The Law of Praise Pt.3

This is Ronald Hopkins and thank you for joining the Life Center Church.

Anybody in love with the Lord Jesus?

When you just take a moment to think about that song, there's nobody like him.

You know, we were we were Minnesota and I were talking in the car the other day, and we just were thinking about the years.

And when we were, you know, in that season in Boston, when the Lord sent us there when nobody was there.

You know, you say, Yes, Lord, I'm gonna follow you.

And I'm willing to go where you want me to go and do what you want me to do.

But then you find yourself like by yourself.

And all of the stuff that happened, you all would never know.

Because we never showed it.

And when you get to that place where we were at, when you had support, but nobody supported you.

And I'm just I'm talking about just natural financial support.

And when the the river dried up, when the well dried up, we just start reflecting that it was nobody else there but God.

It was a rough season.

It was rough, y'all.

It was not fun.

But it was necessary for us to really know him.

And when you really think about what the apostle Paul prayed, that was his prayer for the church.

That you would know him.

So no matter what situation that you're in right now, you're searching, you're trying to figure it out, the challenge for you is to know him for who he is in that season.

And when you know him for who he is in this season of your life, he'll be what you need him to be.

But it required, it required us to press in.

I remember the Lord said to me, come off the system.

And I didn't quite understand that.

And so I went back and I said, Well, what do you mean, come off the system?

I was trusting man.

I mean, whether you want to admit it or not, I had to admit that I was trusting in a man's ability to do something that only God could do.

And when he said come off the system, it it was a choke point.

Because you can trust people to do something for you, and they say that they're gonna do it, and they they they they mean well, and then they might come through, but then they let you down.

Then you get upset and you get disappointed.

But the Lord said, come off of that system, and the moment that I made a decision in my heart to stop trusting man, it was literally a ram in the bush that came out of it was all it was already there.

I just couldn't see it.

But I was giving my heart over to somebody else and stood a fully, I'm talking about like fully committing my heart to God.

When I fully committed my heart to God in that area, man, it was like, how did that happen?

It was just it turned and it turned everything else around because I fully submitted my heart to God.

So whatever it is that you are facing right now, it's not a bad thing.

It's a it's a development season for you.

It's get a chance to know Him in this area.

And when you do, your life will never be the same.

That was for somebody.

I heard that today.

Never mind.

If that's you, say that was for me today.

That was for me.

Jesus, Jesus.

Amen.

All right.

You all ready today?

Your first time visitor.

Welcome to the Life Center Church.

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We believe it's by divine appointment.

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You all know at the end of 2025, I asked the Lord, how should the people of the Life Center Church look at the end of 2026?

And he began to talk to me about how your life should look at the end of 2026.

And every session, every Sunday, every time we meet, these messages are building on top of each other.

To get you to a place where you look completely different 2026 than you will in 2027.

Thank you, uh Anthony, for that one amen.

And so we've been start, we've started on this series of uh the law of praise.

And uh me just going back through this and me studying this, it's interesting how this weapon of praise is all through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

And you know, the more that you study about a subject is the more light that you'll have, the more you'll be able to see your way out of a situation that maybe you could have possibly put yourself in, or maybe it could be a generational thing, or maybe the enemy set you up.

Well, God doesn't want you to be in that situation because anytime he calls you, he's equipped you.

So he's given us these tools and these weapons so that we can live a life of freedom.

So, this is part three.

I definitely want to encourage you all.

If you have not listened, you have not chimed in, you haven't paid attention, uh go back and re-listen to the other messages because it'll kind of catch you up.

So let's go back to our text in Psalm number 147.

Just in case you are not excited today, let me talk to the people online.

Minister Agent, let me have my phone.

I can tell right now they don't seem that excited.

Okay, Psalm number 147, stanza number one.

It says, Praise ye the Lord.

For it is good to sing praises unto God, for it is pleasant, and praise is comely.

So, again, we're gonna define this word praise, and then we'll just kind of jump right back into some new information.

So, this word praise means to appreciate God.

Thank you, Jesus, to appreciate God.

Thank you, Lord, to appreciate God.

This word praise also means to adore, which means to bow down.

It means to surrender.

