I studied all day yesterday on a message, but the Lord changed it early this morning. Thank you, Lord, for changing my message. I want to talk to you about the power of praise. Turn to Psalm 34:1. “I will bless the Lord at all times.” It’s easy to bless God when you are on mountaintops, but I’ve noticed something over the years. Churches are getting quieter and quieter. Rattle is not revival, but I’ve noticed a trend.

Styles seem to flow, and I’ve noticed that preachers are sitting at a nice desk with a chair. It’s calm. You do whatever God tells you to do, but I’m noticing that there is less response from out there (in the congregation).

Several years ago, preachers said we will let the organ do our praising. Then it went to watching the choir as they did our praising. Neither the choir nor the organ do my praising! I don’t know if you know this or not, but it’s a personal thing. The Word says, “I will bless the Lord at all times.” I choose to bless the Lord at all times. “His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” That will take the Holy Spirit.

Verse 2: “My soul.” You are made up of three parts. You are a spirit. That is who you are, and you possess a soul. That is your conscience, your ability to think; and you live in a body that is temporary. It’s amazing how many in this house today spend more time on your body, which is temporary, than you do on your soul and spirit.

“My soul shall make its boast in the Lord, the humble.” My spirit is alive, and my soul has the ability to choose. A lot of people are afraid and fearful, and sometimes when I go to other churches to preach, the pastor doesn’t want me to lay hands on anybody because he is afraid they might go down (in the Spirit). They are afraid somebody with money might get embarrassed and leave.

“The humble shall hear of it and be glad.” Somebody is listening for your genuine, true praise, and your praise is going to help them and make them glad. The joy of the Lord is still the strength of the saints, and joy is always expressed. There is also an expression to sadness, but there is an expression to joy!

Verse 3: “Oh, magnify the Lord with me.” That means I’m asking you, all the redeemed, to praise the Lord with me. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. “And let us (the church) exalt His name together.”

(1) Praise Gives Voice to Your Worship. I know we have the ability to have what I’m saying interpreted to those that are hearing impaired because they may not be able to make verbal expression. I’m not as concerned with those that are hearing impaired not being able to express their praise as I am with those that have a voice! Praise gives voice to your worship.

You don’t worship by sitting in a church pew. You don’t worship by just singing a hymn or a praise song. You give voice to your praise. Psalm 106:1 says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord!”

(2) Praise is Audible. It comes out of your mouth, but it starts down in your heart and in your soul. You have to raise your praise up. Psalm 71:8 says, “Let my mouth be filled with Your praise, and with Your glory all the day.” You have to get your praise up out of your heart and into your mouth. You have to make your praise audible, because the devil controls the airwaves, and we as Christians have let the devil zip up our mouths. We have to make our praise audible. We have to get our praise in the atmosphere.

(3) The Bible Encourages Us to Praise the Lord. The King James Version says, “Praise ye the Lord!” The Bible exalts us. “Praise ye the Lord!” The Bible commands us to praise the Lord. It’s a commandment. “Praise ye the Lord!” It isn’t a suggestion. It isn’t if you feel like it. When God’s Word says, “Praise ye the Lord,” it is a commandment for God’s people to lift up their voices and give God praise.

You may not feel like praising the Lord, but you cannot go by feelings. This is a faith-fight. It’s a faith-walk. Maybe when you got up this morning certain situations happened. Faith says, let’s go to church; but feelings say, I’m not going. I don’t feel like going to church. So you come to church and leave your feelings at home. You come to church by faith.

When you come in the front door, you praise Him. When you get a seat, you praise Him.  You leave your feelings at home, and you praising Him by faith. You may not feel like it, but you praise Him audibly by faith anyhow.

(4) Praise Fills All of Heaven. In Revelation 21, John the Revelator looked and saw a vision. He saw the sights of Heaven. He began to describe the streets that looked like transparent gold. He described the pillars of pure pearl that hold up the walls of the city. He described the foundation of the walls of the city that were adorned with all kinds of precious stones.

