Praise the Lord! - Pastor Stuart Price

• 05/10/2017
• SLC Stuart Price

 

Download Message(2017/_Praise_The_Lord.mp3)

Praise The Lord

Praise will just flow from the lips of those whose help is the Lord.

 

Psalm 146: 1-2 says “Praise the Lord, O my soul!  While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” We are such a blessed people and should praise the Lord every day for what He is and what He has done for you.  As water is to the body; so praise is to our spirit and soul – essential!  And without it comes dehydration and death. Our enemy will try to attack our praising God and get us to keep our mouth shut. No!  If our confidence is in God then we can praise the One in whom we trust.

 

There is much to praise God about today.  In Australia we live a blessed life and none more so than on the Gold Coast.  Many in the world don’t have electricity, running water, a kitchen, car, shelter and clothing….even today a vast number of people in the world live their lives without the things we call the bare minimum. This consumer society we live in; –  the ever wanting the next thing that we don’t have but just have to get, then we will be happy,  - we can easily forget to appreciate what we already have. How’s your attitude? Is it an attitude of gratitude, appreciating what we already have?  We all need to keep checking ourselves and learn to appreciate your God more, and then when we come together on Sundays, it should be great corporate outpouring of love and gratitude to God then He pours Himself back into us.

 

Praise should never be about you or your feelings. While we have our being (re Ps 146:2) and are alive, we need to keep the atmosphere of praising God around our life because that’s where He will inhabit. We are in a war now and it should be no surprise that we will encounter trials, testings or spiritual attack….which can change our feelings from positive to negative and therefore maybe we don’t like praising now. When actually this is the most important time to praise because we need Gods help right then and there. Consider the ocean. It moves back and forth and tossed about on top, yet deep below it sits calm and stable. This is how Jesus lived. He was able to counter the many challenges facing Him on top,  because deep below for us: (in the inner man, your spirit man) He  was anchored with the knowing of the joy set before Him.

 

We also should be able to be solid and steady, in our inner man/woman of the heart.  Let us examine our own heart’s condition today?  [Read Prov4:23, Matt15:17, James3:11]  Is it soft and flowing with the river from God and or has it become dried, hard and dehydrated like a mummy? Whatever the condition, we choose that we are able to change the condition with the help of the Holy Spirit. 

 

 

Praise should be a lifelong commitment and has many benefits to us as well.  

1. It is good for you. We can do it anywhere, anytime. It will take our focus off ourselves and whatever condition or situation we find ourselves in and places it squarely on the One to whom all praise belongs.  It brings honour to God and reinforces our faith and trust in Him.

2. It brings us closer to Him in our relationship. Psalm22:3  tells us that He inhabits this atmosphere.  Not one of turmoil and bitter waters flowing out of our mouth. When we praise, we are drawing nearer to God and then He will draw nearer to us.  It makes Hearing His voice easier, better understanding and retention of His word and also faster growth of your faith.  

3. Praise will bring you perspective in your life and help us to transform our thinking [Rom12:2]   It reminds us that we are not all this just because we are great…no…all we have comes from God, even our very breath and we should live appreciating it all knowing how He loves us and we in turn pour that back to Him in praise.

 

Praise will also halt the enemies advance and has massive benefits in the area of spiritual warfare. Speaking in tongues is also praising God from our spirit in our Heavenly language which releases Heaven in our life and situation. We need the rivers of living water flowing out of our spirit daily until the Lord returns – it will give us the strength to finish this race of life well.

Ps40:4 “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust”.  Praise Him always, especially when you don’t feel to and see the effects of more joy, peace, empowerment, provision from God and strength to stand.

 Blessings

Pastor Stuart & Colleen