stairs two at a time as he made his way up to the second floor of the school’s building. It was almost fellowship time and he was leading opening prayers. He didn’t want to keep the others waiting and God too.
“not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more [ faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching. Hebrews 10:25 AMP
The verse above tells you why you need to develop the habit of constant fellowship with other believers like yourself. You worship God together and learn from Him. Not that you can’t do this on your own. You can, but with other believers, you will experience God in a new way.
Look at how people in church speak in different tongues. Or say one prayer in different ways. How about when someone or the pastor says he has a message from God for everyone. Yes, God will speak to you when you are alone with Him, He can also do so in a gathering of believers.
Another thing you will enjoy in a fellowship with other believers is encouragement. When you feel weak to pray, they can pray for you. Their prayers will boost your spiritual muscles and connect you to God’s power node where you draw strength to pray.
And finally, you know Jesus’ return is almost here, you need to be more spiritually sound and one way to be so is in the presence of the brethren (fellow believers). Constantly connecting with them keeps you from falling into sin easily or at all. You should learn to fellowship with other Believers.
So, when next your parents say it’s time for church, don’t frown or grumble. Rather, grab your Bible, put on a beautiful smile on your face, and say “I am ready!”
Prayer: Lord, thank You for my fellow believers. Thank You for the wonderful Christian family I have. Teach me to fellowship with other Believers. Amen.
Action point: Why not lead prayers or praise at the next prayer meeting or fellowship at school or in church.