It means you get to the place where you've reached as much as yourself, and then you tag God, and God checks in.

Now, I made this statement a couple of weeks ago, and it's very interesting that we have raised prayer warriors, or we have raised, meaning in the body of Christ, we have people who give.

But it's very interesting that we have not raised praise warriors.

Very interesting the fact that when you are going through something, the first thing we do, or the first thing we're supposed to do, is pray.

Right?

Okay, maybe maybe my wife will talk to me today.

The first thing we should do is pray.

And then when you get in contact with somebody and you're asking them to stand in faith or be in agreement with what you're praying about, right?

But I have yet to have conversation with somebody that will say, I need you to praise with me.

I praise with you.

We are so quick to ask somebody to pray for me.

But we're not as quick to ask somebody to praise with me.

Praise doesn't focus on what's happening right now.

Praise focuses on the faithfulness of God.

When you operate in this law of praise, it focuses on the integrity of God.

When you operate in this law of praise, it focuses in on what did God say.

And when you understand and when you receive and when you believe, then a byproduct is that now I'm lifting up my hands, I'm opening up my mouth, and I'm celebrating from what God has past tense already done in my life.

Now, point number one today, I can tell y'all excited this morning.

You must understand your divine design.

Your divine design.

Now, praise is not something that the church world created.

Because we have a praise team, you have musical instruments, but praise is how you've been created, it's your design.

It's so interesting to hear people say things like, I was ashamed, I wanted to raise my hand, but I just didn't.

I wanted to sing, but I just couldn't.

I wanted to get out in the aisle and dance, but I just couldn't.

You don't understand how you've actually been designed.

So the manufacturer of your life expects you to operate a certain way.

Okay.

No believer is at his best without praise.

You want to get the most optimum effect of your life.

It's praise.

You want everything to work right in your life.

Because this is the way that God designs you.

To do something completely different or nothing at all means you are missing your purpose in life.

This is the reason why you were actually created on this earth, but yet the creation refuses to cooperate with the creator.

So now you don't get the maximum because you refuse to operate in the way that you were actually designed.

You were designed for this.

You were made for this.

I'm gonna show it to you.

Go to Isaiah chapter 43.

Isaiah 43 · chapter mention

Let's start here today.

His intentional design for his children is praise.

Isaiah 43.

I don't believe this will be any clearer than what I show you in this scripture.

Isaiah 43, verse number 21, it says, This people, I don't feel like, well, you don't understand how you've been created.

Your feelings have nothing to do with it.

This people have I formed for myself.

He formed you for him, not you for somebody else.

You don't belong to your mama, you don't belong to your spouse.

You belong to God.

I need you to understand that.

Thank God for your mother, thank God for your father, thank God for your spouse, but they shouldn't run your life.

God should run your life.

Because you were formed and you were made and you were created by Him.

And watch this.

This is the reason why you were created.

To show forth His praise.

Many of God's people are frustrated in life because you refuse to praise.

And total fulfillment means I'm doing what I've been created to do.

Let me say that one more time.

Total fulfillment is all into this is why I was created.

So this is what I'm going to do.

The reason why people aren't fulfilled in life is because of this area right here.

You were created to praise and you refuse to praise.

To make him a trophy.

To display what he's already done in your life.

Okay?

Go to 1 Peter chapter 2.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

The purpose of every product is determined by the person who made it.

The purpose of every product is determined by the person that made it.

The purpose of that product has already been determined by the individual who made it.

Your purpose has already been determined by the person who made you.

Now I know you might look like your father.

You might look like your mother.

You might look like your cousin.

And because they didn't make you, they should not define you.

He defined who you are, and he defined what you should do.

I'm going to show you what you should be doing and why this should be a lifestyle.

You should be on fire.

I'm on fire.

See, stay on fire.

Now, 1 Peter chapter 2, verse number 9.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

Says, but you are a chosen generation.

Thank you, Lord.

This is your identification.

Stop subscribing to what the world is saying you are generation X, baby boomers.

Millennials.

That's what the world says that you are.

Told you if you don't help me, she's gonna help me today.

You subscribe to that and you believe that, so you act like it.

But he said you're a chosen generation.

