Praise in Prayer
Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, Praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord From this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down The Lord’s name is to be praised.
Psalms 113:1-3
This verse says from the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord’s name is to be praised. To praise means to boast about, to exalt, to magnify and to glorify and celebrate.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
Psalms 100:4
Whenever you pray, start with praising God. Magnify Him for who He is. Glorify Him and boast about Him and tell about His wondrous works. When you study the prayers of Jesus and of the saints of God, you will discover that praise occupied an important place in their prayers. Lets see the prayer of Jesus
In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Matthew 6:9
Lets see the prayers of Paul
do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Ephesians 1:16-17
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
Ephesians 3:14-15
Let’s look at the prayer of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah
Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?
II Chronicles 20:5-7
In all of these prayers, praise is an integral part. You never approach God without praise. You never pray without praise.
Prayer, Praise and Power are inseparable
But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
Acts 16:25-26
As Paul and Silas began to pray and praise God, there was a tremendous demonstration of God’s power. Wherever there is praise, there will be power.
But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
Psalms 22:3
The Lord inhabits and enthrones the praises of His people. Whenever God shows up, there will be demonstrations of pure power. From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord’s name is to be praised. Where He is exalted and magnified, He will show up. Remember, Paul and Silas were not in a favorable situation or a comfortable place but they chose to praise God anyhow. No matter what you are going through, take your eyes away from yourself and from the situations around you, fix it on Jesus and lift Him higher and boast about Him.
In His presence, you don’t praise yourself, you praise Him
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:10-14
Here is a self righteous Pharisee boasting about Himself in the presence of God. Letting God know how much he does for him and how blessed God is to have him. This is how some people pray – just bragging about themselves and how much they do for God.
Jesus said, He is the Vine, we are the branches and without Him, we are nothing. You and I, we are a big zero without Jesus. Life is not about you, it is all about Jesus. The sooner you get this, the better and smoother your life will be. John the Baptist said it beautifully
He must increase,
but I must decrease.
John 3:30
When you pray, praise God with all your heart. In your fellowship, make praise an integral part. David said, I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Praise gets not only God’s attention but also His intervention.
Your Victorious Life 