Praise Shout With Joy

Praise

Praise is mentioned about 596 times in the Bible. I’m just going to use Psalm 66.

Shout with joy to God, all the earth!

Sing the glory of his name;

make his praise glorious!

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power

that your enemies cringe before you.

All the earth bows down to you;

they sing praise to you,

they sing praise to your name.”       Selah  Psalm 66:1-4

So we are told to (a) shout with joy, (b) sing the glory of His name, (c) make His praise glorious, (d) sing praise.

David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. 2 Samuel 6:5

They were celebrating getting the ark of God back to the city of David.

So when did we stop giving God the praise He deserves? Isn't He doing wonderful things in our lives, in the lives of our family and friends that we should be celebrating?

Shouldn't we be celebrating His magnificence? His glory? His faithfulness? His forgiveness? His healing? His protection? And the list can go on and on.

In my opinion not only has ‘going to church’ become a habit, a religion; but so has the time of praise. We finally arrive at church after arguing with our flesh or spouse or children….that did not want to get up, it’s the only day they get to sleep…..or we are still thinking on the work we left on our desk Friday….or maybe we are dwelling on some gossip we heard and can’t wait to see if so and so shows up today. You name it, our minds; our desires are elsewhere so we go in and go through the motions. We sing the songs but are we really noticing the words and the meanings? Are we really singing these songs to God? Can you close your eyes and feel His presence and if you hear Him to tell you to lift your arms in worship to Him, will you do it or are you concerned about someone seeing you and ‘gossiping’ about you?

 

I know we are to do all things to glorify God, but when you read about how they praised Him in the Bible; it seems we have lost exuberance.

God has done so much for me that I want to make sure I’m giving Him all the glory every day of my life and when I come together with the body of believers I worship with – I want to be able to put our praises together and welcome His presence in our midst.

One day I was asking God why it felt heavy, like no one was really singing to Him, it was ‘habit’. And I heard Him ask me, ‘What do you want?’ And I told Him (while praise was still going on I stopped to write this down so I’d remember it).

     I want to go into a place of worship and if even one ounce of flesh is on me…..it falls off! There is so much passion for God and for His people that nothing else can come in – we leave our pride, selfishness, fear, sickness, gossip, etc at the door.

Then I heard the Lord clearly say to me, ‘If we don’t come really seeking Him we squelch the Spirit. If we can’t find and rest in His joy we are losing the Light. We are to praise Him with all our might, to know what we are singing and why, it is beautiful to Him.

I believe if you want to see a move of God’s power, we need to know what we are singing, why we are singing it and make sure we focus on giving God the praise.

(c)Has Breath Publishing LLC

Offer to God a Sacrifice of Praise

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice (an official sacrifice prescribed by God; hence an offering the Lord accepts because offered on His terms. #2378 Greek)   of praise (a thank-offering, (A. V. 'sacrifice of praise'), presented to God for some benefit received #133)    —the fruit(praises, which are presented to God as a thank-offering #2590)  of lips that confess (agree ("confess"); to profess (confess) because in full agreement; to align with (endorse).#3670)   his name (the manifestation or revelation of someone's character, i.e. as distinguishing them from all others. Thus "praying in the name of Christ" means to pray as directed (authorized) by Him, bringing revelation that flows out of being in His presence. "Praying in Jesus' name" therefore is not a "religious formula" just to end prayers (or get what we want)! #3686) (NIV with Greek word studies added in)

Hebrews 13:15

Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name. (Amplified)

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. (King James)

I find myself looking at the words – constantly and continually.

One definition of constantly is - Continually occurring; persistent.

One definition of continually is - Recurring regularly or frequently

So I am seeing that our (my) ‘sacrifice of praise’ should be frequent and persistent (Refusing to give up or let go; persevering obstinately)

And since it is ‘the fruit of our lips’ I should be audible with my praise and in the Greek praise is a thank-offering. I confess His name which means I need a revelation of His Name(s) so I can know His character.

So let me put Hebrews 13:15 in Christena’s version for my life today.

In Jesus’ Name, I, Christena, will not let anything keep me from offering up praises with my mouth to the Lord. I will open my mouth and speak of His greatness.  I say He is the Lord of my life!

No matter what I may be going through – be it a daughter that has walked away from her family; loss of a close friend; an unexpected bill; a lie spoken about me; a negative report from a doctor – or things that are positive – a prodigal returns; a new friend is made; the bill is covered; truth prevails; body is healed ------

I will give praise, I will give thanks through all of this, knowing He is my Yahweh Jireh (God will provide); Yahweh Shalom (Lord of peace); Jehovah Rapha (Healer) – and the list goes on.

It took me awhile to realize the power of praise and thanksgiving. Once you get a revelation of  who God is you begin to praise and thank Him constantly and at all times because you know His Word is Truth, God does not lie.