He picked you out.

You've been chosen by God.

You are special to God.

See, we're looking for validation from people, and they'll never be able to validate your true self.

You're looking for it in people.

Can I ask you a question?

Where has that gotten you so far?

Because you're looking for people to make you feel a certain way, to make you think that you are somebody.

But my Bible just told me I'm a chosen generation.

Then if that wasn't good enough, he said you're you're you're a royal priesthood.

Like you are royalty.

See, when you understand that God created you to be a king, and God created you to rule, and God created you to reign, and God created you in this life to dominate and not be dominated.

God didn't tell you to be a victim or have a victim mentality.

He said you should be a victor, not a victim.

This is your identification.

You are royalty, and when you understand that you are royalty, you just won't tolerate certain things.

The body of Christ, we have tolerated some of the most wicked stuff, and now we think it's normal.

Listen to me, it's not normal to be diagnosed with ADHD.

Quit diagnosing your kids with that.

Now you're giving them medicine.

It's not normal.

It's not normal to say I'm stressed out.

That's not normal.

That's not who God created.

If God would have created you to be stressed out, you would have came out of your mother's womb with stress.

That's not who God created you and I to be.

That means some transformation took place when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord, Master, and Savior.

And then notice what he did.

He translated you into the kingdom.

Amen.

Can I give them just a tool to use for that particular verse really quickly?

So because it's it's not it's normal for the world, but not normal to the kingdom.

You're not the only one that knows that you're chosen.

The enemy also knows that as well, too, which is why he's pulling out all types of weapons from his arsenal.

So when stress does show up, you have authority to say, I command you to unwind yourself from my mind.

I command this spirit to collapse under the power of the living God.

You have to use your authority and you tell it what to do.

Treat it like a person, just like you would tell somebody else, you tell it what to do.

Leave now in the name of Jesus.

You have no access to me any longer.

Let's not just keep on accepting it just because it's common for the world.

Even if something as simple as a headache, and I'm not saying anything to you that I'm not even reminding myself of this world.

It's normal for the world, but it should be uncommon for the kingdom.

Watch it.

You have authority.

Watch this.

Because a king understands how to decree a thing.

And what is still on the other side of that honey?

So when a king decrees something, when a king says something, it has to take place.

It has to be done.

The reason why it's staying in your life is because you're not decreeing anything.

You're not saying anything.

And when you don't say anything, it just remains in your life.

The word the Bible uses as that when you decree a thing as a king, as a priest, as a daughter, as a son of the Most High God, that it shall be established.

Established means come into being.

So when I decree and I say, I will no longer function in this chaos, I command it to leave in the name of Jesus.

Then what you have done is let the words that I have just spoken be established.

And then what happens is especially when you find a scripture to back up what you are saying, you start going to work and around it.

To make sure that the very thing that you decree, the very thing that you have spoken, that it comes and becomes a reality in your life.

That it becomes a reality.

Restoration, that's a reality for you.

Your family being well, you even being well in your mind, it's a reality for you as a son and daughter.

So do not accept anything less than that.

You gotta train yourself in these things.

Until you give God what's due to him, stop expecting what's due to you.

When something is bigger than you, you gotta stop fighting it and at that moment celebrate God.

See, the more and more I'm going back through this, the more and more I'm seeing these patterns, these examples in the word.

When there was a situation when the Lord Jesus Himself had to raise Lazarus from the dead that was bigger than him.

He couldn't handle it in the natural.

So what did Jesus do when he raised something that was dead back to life?

Number one, he put everybody out of the room who was not in agreement.

You better teach that lesson.

You better teach back to back to the lesson.

He made sure that the people who were in agreement were saying the same thing.

You go back and you read that text, what Jesus then did, he didn't start crying.

He didn't get frustrated.

He didn't get upset because there was something bigger that he couldn't handle.

He said, Father, I thank you that you heard me.

He thanked God that God heard him.

You missed it right there.

He thanked God that God heard him.

And the moment that he started thanking God, God was already there.

His power began to come down and change what was dead and bring it back to life.

Point number two today.

Praise is not passive, but it's expressive.

Praise is not passive.

I heard this the other day when I was praying.