Then he hears a sound that fills all of Heaven. In Revelation 19:6, he hears a sound “as the sound of many waters.” That means the sound was likened unto a waterfall. Multiply the sound of Niagara Falls by thousands upon tens of thousands, and that was what John the Revelator heard; and the sound was the praises of God’s people as they said, “Hallelujah!” The sound was the praises of God’s people saying, “All praise and honor to the Lamb that was slain.” That is what Heaven is filled with.

Now that you are saved, some of you just sit there and say nothing. You ought to be giving God the amount of praise you gave to the devil when you were out in the world. People curse the name of Jesus. I have never heard Allah’s name or Buddha’s name used as a curse word; but people have polluted, mangled, and unmercifully treated our Jesus with a wicked tongue, and the church is silent.

Let me tell you something. God is calling us to praise Him. He is calling us to give Jesus glory, honor, and praise; and He is worthy of it, is He not? That is what Heaven is all about.

(5) Praise Is Inhabited By God’s Presence. In the Old Testament, there was the Ark of the Covenant. On that Ark was the mercy seat, and God’s presence would hover over that mercy seat. Psalm 22:3 tells me that God inhabits, dwells in, or sits enthroned on the praises of His people. So, God openly manifests His presence where the atmosphere is charged with praise.

The main focal point of the Maranatha Fellowship is Jesus. He is the One that gets all the praise. It’s awesome when God allows us to lay hands on people. It’s awesome when He allows us to lead someone to Jesus; but when you get in an atmosphere of pure praise, from a heart of appreciation, God will start manifesting His presence and start doing things all over the house.

That same manifestation of His power here in this place can go through the airwaves, penetrate all the powers of darkness in the atmosphere, go into a home, touch somebody and heal them while we are here. His hand is not short, but He is looking for somebody that will praise Him. Quit being so cute and sophisticated and loose some praise in the house!

(6) Praise Prepares the Way for Miracles. My God is a miracle-working God. Psalm 50:23 talks to us about how praise paves the way. Praise opens the door. Praise prepares the way for miracles. “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me, and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”

People want miracles, but they won’t praise Him. People just want to give God their shopping list and be on their way. God doesn’t work that way. You ought to praise Him going toward your miracle, and you ought to praise Him as you’re going away from your miracle. Praise prepares the way. Praise opens the door. Praise lets the devil know whose side you’re on.

Do you know that the spiritually dead can’t praise God, but those who are spiritually alive can praise God?

(7) Praise is the Way We Approach God. Psalm 100:4 is the protocol to approaching God. “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.” You don’t just burst into the Holy of Holies. You can come in boldly, but you come in to the throne room of God by the blood, and you come in with thanksgiving. Before you get in here, you begin to thank Him out there; and when you get in the house, you begin to praise Him.

There is proper protocol to meeting the King of kings and the Lord of lords. There is a way we approach He who is above all others. I’m talking about Almighty God! I’m talking about the Most-High God! Praise is the way we approach God.

(8) Praise Silences the Devil. Look at Psalm 8:1-2 from the New Living Translation. This is an awesome scripture. Verse 1: “Oh Lord, our Lord; Your majestic name fills the earth, Your glory is higher than the heavens.” Verse 2: “You have taught children and infants to tell of Your strength (that means to praise Him).”

On Palm Sunday when Jesus came into the Temple area, the children began to praise Him, and the Pharisees went ballistic. They told Jesus to hush the children, and He said, “No, the infants and babes silence the enemy.” Jesus was saying, “A small child can praise Me and silence the devil.”

Is it any wonder in any church across the land that there is silence? It’s because there is no praise! People don’t want to offend anybody. Listen, the only one you’re going to offend is the devil. True praise, genuine praise from the heart of the believer silences the devil. That is why we have to keep praising God, because praise silences the devil. Praise silences all those that oppose God.

