There is no greater honor than to praise our creator! Some people just don’t ‘feel’ like praising God but if we are ruled by our feelings, we’ll never enter into the secret chamber of intimacy with our Heavenly Father. Praise and prayer are the ‘power twins’ which bring God on the scene. Trouble is, most people are so prayer focused they spend little time praising God. Join Carl now as he embarks upon the second segment of the power of praise broadcast, as he shares testimonies of how praise can turn your situation around. Let’s join him now…
Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…
Friend I want to welcome you to part two of the power of praise. Remember what I said at the end of last broadcast in Psalm 67 verses 5 through 6, “Let the people praise you, O God. Let all the people praise you. Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us.” Friend, get a hold of this. It’s time to start praising, and when you do, your situation will turn around. Your earth will increase. What does your earth represent? It represents your life. It represents you. You’re made of the dust of the earth. Friend, God does not need our praise, but he’s trying to get us into a position of faith so he can answer our prayer. Praise changes our perspective, friend. Praise is thanking God for the answer before it manifests.
You could say it is prophetic gratitude because it is thanking him in advance. It’s not Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving occurs when the petition is granted, right? You thank God after you see the manifestation, but praise is thanking him before you see it, and this is very powerful. You know, Kenneth W. Hagan once said, Prayer asks, but praise receives. I’ll say it again. Prayer asks, but praise receives.
Very powerful. So let me ask you this. Exactly how did Abraham receive Isaac? You’ll say, well, that’s a matter of biology, pastor. Yes, it is, but friend, did you know that Sarah’s womb was dead and Abraham was 100 years old? Let’s read the account in Romans chapter 4, verses 18 through 20, and I’m reading in the Amplified. For Abraham, hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, so numberless shall your descendants be. Basically is what God told him.
He did not weaken in faith when he considered the impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about 100 years old, or the barrenness of Sarah’s deadened womb. Verse 20, no unbelief or distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God. Get this, folks, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God. Friend, did you see that? Abraham, whose situation was long gone, in the natural, there is no way he was going to have this kid. But it says that he was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God. Friend, it’s time to sing praises to God.
It’s time to glorify Him. Your faith will become empowered and you will conquer your Canaan, friend. Remember, I spoke about Canaan in the last broadcast. It’s a typology of everything that’s available to us in this life. It’s not talking about heaven. So basically, Abraham raised his hand and said, Father, I thank you that I’m a father of many nations as you promised. I don’t consider the natural realm. I don’t look upon my circumstances. No, I look to you and I give you praise and glory until I see the manifestation of the promise. Friend, remember, faith comes by hearing, Romans 10:17, right? And it works by love, Galatians 5:6. And we build upon it by praying in the Holy Ghost, Jude 20. But praise is what empowers our faith. And this is Abraham’s secret, friend.
And God is not a respecter of persons. These Old Testament examples were given for admonition to us that we should receive the same way. If you give glory to God, you can receive the thing that is dead in your life, that is long gone and forgotten as far as you’re concerned. But friend, God hasn’t forgotten one petition of your heart. So let me share this for you, friend. We don’t praise God for everything but in everything. Outward circumstances do not bring joy. Joy comes from within us. The trials and temptations, they don’t come from God in the first place.
So we don’t praise Him for the sickness, disease, poverty, lack, difficulties, or whatever. We don’t praise Him for the cancer because He didn’t give us the cancer. Faith believes and trusts, but it is expressed and empowered by praise. It’s the ultimate gratitude in advance. So, friend, we need to have an attitude of praise in everything and in spite of everything, but not for everything. We don’t get God and the devil mixed up, friend. Remember, God is the Father of lights. In Him, there is no shadow of turning. Satan is an evil entity on this earth, seeking to devour and to destroy and to steal from.
Don’t get them mixed up, friend. Now, when we murmur and complain, we magnify the problem instead of God. And by praising God in a known or unknown tongue, we shift the problem away from us and onto God’s shoulders. Remember 1 Peter 5:7, “cast your care upon the Lord, He cares for you,” right? Then it says in Acts 10:46, “they heard them speak in tongues and magnify God.” There’s a magnification that goes on in praise, friend. But remember that one of the five things that withheld the children of Israel from Canaan was murmuring and complaining.