The Lord said in my spirit, heaven is loud.

It's loud.

They're not quiet in heaven.

It's a place where there's always celebrating.

It's a place where joy is all of the time.

247.

300.

Did you realize you can create heaven in your house?

Well, you can change the atmosphere in your house.

You can change the atmosphere in your life.

You too quiet.

You know why?

You I'm gonna tell you why.

The enemy got a hold of your mouth.

So instead of you saying something, he's saying something for you.

Let me tell you another reason why.

He understands praise.

Cause that's what he did.

And now he's gotta put situations in your life to keep your mouth closed.

So instead of God moving, guess who's moving?

Uh-huh.

Yeah, you think you're doing something.

Yeah, you're in bondage.

Not recognizing these tools that God has given us to overcome in every situation.

Psalm number one fifty.

Psalm number one fifty, stanza number six, it says, let everything that have breath.

See, see, see, watch this.

You inhale God's spirit called breath.

And you exhale by praise.

So you inhale and then you exhale.

When you recognize your life is simply sustained by God, nobody else.

Your spirit leaves your body, you no longer exist.

So he put his breath in your body.

And the reason why you should recognize his works or how you recognize his works is because I'm praising God.

Let me show you another one.

Go to Psalm number one thirty-four.

Equip us.

Psalm number one thirty-four, stanza number two.

See see it.

Can I tell you?

Should be notice it's natural.

It's natural.

Psalm one thirty-four stands in number two, says Yada.

Which means lift up your hands.

And bless the Lord.

So now what I'm getting ready to do is to show you the different types or the different ways that you're supposed to function in life.

You can be in the car singing unto the Lord.

You stop at a light, not while the light is green.

And because you know how good God has been to you, Psalm number sixty-three.

How?

I will lift up my hands in his name.

See, when you're able to lift up your hands, what you're saying is I solely depend on God.

I'm going to give you this as a reference.

I'm not going to have time to go through all of this because in this study I've given you what to do, and then I've shown you biblical examples of people who actually operated in this.

That's why this is a lifestyle.

1 Kings chapter 8.

1 Kings 8 · chapter mention

Biblical example of somebody who lifted up their hands to bless the Lord.

King Solomon.

Ooh, geez.

1 Kings chapter 8, verse number 22.

1 Kings 8 · chapter mention

And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel.

And what did Solomon do?

He spread forth his hands toward heaven.

He lifted up his hands toward heaven.

He recognized, God, you are the one that's supreme in authority.

You are the ruler and the leader of my life.

And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no other God like you.

So he's lifting up in his hands and saying, Father, there is nobody else like you.

There's nobody else like you.

Nobody in heaven, on earth, or beneath it.

Father, you are the one that's keeping your covenant.

You are the one that's constantly demonstrating your mercy unto me.

There were things that I deserved.

This is what he's praying.

There are things that I deserve, but because of your mercy, you kept watching over me.

You kept protecting me.

You kept loving me.

All while he has his hands lifted up.

If he told you something, he has the wisdom.

He has the understanding.

He's got the might.

And he has the ability to bring it to pass in your life if you would just be bold enough to believe him.

Let me give you the second one.

Ooh.

Today.

Go to Psalm number fifty.

Psalm number fifty.

Psalm number fifty, stand in number twenty-three, says, Whosoever offerh praise glorifies me.

Watch this.

I thank God before I see it.

So when you get to the place where you're thanking God before you see it, your praise is now a sacrifice.

But you thank God before you see it, or even before you feel it.

Because you gotta, I gotta feel that.

That's not praise.

I'm thanking God before.

So I'm in the midst of a battle right now.

And I don't know what to do.

I don't know how I'm going to get out of this.

But I know what's on the other side.

Is victory.

What determines whether or not I'm victorious is what you do in the middle of that battle.

When you go back and you read this, this is David fearing for his life.

They were trying to kill David.

And instead of David crying and getting upset and pointing a finger and saying, Why is this happening to me?

David said, Oh, I know what to do.

I know what to do.

Let me thank God while I'm in this fire.

Because when I'm in this fire, I can realize that God is with me and God is going to bring me out.

Let me give you another one.

Go to Psalm number ninety-five.

