Praise & Worship in the Bible

Praise and Worship in the Bible

1. God's Presence Comes Through Our Praise

I find that many people are confused about praise and worship and some even don't understand praise and worship or the true purpose of it. So I thought I would take the time to explain what praise and worship really is and the power behind praise and worship when done right. There can not be true worship without praise, praise produces worship. Praise means to speak well of God, praise is to acknowledge what God has done. Praise invokes God's presence. It gets God's attention, it creates an atmosphere. Praise is to the New Testament what sacrifices, and offering was to the Old Testament, praise is sacrifice. Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits the praises of His people, so when God's people praise Him, He draws near and worship results. God has given each of us a praise ministry with a worship "team" that is never any farther away than an inch below our noise: our lips, mouth, and tongue.

God does not need either our praise or our worship-He is God no matter what we do or don't do-but we need His presence. God's presence comes through our praise. If we desire to live abundant lifestyle, we must learn to cultivate a continual environment of praise. Hebrews 13:15says, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that confess His name." Praise is a sacrificial offering to God, the spiritual "first-fruits" of our lips.

One way to look at praise is to think of it as "bragging" on God. When we praise the Lord, we are telling Him all the good and wonderful things about Himself. Praise is bragging on God's nature, attributes, and character; it is agreeing with God concerning what He has already told us about Himself.

When we praise God, His presence comes near, and in His presence all our true glory can be released. We cannot create this environment of praise completely on our own. That's why Christ gave us His Spirit. Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing" In our own strength we can do nothing. When we abide in Christ and remain joined to Him as the branch is joined to the vine, we can do anything He wants us to do. Praise is something we can do anytime, anywhere. As we learn to exercise our personal praise ministry, we can create "islands of Eden" around us wherever we go. There is an inseparable link between our praise and the manifest presence of God.

2. Praise Attracts the Presence Of God

One thing I want to make crystal clear is the importance of the presence of God. It is one thing to know of God's omnipresence, but quite another to experience the reality of His personal presence on a continuing day-to-day basis. Before anything else, we need the presence of God. Everything else in life depends on God's presence.

Praise attracts the presence of God. True praise is an exercise, a discipline that flows from a pure heart and a humble spirit. When we brag about God we are acknowledging His sovereignty and Lordship as well as our own dependence on Him. That spirit of humility is just what God is looking for in us. If we approach God with a humble spirit He will do two things:

When we come near God, He will come near to us; and when we humble ourselves before Him, He will lift us up. One of the ways we come near to God is through praise because praise establishes an environment in which God is pleased to dwell. When we lift up praise we are agreeing with God concerning Himself. Praise reverses the sin of the Garden of Eden because we are now agreeing with God concerning Himself and His words. When we say, Oh Lord, You're beautiful, He says, I agree with that. I'm coming closer. We say, Oh Lord, You're mighty, and He says, Finally, You agree with Me! I'm coming closer. Praise is always positive.

Sin is rebellion against God, but praise reflects our relationship with a loving God. We can praise God because we have a relationship with Him through Christ. When we praise God we draw near to Him, agree with what He has said about His nature, attributes, and character, and create an environment conducive to His presence. As a result, He draws near to us.

3. Worship The Ultimate Intimate Experience

Worship: Comes from the word; (Worth) which means, the quality or value of something. So what is of most worth to you?

Worship is the ultimate intimate experience. Worship goes beyond the flesh; praise is wonderful and anyone can and should praise Him! But worship is special and it takes you into a deeper intimate experience with the Lord!

You know you have been in true worship when you started worshiping with a heavy load, lot's of hurt, heart ache and pain; and then when your finish. You've left that behind on the altar because you get up, light and worry free. Better yet God took it away from you because He was (worth) more to you than your problems and pain and you said to your self no matter what I’m going to press my way into His presence!

Worship is an outward experience of an inward change.

The purpose of worship is to bring us closer to the Lord, to change us, make us like Him, and to get to know the Lord.

The place of worship is created in praise, Judah means praise.

The position of worship begins with a prostrate soul. The soulish man meaning his flesh has to be reeled in because the spirit is always willing but the flesh is weak and contrary to the spirit.
When the soul is prostate before the Lord you are presenting yourself as humble before Him.

The power of worship; what happens when you are in worship?
1. Things change.
2. You get instructions.
3. You get direction.
4. You get revelation.

4. Spirit and Truth Worship

There are 4 types of worship.
1. Vain worship. Mt. 15:9
2. Ignorant worship. Acts17:23
3. Will worship, self worship, worship that satisfies the flesh. Col. 2:20-23
4. Spirit and Truth Worship, the real and only worship. John 4:20-24
The spirit represents the shadows and types of the Old Testament, to prepare Him a place; the tab. was the place. This means now i have done away with that cause i am the tab, the place. In truth, you can't praise without worship; meaning He being (worth) it to you.

Posture is knowing how to worship going from the shadow and types into the spirit and truth.
You must offer your sacrifice by faith; example Heb. 11:4. You know your praise is acceptable because you enter into a state of worship and God shows up to commune with you and you leave out light and burden free.

5. Here is something I called the 5 P's

1. Purpose- to change us and make Him known to us
2. Place- it's created in praise
3. Position- the soul is not in himself under subjection to the spirit, so we must prostrate our soul to humble us.
4. Posture- knowing how to worship in spirit and truth.
5. Power- what happens when in worship; you get instructions, direction, revelation, and things change.


Becoming a Worship Leader
1. Step 1
Spend time with God. This is the single most important thing you can do to become a better worship leader. It's only when we spend time in God's presence that we learn who He is and what pleases Him. You will never be able to lead others in worship if you don't spend time with God.
2. Step 2
Listen to God. Ask God what He wants, not only for each individual service, but also for your worship team as a whole. Allow God to direct you in all things. Spend time in prayer before each service asking God to show you which songs He wants for the service. Always be open to new suggestions from God.
3. Step 3
Study the Bible. It's crucial that as worship leaders we know what we believe. Worship leaders don't have the luxury of being lukewarm Christians. If you are not grounded in your faith, your worship will be dry and ineffective.
4. Step 4
Be humble. Because leading worship puts us in a position to be noticed by others, sometimes our egos become a problem. Try to maintain a spirit of humility as a worship leader. Remember, pride always comes before a fall.
5. Step 5
Exercise authority. Although we are to maintain a humble estimation of ourselves, it's important to exercise the authority God has given you. Take charge. You are the one God has chosen to lead your congregation into His presence.
6. Step 6
Avoid rebellion. You will not always agree with your pastor or those who are in authority over you. Sometimes they may ask you to take the worship service in a different direction from what you believe God wants. That being said, you should always try to submit to those who have rule over you unless God tells you otherwise. In the end, God will bless you for your faithfulness.
7. Step 7
Pray. Spend time in prayer daily for your pastor, your worship team members, your congregation, and mostly for yourself. If you are not spiritually strong, you will not be an effective worship leader. Pray for God to give you the strength to lead people in a way that is pleasing to Him, and ultimately to become a better worship leader.