ICS Daily Devotions
Sacrifice of Praise
Psalm 47:1 (NKJV) Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
Psalm 118:15 (NKJV) The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
Praise in the form of a shout is a voice of triumph, and praise is a voice of rejoicing, but praise is also a sacrifice because our souls often doesn’t want to praise God. We say, “I don’t feel like praising!”, “I feel lousy and terrible!”, “I didn’t have a good week!”, but sacrifice means it is something difficult for us to do, and we must pay a price for it. In fact, the soulish part of us is crying out for attention, so even more do we need the spirit within us who longs for God to come forth and praise Him.
Hebrews 13:15 (NKJV) Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
We praise God with our lips by giving thanks to Him not only when everything is good and working well for us, but we need to choose to give thanks even when everything seems to be going against us. Also, we praise and thank God not just for the temporal things but the eternal things, including our salvation.
We are given the ability to rule our lives, and our words of praise give God the authority to work in our lives. When we release words that declare faith in God, God can act on them! We can also ask God to help us to create praise within us. Praise lifts us up above our cares, problems and needs and helps us to focus on God.
Our praise changes the atmosphere around us, and our praise and worship set the atmosphere for the whole service. We normally start with vibrant praise at the beginning of the praise and worship session—lifting up our holy hands to honour and praise Him. It permeates the room with the fragrance of God. Turning the criticising, murmuring, and complaining into praise helps us to redirect our focus to God who works on the impossible rather than having your concentration on the matter at hand. Worrying doesn’t solve the problem, but as we praise God, our minds and emotions will come in line with the Word, and we will shift our attention to God rather than be dragged down by our circumstances.
God’s faithfulness will never change, but our circumstances will change. No matter what you are encountering, declare your faith and confidence in Him by praising Him because praise is a voice of victory and faith in God! All of us should make a conscious decision to praise God despite our emotions and our circumstances.
Sermon Series: ICS Worship Culture (Part 1)