Psalm number ninety five.

It says, Oh come.

That's an invitation.

It's an invitation for you to come.

Let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

This word kneel means barack.

Are you willing to kneel and bow down before your Maker?

Daniel chapter six.

I don't have time.

But there was an ungodly law that was written before Daniel.

It was something that he could not control.

But he needed God to intervene.

They said to Daniel, you can no longer pray.

See, one of the things you do have to understand about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, there will be persecution to the church.

How do you think the Holy Spirit came, and why do you think Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost?

It was a rough time for the church.

Then he suddenly showed up.

Everything changed.

I'm admonishing you.

Spend more time in prayer.

Don't use prayer as an emergency.

It should be a lifestyle of praying, of communing, of talking to God, inquiring of God, being in his presence, asking him, what should I do?

When should I do it?

How should I do it?

Why am I doing this?

Pick up your prayer time.

Pick up your tongue time.

If you're watching me online and you go to these churches that don't believe that tongues is of God, you're in the house of Satan.

You won't be able to challenge and show one scripture where it doesn't say that tongues is for believers.

You're in the wrong place.

You need to come to a place where they're teaching the truth.

And it's the truth that you know, the truth that you receive is the way you're gonna be free.

Yeah, I'm out there today.

It's a lot of deception that's happening in the body of Christ today.

And many of God's people, didn't Jesus say it's possible the very elect can be deceived.

Didn't Jesus say that one of the signs of his return will be there will be mass deception?

There's a lot of deception that's happening in the body of Christ, even in the pulpit.

I can say this of 20 plus years in ministry.

I've seen it, I've heard it, I've been around it.

It's a lot of foolishness, and God's people are confused.

Since I'm out here, I might as well say this as well.

If Jesus said cast out devils, devils be gone.

Watch this.

He wasn't talking about go cast out devils for people who don't know Jesus.

Why would you have to cast out a devil out of a devil?

Tell me, explain that why.

He's already doing devilish things.

Help me understand this deception that's happening in the body of Christ, and yet God's people are struggling because they believe that foolishness.

God's people are bound up and don't know how to get free.

If you are dealing with something and you cannot shake it, it's probably because you got company.

And you might be demonized.

And the world will diagnose you with something and give you medicine.

Remember, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 4, the God of this world have blinded the minds of those that don't believe.

2 Corinthians 4:4

So any area that you don't know, any area that you don't believe, you are deceived.

And now you become a puppet.

The enemy dominating your life, and you don't know why you're acting this way.

It's by design, and it wasn't designed by God, it was designed by the God of this world.

Remember, I just showed you in 2 Peter that God translated you from the kingdom of darkness into light, into his kingdom, which means you gotta come up and you gotta come out.

She said, let's get the slapping.

Let's get the slapping in.

Let's get the slapping in.

All that came out of Tanille, huh?

Kneeling is intentional.

It's a posture of I'm humble.

Next week I'm going to talk about one of the areas or the enemy of praise is pride.

You're so prideful that you think it's all about you, so you're not willing to lift up your hand.

It's pride when you can't lift up your hand to your maker, to your creator, to your designer.

You think it's all about you.

And when you operate like that, you're operating like your father.

Because that's what Jesus says.

You are of your father, the devil.

So not to praise God means you praise your daddy.

That's next week.

Just gave you a prelude to next week.

Go to Psalm number 34.

Boy, y'all pulled that out of me today.

Psalm number 34 stands in number one.

It says, I will bless the Lord.

Hallelujah.

At all times.

He says, I will bless the Lord all of the time.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

This is Tehila.

Which is when you sing all.

It didn't say whether or not you could hold a tune.

It just says I'm a bless the Lord at all times.

I'll give you the example.

Go to, well, 932.

Here's a reference for you, Exodus chapter 15.

Exodus 15 · chapter mention

Go back and reread that.

The children of Israel always Tehila.

They were always singing about what God did for them.

When you go back and reread that example, they were thankful because God delivered them from being in bondage.

That's something right there.

You're in bondage about something?

Start singing to God.

God defeated Pharaoh's army.

They started singing about the goodness of God.

They needed to be set free.

So they started singing to God.

