Tag: worship

Com’n In A Shout’n

Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! (Psalm 149:3)

Sunday morning worship is the BEST. I’m not a good singer nor do I have instrumental talent, that’s why I love Sunday morning worship, these people on stage do. They are prayed up and anointed to bring the congregation into His presence. I’m not shy when it comes to worshipping my Lord and Savior. I throw up hands, I will jump, sway, stomp a foot all the while thanking God that no one else can hear me, but Him. Now at home or in my car it’s a whole different story, I let it rip. I’m all in. I love that no matter what I sound like, to God it is beautiful and He delights that my heart is focused on Him and He thinks this is the sweetest sound ever. Isn’t that just like a father? Always seeing the best in his child even when no one else can. Sometimes I just can’t help myself, I get this beating in my heart and overwhelmed sense of gratitude, for how much He loves me. I become so humbled before Him for all the goodness He has done for me, I mean geez …He saved my life! He set my feet upon a rock, He turned my life around, broke the chains that once had me bound, brought joy in the morning after nights of darkness, delivered me from SOooo many things, healed the deep wounds within me, gave me a reason to live, He set me FREE! It makes me want to SHOUT! I feel new strength and hope once I have been in His presence through worship. That is my best description of “JOY.” Nobody can love me like that and I’m gonna let Him know! You know God doesn’t just love to hear us sing praises to Him, it is a declaration of our trust in Him. It shows Him our surrender when we will humble ourselves and worship Him. He actually views it as an act of obedience, adoration, and a pleasant offering. God “inhabits” or dwells within the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3), affirming His presence. It shows Him that Jesus Christ really does dwell within us. So if you ever see me shouting praises to God, just know God is rejoicing over it.

A Worshiping Warrior

Are you going through some tough stuff right now, feeling all the pressures of life? Let me let you in on a little secret. If you become a worshiping warrior, you will find yourself thriving under those pressures, it’s called a “holy boldness” praising God even during the trials. Honestly, I never saw myself waring in worship. I thought that worship was just a time of singing praises to the Lord not realizing that I was actually doing warfare right then. Recently I have found myself in a number of situations that I felt the fight or flight coming on. I also have found a better way to fight those battles. Worship is the way; it takes the load off me and right on Him. That whole flight thing is NEVER a win, unless it is removing yourself from the situation temporarily to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you regarding your circumstance. Also, I should let you know, EVERYTHING happens in God’s time, so be a patient worshipper. First, you are going to need to have a surrendered heart. A true warrior for God is first a worshiper acting out of obedience, humility and submission, something God has been working on in me for the past couple years in a really BIG way. Worship, praise and obedience are our main weapons to achieve victory. Which means we are going to need to stand firm in faith, endure some hardships and trust God to fight the battles on our behalf. After all, God is the ultimate warrior. He’s the One fighting our battles, we simply are worshipping Him in the process. (Exodus 15:3) says, The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name. (The battle has been won, and the praise belongs to the Victor.) In verse 6 of chapter 15 of Exodus, we can see God’s active and powerful presence among His people. God is active and He is all powerful and He will fight each of our battles, nothing is too big for our God. That is a God to be WORSHIPPED! If you will practice worshipping God, you can actually get so engrossed in worship you will not even remember what it was that had you upset to begin with. The Holy Spirit is just good like that. (Speaking from experience). Of course, no one gets up and leaves the house before getting fully dressed, well you might, so let me say it this way. When a warrior gets up for battle, he/she puts on their full armor. In the spiritual realm that is called “the whole armor of God.”

I keep this wardrobe list on my refrigerator, so when I get up in the morning and grab that first cup of coffee, I am reminded what I will be wearing for the day. Another side note: remember we are fighting spiritual battles not physical, totally different attire. We are not worshipping ourselves because we are strong and mighty fighters, we are worshipping God the Creator of the universe who fights spiritual beings we cannot see. I want to talk a little more about praise. In the Old Testament the tribe of Judah, meaning “praise,” was instructed to go first into battle, demonstrating that worship precedes victory. And in (Acts 16:25) Paul & Silas exemplified praise being used to break chains and overcome obstacles. If God is fighting our battles and He is victorious in all things, why wouldn’t we worship Him? Why would we want to wear ourselves out physically, mentally, emotionally even spiritually trying to do it any other way? When & where to worship? For me, it’s in the morning before my day even starts. I praise Him for waking me up, breath in my lungs, opportunities that He is placing in my path for the day, etc. etc. Later in the day it may be a phone call from a friend facing something and I simply stop for a moment and thank God in remembrance of one of His many promises to meet that need. At the end of the day, it may be a moment of silence just reflecting on His goodness, even when I didn’t see anything, I know He is on it. Before bed if there is anything else still lingering in my mind, it’s letting go and thanking Him for the rest I am about to receive once my eyes close because every battle is His, He fights for me.