I’m waiting for the moment when the entire church praises God. Satan is paralyzed by massive, majestic, triumphant praise. Demon powers cannot stay in an atmosphere of praise. They are bound and driven back when true praise comes out. When you begin to truly praise God, the Holy Spirit is loosed in the house.

(9) Praise Is An Antidote for Depression. Americans are depressed. Church people are depressed, but you can praise yourself out of a pit. If you start fellowshipping with David in Psalms, he will get you to praising God. He learned how to praise God, and WE have to learn how to praise God.

We strive to accumulate stuff, then when we get all this stuff, we’re afraid we’re going to lose all our stuff. So, we lock our stuff up and bolt our stuff down, because we have to constantly watch our stuff. You spend your last days watching your stuff, and when you die, your kids are going to spend your stuff!

Some of you are scared to death that someone is going to get your stuff. Your stuff should belong to Jesus! Listen, when you get a little bit of stuff, start praising the Lord, because He will give you more than you need. Then go out of this world praising God. When you start praising God for your stuff, the Holy Spirit will start telling you what to do with your stuff.

What you love the most, God will require it of you. He will require you to lay it down, because when you give it to Jesus, joy comes. Isaiah 61:3 says that “the Holy Spirit gives us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”

Listen, I see darkness coming. I see problems coming. I see a real shaking coming, and the church had better be ready. Living like the devil will not cut it. The church has to rise up. God is calling His church to holiness! We have to be an army of praisers.

Here are three reasons why we should praise the Lord: (1) For what He has done for us in the past,(2) for what He is doing for us right now, and (3) we should praise Him for what He is about to do. Joel 2:21 says, “Be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvelous things!”

When we pray, we ask. We ask for something to happen, but once we pray, then by faith we praise Him for what is going to happen. It is easy to praise God for what He has done, because you can look back and see it, and it is easy to praise Him for what He is doing right now.

Some of you don’t realize that God is working right now in your life. It has already been done in the Spirit realm. Now it is going to be revealed in the physical realm. So you can sense that something is happening. You can sense it if you are really connected to the Holy Spirit, but when you’re asking for something in the future, you have to step out and praise Him in advance. Praise Him before it happens. Praise Him for what is going to happen in the future as if it has already happened.

(10) Praise Opens Prison Doors (Acts 16:26). (11) Praise Drives Back Distractions. Satan is the great distracter. The further you sit in the church, the more distracted you are. You see everyone that moves. You see every child that is carried out. So, praise drives back distractions. Praise removes obstacles.

(12) Praise Lifts Our Eyes From the Conflict to the Conqueror. His name is Jesus! (13) Praise Affirms God’s Word. When you say it, you confirm that God’s Word is true.

I also know that praise disturbs people. It disturbs carnal people. Praise disturbs back-sliders. They are miserable out in the world, and they are miserable in the church. How many know you cannot straddle the fence?

(14) Praise is Acknowledging that the Answer is on the Way. (15) Praise Anticipates the Victory. (16) Praise is the Language of Faith. People of faith know how to praise God. (17) Praise is at Its Best When It’s the Abnormal Thing To Do. Praise shines the brightest when everything looks the opposite. Praise is the most beautiful to God when it is done in abnormal situations.

I believe in healing. I think it’s awesome when God heals you, but I don’t think it is any less miraculous when He gives you the ability to sustain when you’re suffering and there has been no relief. That is a miracle we forget to praise God about. It’s easy to praise Him when He heals you, but it is something else to praise Him when you’re in pain.

(18) Praise Tells the Devil Something. Praise informs the devil that, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.” When you begin to praise God, you’re telling the devil, “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory.” When you praise the Lord, it tells the devil, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.” Praise informs the devil that, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

One last verse: Hebrews 13:15. “Therefore by Him (in Him, through Him, Jesus) let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God.” I don’t feel like praising Him, but I’m going to praise Him anyway. “That is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

If the devil has silenced your praise, it is time for it to be loosed. It is time to ask the Lord to forgive you for days gone by that you have forgotten to praise Him and give Him thanks.