I challenge you to get your Bible out and begin to do a study on the names of God. Use biblos.com or biblegateway.com to help you look up the Greek or Hebrew meanings of His Name.

As you do this, begin to praise and thank Him for being your Healer, Peace, Provider…..you will find yourself going through your day and your spirit will recognize a Name of God you have learned and out of your mouth will come  --  I thank and praise You Father, I needed peace and You are Yahweh Shalom!

Don’t feel intimidated with the Greek or Hebrew pronunciation , praise Him in your language-tell Him how awesome He is and that He is the Lord of your life, He is your Healer, Provider, Redeemer, Father and Protector.  Give Him a sacrifice of praise for the strength He gives you to get through each day; for the hope you have in your prodigal returning; for the promise of healing and how our body is obeying it’s maker right now and all sickness is leaving; for being the peace that you needed in a time of test and trail.

If you have been having trouble in this area, ask yourself – am I really walking with the Lord or am I  saying….well, I went to church today, now it’s up to God to blah blah blah so I’ll just kick back this week and watch some tv, play some games, check out my neighbors wife/husband…….God expects us to know Him and obey Him, He is not Santa Claus or a magical fairy.

So if you are tired of being in the same place day in and day out – if you are doing the same thing over and over don’t expect different results – you either believe or you don’t and if you believe, you WILL hunger and thirst after God, your desire will be to know Him and then you begin to desire to change, as you change you see His Word is true and you seek more from His Word -  then you begin to live in joy and peace, even when those times of trials knock on your door, you find you stand tall in the armor of God and know the victory is yours through Jesus Christ.

For in the day of trouble

he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle

and set me high upon a rock.

Then my head will be exalted

above the enemies who surround me;

at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Psalm 27:5-6

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100

Praise and Worship Music

This is off the 'Faith Has A Voice' CD - it will be available for churches to use via CCLI sometime in August 2012.



You can purchase this song on Amazon.com, iTunes.com
or visit Rob Hammes Songwriter on ReverbNation
by clicking here  -  Faith Has A Voice

Pride

Yes I am very proud of Benjamin Mosier and my husband Rob Hammes !!

Why you ask......

Their first CD is on iTunes !!!!

I (Christena with Has Breath Publishing LLC), asked Benjamin Mosier how he came up with the lyrics for one of the songs on this CD.  'Come Let Your Fire Fall' and this is his reply: " The inspiration for "Come Let Your Fire Fall" came from meditating on the Life of Jesus. I was just thinking about His word and the Holy Spirit dropped those lyrics in my heart. For me that song is truly my hearts cry. I want God's love and power to explode out of me onto the world around me." Benjamin Mosier and this is what Rob Hammes (robhammessongwriter.com) added:  "Ben has never sung for anybody and was pretty nervous about showing me the song (with lyrics and melody) to me.  After some encouragement he sang the song into my computer, and we discovered a very natural sense of pitch and timing that even Ben didn't realize he has.  The astonishing thing was that in putting harmonies and chords to his melody, I found that the chorus was not in a "normal" time signature.  Since Ben kept singing it the same way every time he sang it, this must have been God's time, not Ben's.  While the rest of the song is in "four-four" time, the chorus uses a "six-four" time signature."  Rob Hammes http://www.reverbnation.com/robhammes Benjamin Mosier is the Youth Pastor and the drummer on the worship team at LIFE Church and Training Center in Indianapolis, IN Rob Hammes is guitarist on the worship team at LIFE Church and Training Center in Indianapolis, IN LIFE Church and Training Center

Let's Praise The Lord !! He Is Worthy, He Is Faithful

Faith Has A Voice

I would like to introduce you to Rob Hammes, Songwriter.

ARTIST SUMMARY

Genres: Christian/Gospel / Praise and Worship / Christian Contemporary

                                                   Rob Hammes Songwriter

ARTIST BIO

After a mis-spent youth playing in New Jersey and Indiana bar bands, Rob gave his life to Jesus in 1985, coinciding with the birth of his first daughter. He put down his guitar for a while and pursued the more family friendly route of employment in mechanical fields. But God speaks clearly to Rob that what is in the past has nothing to do with what God’s plans are for His people. 

Composition is Rob’s lifelong companion, and writing for Our Savior has become a passion. Whether writing his own material or collaborating with others, primarily with good friend Pastor Benjamin Mosier, Rob’s strongest inspiration is the Anointed Word revealed in the Bible. Having miracles in the testimony of their marriage, wife Christena has opened her music publishing house, Has Breath Publishing LLC, at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, declaring her God given victory over fears and doubts of the past. The vision and journey is truly about bringing “All Glory Honor and Praise” to the God of enduring mercy and abundant love.

Rob Hammes and Benjamin will have a CD out soon. For now you can visit Rob's page to listen to and purchase singles songs. Ring tones are also available for purchase.

Thank you!

Faith Has A Voice

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