The Body of Christ in the United States has become so sterile, so staunch and so predictable. Many have traded religiosity for relationship and have allowed our times of celebration to be watered down, in the name of “order” or "seeker friendliness."

   The church is missing out on great blessings because we are afraid that someone will be offended by our expressiveness to the Lord. We have been lulled into mediocrity because if we don’t “feel” a certain way then we cannot praise God with the fullness that He deserves.

    I believe one of the greatest lies the devil has told the church is that praise is based upon feelings or is somehow connected to our personality. Where did this idea come from? Nowhere in the Holy Scriptures can I find that praise is based upon our feelings. Nor do I see that it is given to the Lord according to one’s personality.
     Praise has no correlation as to what kind of day we are having, how the stock market is doing, how our body feels or what kind of personality we think we have. What scripture does clearly support is that everyone that is breathing should be praising the Lord.     

Consider the following passage:

     Ps 150: (1) Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty firmament! (2) Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to His excellent greatness! (3) Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the lute and harp! (4) Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! (5) Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with clashing cymbals! (6) Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD! (NKJ)
     Notice that is says “everything that has breath.” Quick! Check your pulse, if you’re alive, then that means you. Praise is not a suggestion, it is not an optional activity, it is not an alternative lifestyle… praise is a command. We were created to give God praise. And Incidentally, this is not some “namby-pamby”, “watered-down”, “let’s hurry up and get this over with” kind of praise. No way! This is talking about BIG PRAISE.

     Check out verse two, “…praise Him according to His excellent greatness.” Now think about that. Our God is a mighty and awesome God and there is none like Him. Therefore our praise should be given accordingly. Never should our cheers for a sporting event, a musical concert or anything else,
compare with the shouts of glory we render unto the Lord. Shame on us if we can shout our head off at a football game and not even raise our voice to Heaven in a praise service.

     Ps 98: (4) Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. (5) Sing to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a psalm, (6) with trumpets and the sound of a horn; shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.
     Clearly, God will use the foolish things to confound the wise. Our natural minds cannot figure it out, our bodies will resist every time, our mind will think of every reason that we shouldn’t give God the high praises. But I tell you, there is something about praising Him with everything that is in you that brings forth a pureness and a freedom in the spirit.
     When we can get past ourselves, our pride, our dignity and render unto God the praise that He is truly worthy of… something happens in the spirit-realm. When we can come to a place where we are not concerned about what others think or what we feel like at that moment, then we began to enter into a pureness in our praise.

     I believe this is why King David was a man after God’s heart. He understood the importance of praise. In 2 Sam 6, David was so delighted that the presence of God was returning that he put together a band with all the instruments he could find, he brought out the singers and he danced before the Lord so vigorously, that his clothes flew off. Though he was the King of Israel and a man of great dignity and honor, he didn’t care what anyone else thought. He praised God with all that was in him, right there in front everyone.
     Now I am not suggesting that you dance your clothes off in church, but what I am encouraging us all to do, is consider our praise before the Lord. Are we really praising Him according to His excellent greatness? God’s people must be liberated in their praise. God wants to bring us into higher heights of praise and free us from bondage that has not allowed us to enter into this mighty expression of love to God. It is not about hype. It’s about obedience.
    

Let everything that has Breath, praise the Lord!

To Contact Pastor Bob Ashcraft

                Write:  Fellowship Of Praise Church

                             4109 E. Washington Street

                             Indianapolis, Indiana 46201

                E-mail:    ashcraft@BigPraise.com

                Internet: www.BigPraise.com