Praise Is Power

You're listening to an ex church podcast. We hope this message will light up

your day today. I thought it's good to talk to us about praise,

and I want to say to all of us, remember, praise is very

powerful. And so the first slide is just the theme. The theme and

the topic for today is praise is power. Why is it an important message?

Because, first of all, even by itself is a good message from

the Lord. But especially when we get ready to move somewhere, different people

here might have different feelings. Mixed feelings is probably most of how we feel

like. You know, we're leaving the good. Actually this is good.

But however, you believe that God takes us out of the good to lead

us to the best. This is the God that we serve. So we

must go out of this place place praising, praising. There is power in

praise. Now, I'm gonna show you a scripture very quickly. Okay.

So sixteen verse twenty five or twenty six tells you that Paul and Silas were

in prison. Well, if you know chapter sixteen, you know that they

were in prison and they were put into the deepest dungeon. So it was

dark, it was dingy, it was dirty, it was dodgy, it

was terrible. The situation was terrible. And some of you could be also

in a very dodgy place. Some of you could be in a very dangerous

place in your life. Maybe some of you are in a very stressful place.

You know, it's like a prison. You don't know how to get

out of it. You don't know when you can get out of it,

you don't know, you can't see a light at the end of the tunnel.

But Paul and Silas knew something that we must remember today. Paul and

Silas knew the power of praising God. So round about midnight, what happened

was they started to pray and sing hymns. Now, if you didn't know,

hymns were actually scripture in song, and so many times when you talk

about hymns, they're actually Bible versus mostly in music in song. So those

were here. So every time you see a hymn mentioned in the Bible,

they were actually using scripture and making it into music. So they sing the

scriptures, they sing hymns, and so it's very very important. They were

actually praising God. And then the Bible says the prisoners were listening to them

suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundation that the prisoners were

shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loose.

So I want to speak to you today that there is power in praise,

that prison doors can open all right, ground can shake, and the prisoners

can be free. Shackles and bondages can fall to the ground. If you

believe it, say amen, there is power in praise. It's just that

where we're in the middle of darkness, when we're in the middle of trouble,

when we're in the middle of bad news, the last thing you want

to do is sing. Is it true? Sometimes when you're in trouble and

you are, you know, faced with problems, you can't even remember what

song to sing, because most of the time the songs are chosen for you

on Sunday by the worship beater, And so you go like, even if

I wanted to sing myself out of this prison, I don't even know what

song. I don't even know the lyrics. And that's why many times I

do not encourage ex church to keep singing new songs. And so very important,

very important to know. Some songs have some favorites and be able to

pick out those songs and sing hymns. Right, So I'm encouraging more songs

to be hymns in the sense of more songs to have scripture in them,

because it's not the songs only. Yeah, it's not the songs. It's

really the Word. The Word has power Hebrews four twelve. The Word of

God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two age, just sword

piercing, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints

and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Word of God is so powerful, can go deep, can cut

through, you know, even change. Amen, Praise God, the hardened

ground of your friends, the hardened ground of your family members, start to

shake and break the fallow ground, and you know, starts to see change

fall. All right. I want to just tell you this morning, if

I forget to tell you this, that praise actually leads us into a deeper

place. It does. It's beyond your understanding. It's beyond your knowledge.

But when you do it by act, you do it by faith, something

takes over. And we're gonna tell you, why can you put up the

next slide for me, please. The Bible says that when we praise God,

God is enthroned. Now. God already already has a throne in heaven.

Whether you praise him or not, He's going to always be Lord.

I you assume me. He's always going to be king, whether you believe

him or not. He's going to be God, whether you praise him or

not, give your offering or not. He is still God. He is

Lord of all and forever. He's king of King's, Lord of lords.

Now, but what happens when we praise him, He comes and he becomes

a lord of your situation. He comes and he builds his throne. So,

no matter how dark the prison was, as soon as you praise God,

he comes. He comes, and he says, I am now enthroned

in this prison. I am now enthroned in your exam. I am now

enthroned in your testings. I'm now enthroned in your temptations. I'm now enthroned.

I'm not just far away having a thrown up in heaven. I have

come down and built my throne in your pray. That's what happens, and

that's why things tremble and things break and change fall, and prison doors open

and prisoners are set free. Because of God's amazing presence that comes when we

praise, he is enthroned in the praises of his people. KJV. King

James version uses the word inhabits. God inhabits the praises of his people.

Actually is what like inhabitants King James's version. Let's look at another slight.

Yeah, there you go, KJV. All right, inhabitants the praises of

your of Israel. So if you are a KJV guy, this is for

you. But thou art holy, or thou that inhabitants the praises of Israel.

Amen means God comes and dwells with you no matter what your situation,

where ever you are. You could be in Malaysia, you could be somewhere

else Madagascar, you could be in the prison, you could be in the

palace. As soon as you praise the Lord, the Bible tells us he

bills. So this is the thing why the devil flees. He isn't afraid

of our praise, but he's afraid of God's presence. Is his presence that

makes the difference some of us things. Is our voice. So we got

a booming voice, and the devil just does you go? And when you

sing? Are yours? Dolling me? Very important? And that's why we

can stand here and have JD playing the guitar and we're not worried. I

mean other people could be worried. Other people could be watching Live and Go

Life actually guitar. So what it's not about the guitar, hess not.

