When you hear the words praise and worship, what do you see? Is the first image that comes to mind your church’s praise and worship team? Perhaps you see a crowd of people with their hands lifted in the air with their eyes closed.
Do you consider folding laundry and cooking your meal for your family as worship?
These simple acts can also be considered worship.
Have you ever gone to a restaurant and had excellent service? I bet you went home and told all of your friends about it. This kind of praise is something that we as human beings naturally do and crave from others because God created us this way. Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. (Isa 43:7, KJV).
How does God get the glory?
When we praise and worship him. It is through our praise and worship that other people hear about God’s goodness and his grace and mercy.
Why Should We Praise and Worship God?
God does not force us to worship him because he loves us. He has given us free will to choose to worship Him. If God doesn’t force us to praise and worship Him, then why should we?
1. God deserves your praise
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” (Rev 4:1)
God deserves your praise because he is the creator of everything. He created us in His likeness and in His image so that we could glorify Him in the earth.
2. You should thank him for all he has done
Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! (Ps 150:2)
God has done so much for us. Even when we didn’t want to accept his love, he still watched over and cared for us. He sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for us. That alone is enough to worship him.
3. Puts your focus back on God
With everything that is going on in the world right now, it’s easy to take your eyes off of Christ.
When you focus on the world, you magnify your issues and minimize God.
When we give God praise, it shifts our focus from the world and our problems back to him.
4. Invites God into your situation
When you praise and worship God you are surrendering yourself to him. As you humble yourself in praise and worship God can intervene in your life.
5. A closer relationship with God
Like the other spiritual disciplines, genuine praise and worship will strengthen your relationship with God.
6. Praise and worship sets you free
Your praise and worship has the power to set you free from sin and the traps of the enemy. When Peter and Silas were in jail, they were praising and worshiping God.
As they were praising and worshipping God. there was an earthquake that caused the prison doors to open and the prison chains to fall off. (Acts 16:16-36)
There praise and worship set them free, but it had the ability to set the other prisoners free.
