Importance of Praise

Praising God is powerful! It is our most powerful weapon against the enemy of our souls. There's a saying, "The devil flees when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees."

Praise has the same affect. It puts the devil in his place, under our feet, where he belongs. It exults Jesus and puts Him in His place, over everything.

God's children were created to please God and how do we do that? We please Him by praising Him.

Praise invites and brings down the Spirit of God. There's almost a tangible presence of God that envelopes those who praise Him. After developing a habit of praising God for everything (even what seems bad) praise becomes addictive. We can't live without it. It's the breath of our spirit.

Praising God is obeying God.

We think of obeying God as some really sacrificial, complicated and difficult thing to do, to give up our will and yield to Jesus to obey Him. We imagine He has all these demands to make of us. But, really, what He has asked us to do is to praise Him! That's it! That's the first commandment or command:

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all they heart and with all thy soul.

Matthew 21:15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,

16 And said unto Him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?"

Praise is a manifestation of our faith. And without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

Revelation 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty which was, and is, and is to come.

I think those four beasts were showing us an example of how we should be. That means we should be constantly praising God without stopping even when things seem bad. 

Jesus said in Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

And when we learn to do this, we'll be learning how to please God. From this strength, Jesus will show us the next step, whether ministry or helping others or forsaking all to follow Him or whatever He asks us to do. But, whatever He asks us to do, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. If it starts to feel heavy, it means we're not praising Him enough.

If you don't know for sure whether or not you are saved (meaning: not going to Hell), here's a prayer you can use to ask God for salvation:

"Dear God, I believe that Jesus (Yeshua) is Your Son who died for me on the cross of Calvary and that His blood washed me from my sins so that I can stand blameless before God. I ask You, Jesus to please come into my heart, fill me with Your Holy Spirit and to forgive my sin. In Jesus's name, amen."

By praying sincerely to God with a prayer like this one, we receive salvation by grace. It is a gift of God. We don't deserve it. We can't pay for it. We can't earn it. It's a gift. And that is why we praise God and thank Jesus for His death and suffering to pay for our sins!