But the thing is about God's presence. Is he here? Because then watch

the enemy flee, watch prison doors open, watch earthquakes happen, watch chains

fall to the ground. All right, this is important. I said earlier

that praise takes us deeper. Now the only way to enter the gates of

the Lord, which is into his presence, is thanksgiving very important because a

lot of Christians have told me before pastor for this past two months, I

haven't felt God's presence. Two years, I haven't felt God's presence. And

these days I sit them down if I have the opportunity, and I ask

them, how have you been entering God's presence? And they'll tell me I

prayed the pastor how do you start your prayer? Stray Reila with my complaint,

I say, which scripture tells you why that you enter his gates?

We complain, I will enter his gates with many complaints. No, that

song doesn't go away. Why don't you feel his presence because you haven't entered

his gate. His gate only opens. Hello, I have a gate at

home. My gate opens at my remote, not your remote. HALLO so

sudden? Good morning? Is it good money? Yeah? You don't think

you're remote and try to open God's door. God, you understand I got

remoter so here, I don't feel your presence. Heaven entered your gate.

Discouragement. I know God understands your discouragement, but he doesn't say I will

enter your gage with many discouragements. Why he is talking, opener, I

don't feel God's presence. The gate don't open. Way, I'm depressed.

Get has opened? Goes? You're depressed, God, I want to die.

Hold on now, Thank God. First, before you die, someone

said before Oh God, I love you so much. I want to die

for you. And then go say you live for me first. Live for

me first, because dying for God is easy than living for him. You

live for him first, Obey him, do what he tells you. Ay,

easy to die, no harder to live. God, wants us to

live for him, live, So don't come before him, say I gotta

If you don't open to get out dire, Well you're already dad and you

heay, So come on enter his gates with thanksgiving us the only way you

say a bustard. Sometimes I have no reason to thank go for Everything is

going south. No, it's turning to custard. As my friend tells me

in New Zealand, Pastor Kenneth, it's all gone custard. It's all gone

custard, custard because we don't cast it here. Yes, I don't know

was custard. It's all just it's all a mess. I turn left wrong,

turn right wrong, go back wrong, go front and wrong. I'm

start because faith, faith without works is dead. So I know you have

faith. You believe you should be here. You believe you should praise the

Lord. But until you do it, there's no power. Praise is power.

Let me look at the next light, praise, let me go for

the now. If thanksgiving gets you to the gates, through the gates,

praise gets you to the courts. I want to show you something here.

Whether showed me, So you come in with thanksgiving, Lord, I thank

you. I thank you, I thank you, thank you. The gates

open. You know. Now I'm in the presence. I'm in passa Kenajin's

house, I'm in Joy's house, I'm in I'm in the vicinity, I'm

in the compound. I can feel God's presence. But if you don't go

from thanksgiving to praise, you will not get to the courts. And that's

why there's a part where Jesus is that don't become like the people out there

who pray repetitiously and thinking that God will hear you because you're of your repetition.

No, so that the secret is pray enough, but the rest of

it is praise. I have to tell you this. This is a secret

that a lot of you don't don't know. And that's why you keep praying

the same prayer one hundred times and you don't get breakthrough. Because praise is

the one that gets you to the courts. He didn't say, prayer gets

you to the courts. Praise again once again, enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and into his courts with praise, to the way you enter the courts

where the King will see you. Then when the King saw esther, he

put forth his golden scepter, and esther had to come closer touches, and

the king says, I will answer whatever your request, even up to half

my kingdom. But what got her there the garment of praise. There was

a garment of pray. She was ready to give the king her best.

She showed up. She didn't shout king, you can't see me a hello

husband, you know no, she just stood there. Praise brings you to

that place. He doesn't say, He doesn't just say prayer. Now.

I know some of you might argue to say, my pastor praise is the

kind of prayer prayers God praise. I understand, but you understand what try

and say you're lift Okay, so I'll demonstrate you. Lord, please heal

Please hear my stomach ulcers. Please hear my stomach aussers once, twice,

three times, four times five, okay, whatever. Just just don't become

repetition, repetitious just because you think God will answer you because of your hundred

prayer. It doesn't want to there. This is how it works at God,

Please hear my ouses, please hear my uses. God, I beg

you, please hear my asswers. You gotta believe that what hurt you the

first time, so by the fourth, fifth, seven times, this is

the way you do it. Lord, I thank you that you are my

healer, and I praise you for the healing that I shall receive in your

name. You understand, and you keep going like this even if it takes

you three months three years. Lord, I praise you. When you come

with an attitude of praise, you ask God to take over. You ask

God to take over, and you say, God, whatever it is I'm

seeing or feeling, I surrendered it to you. That's why praise is very

powerful. We hope you've been blessed by this message. If you're keen to

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believing that this week is going to be a good week ahead for you. God bless