And because he inhabits the praises of his people, they understood that God was right there just waiting to come down.

Go to Psalm number 150.

Psalm number 150.

This is for you musicians out here.

Okay?

Who believe that God gave you that gift for secular music.

You won't find secular music in heaven.

You won't find those instruments being played to glorify God.

Because everything was created to bring him glory and to bring him honor.

You're supposed to use that gift that God gave you for him, for his glory.

Not fill your pockets and pimp people.

See that you are using your gift to prostitute what God gave you.

And what's happening, that believers are being deceived because they're baptizing people into the realm of the demonic.

And then you listen to the music and you become a zombie.

Because you repeat what they say.

And then you do what you hear in the lyrics.

It's deception.

And he uses music to do it.

Not all Christian music, it's Christian music.

It sounds good.

It could be emotional.

And now you all crying.

Psalm number 150, stanza number three, says, praise him with the sound of the trumpet.

Whew! Praise him with the psalm tree and the harp.

This word means Zamar.

Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen back there.

Means to make music.

Even the beats that are being made.

Those beats are supposed to bring glory to God.

Celebrate God with instruments.

Celebrate God with music.

I'll give you a scripture for that.

1 Samuel chapter 16.

1 Samuel 16 · chapter mention

When you read about David.

Ooh.

David understood this.

David was a musician.

And David was able to use music to get demons out.

You got some stuff happen.

You got some stuff happening in your house.

Change the atmosphere and play the right music.

So if David used music to get demons out, then guess what?

Music can also be used to get demons in.

So imagine what kind of music you've been listening to.

What you've been bumping, what you've been singing, what you've been dancing to is the reason why you're dancing like that.

Because you can't dance to God playing that kind of music.

That should tell you right there something's wrong.

If you cannot dance that way up here, if that's not glorifying God, even the clothes that you wear supposed to honor God.

Because the church doesn't understand these weapons that God has given us to walk in victory.

That's why it's a law of praise.

If you're a first-time visitor, I don't apologize for being bold.

Somebody gotta tell the truth.

Show you from the word what the word has to say.

Let me give you one more and then we'll be done because of time.

Are you all using the blog?

That was that was like three people.

No, remember Acts chapter 2 is where that came from.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

They continued in the apostles' doctrine, and then they grew.

So because we don't have midweek service or we meet once a week, that blog is designed for you to have enough meat to eat throughout the week.

Remember, Jesus says, My meat is to do the will of God.

So I definitely want to encourage you, if you all are not subscribed to that blog, you get connected because it gives you more.

So she was judged by a Christian.

Let that sink in for a minute.

But then God turned her shame into honor because of praise.

Okay, Psalm 63, stanza number three.

Says, because of thy loving kindness is better than life.

His kindness is better than your life.

You think you're enjoying life, but his love for you is better than that.

When you grab hold to that.

And when you have revelation of that, he says, My lips shall praise you.

Now, an example of this is Joshua chapter six.

Write this down.

It's the story of there was a wall that stopped Joshua and the people of God from obtaining what was theirs.

They already had the word from the Lord.

Take this city.

And everything that's in the city, all the provision that you need, all the word, the Bible says the spoil, all the clothes, everything that's needed for you to enjoy life, it's in the city.

But the only way you're gonna take this city is you gotta praise.

This was brick.

This was a city.

He says, when you shout, there's I will be in your shout.

I wrote this down.

Many of you have prayed enough, but you haven't praised enough.

Therefore, you have to stay in praise.

Because your praise will get things done better and faster.

Your praise will get things done better and faster and quicker.

It speeds up the process.

You stuck at a place because you haven't praised.

You want to accelerate it, it's your praise.

And as we talked about last week, your heart has to be in your praise.

So this I'm going through the motions of church, you're just gonna go through the motions of church.

But if your heart is in your praise, it's not going through the motion, it's not playing church.

It's like my heart is in this, and I'm giving God my full attention and all of my praise and all of my emotions.

One of the biggest things that we saw we went to Nigeria that we learned, their heart was in their praise.

Full-body praise.

Full body expression.

Like, I mean, just they didn't care who was around them.

They took their shoes off.

Toes was everywhere.

And I'm I'm talking about it, wasn't pedicure, manicure.

It was crust and toes was everywhere.

They could, you know what they understood?

Praise was a weapon.

And you can literally, you could see, well, at least I could, I could see God on people.

And when God gets on you like that, nothing can stand in your way.

But man of God, I hear you sitting here talking about all these other great men and women of God that have praised and got results.

But what I see with this man every single solitary day, you can open up the book and find him in scripture every single day.

Not only does he pray for our family, he has to two hours now a day, but he praises every single day.

And the but here's the thing if you want to lay hold of the promises of God, you pray.

But if you want to win your battles, then you begin to praise.

And that's why things have begun to turn for us and our families, is because I found you in scripture.

So as you are exalting all these other men and women of God, I want to come up and exalt my own.

I can honestly tell you all, I have been in church and seen people do church.

That's it, just do church.

And not live what they preach.

I've seen that.

I told the Lord years ago that if this is what you want me to do, I'm not gonna fake this.

I gotta be it first before I give it out.

This is how I live.

They'll tell you they were at times, and things are done intentionally, to demonstrate this before my children.

They will say things like, Dad, you too loud.

You can't sing.

This happens every day.

So weapon.

I understand this, so I utilize my weapons, and then I demonstrate that so that they can see that this is a lifestyle.

You have to live this, folks.

When you live like this, you'll live a certain way.

No, you have to live.

This is not this is not a game for me.

I've seen games in church.

What's at stake is your life.

Your eternal destiny is at stake.

We didn't come back here to play games, folks.

The Lord didn't send us all these places for no reason.

He just did.

We had to pay a price.

When you operate in this law of praise, your life will never be the same again.

I'm challenging you, I'm encouraging you.

If you're listening to yeah, okay, if you're listening to secular music, it's stopping you from praising.

Because that has your ear and that has your heart.

And that's what you're connected to, and that's why you are not operating in the things or higher levels of God.

Put it down.

I'll close here.

I remember when I was in college, I was listening to secular music.

My brother was a DJ.

And I was exposed to a lot of ungodly music.

But when I had a demonic visitation on my college campus in my dorm, I didn't know what to do, so I called my grandmother, who at the time was the matriot of the family.

And she said, Whatever you are doing up there, you need to get your life right with Jesus.

I repented before the Lord and I knew some things that I was doing.

And one of the things I was doing was listening to secular music.

So I made a decision at that point because that desire for music was already there because that was my divine design.

And I said, I'm not giving this music away because I spent a whole lot of money because I bought records.

This will let you know how how old this was and how many years ago.

I had Technique 1200s, I had all of that.

I threw all that stuff in the trash.

I wasn't giving it away because I knew it was poisoning my spirit.

It was changing how I was thinking and how I was acting.

So I threw all that stuff in the trash.

And I said, Lord, I need you to help me replace what that desire is for some godly music.

And I just picked up gospel music.

And I, this just recently happened when we went to our alumni weekend at our college.

A young lady said, You don't remember this.

I said, What are you talking about?

She said, You gave me a gospel cassette.

Yeah, cassette.

Yeah, cassette.

Because I understood what the secular music was doing to me, but then God replaced that with the gospel.

And what was happening in me, I wanted everybody to experience that.

This was 20 plus years ago.

She said this to me last year.

She said, You don't know how that has impacted my life for the gospel.

And literally you don't know the impact that you will have when you live it before people.

You have no, I had no, I had no clue.

And then she DM'd me and took a picture of the cassette.

I just broke down.

I just broke down.

Because I had no idea what God was doing at that time.

And not only that, I started living out what I started believing.

And when I started doing that, that's how I got to the place where they honored me as being in the Hall of Fame.

Because I sold out to him.

And when I sold out to him, then he could use me.

So I want to encourage you.

If you're on that fence about the music, throw it in the trash.

Because it's not honoring God.

Every head is bowed and every eye is closed in prayer.

No one's walking or talking unless you've been assigned.

We'll pass out the communion elements that can take them home today.

We just, it was a different flow.

And we just endeavor to always flow with the Holy Ghost.

If you're in here today and you're not born again, let's not complicate this.