It was one of those things that just stopped them in Numbers 13 at Kadesh Barnea. And they turned around and, oh Lord, that entire generation had to die off in the wilderness before Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter again. That generation had to die off in unbelief. But friend, get the murmuring and complaining out of your mouth and it’s time to start praising. You know, Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, right? It says that in Revelation 5:5. But Judah means praise. It means praise Yahweh.
So Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of praise. Praise God. God inhabits the praises of his people, amen? And we need to be praising. Now don’t forget the account of Paul and Silas. This is a powerful case study. Okay, they were out preaching, they were doing their thing, but they came against a lot of persecution. Let me read it for you. This is Acts chapter 16, verses 22 through 26. And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. Verse 25. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them.
And 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 bands were loosed. Friend, there’s a few key takeaways here. They were beaten with stripes, 39. Two score minus one. That was the limit of the number of stripes. Their backs were bruised and bloodied. Just imagine the pain that they were in. So what did they do? After their feet were thrown in the stocks, they couldn’t move, half naked, beaten and bloodied. What did they do? They had a murmuring and complaining session, right? We just came here following God’s will and led by the Holy Spirit, and oh yes, and we just got beat up and bloodied and bruised, and I can’t believe this, and blah, blah, blah.
No, no, no, that’s not what they said. It said they sang praises to God and prayed. Oh friend, get this. And when they did, all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bands were loosed. Not just their bands, everybody’s bands. Friends, when you get a praise on, you’re going to loose the bands around your life, and the bands around other people’s lives as well, because they’re in proximity to you, and you are praising the living God.
Amen? In this instance, as always, praise preceded the breakthrough. Praising God after your breakthrough or answered prayer is too late then, friend. You need to praise God before the breakthrough, and the praise in and of itself is the thing that brings the breakthrough. As soon as you’ve prayed and asked God for your petition, it’s time to praise Him until you see the manifestation of it, friend. It’s so powerful that we get a hold of this. There is no greater act of faith to praise God in the circumstance, in everything that looks dire all around you.
It’s the midnight hour for Paul and Silas, and is it the midnight hour for you? Are you in a desperate situation? You can turn that situation around right now by praising God. Amen? Instead of having a whining and complaining session, Paul and Silas sang praises to God, and then immediately there was a mighty move in the Spirit, and it manifested in the natural realm. As a triumphant church, we stand on the ground that Jesus, our Commander-in-Chief, has already won for us. We’re not fighting the devil. The battle is the Lord’s, and the battle is already won. We need to only stand still and sing His praises.
Amen? We don’t praise God for those evil circumstances, but in spite of them. And praise is giving substance to God. We give substance through our words, through our actions, through praise, through worship. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, right? Hebrews 11:1. So we need to give Him substance. Give God the substance instead of giving the devil substance. Whenever we give worry or anxiety or fear and start emanating that, we are attracting the demonic realm. That’s what the Lord showed me one time, is that praise actually brings the angelic on the scene. The angels in the unseen realm are empowered by the words spoken out of our mouths. By praising and worshiping God, we change the atmosphere around us.
We’ve all been into a room when someone’s had an argument, and you can just sense something in the air. Whoa, something’s off here. There’s a bit of an atmosphere here, and that tension can be felt viscerally. And I just… Whenever you get into praise and worship, friend, you change your perspective, but you’re also empowering your faith and bringing the angelic on the scene. We don’t want to be getting into the worry and anxiety and all those things. No, friend. So here’s the key. Our praise and prayer needs to be balanced. You know, many Christians are heavy on the prayer side. They’re all about asking God for stuff. Asking and asking and asking and asking. And on one side of the scale, that prayer is really low because there’s so much prayer.
But friend, we need to balance our prayers with praise. Praise is the means by which we increase our capacity to receive. I’ll say it again. Praise is the means by which we increase our capacity to receive. When we do so, oh friend, when we do so, we’ll be in balance. And then we are going to see a powerful, powerful change in our lives.
Friend, there’s an account by Dr. Lillian B. Yeoman and Dr. Yeoman describes a very difficult account of a missionary in China who developed smallpox. Many years ago, long before there was any kind of medical treatment, she was in a remote area preaching the gospel and she caught smallpox. And she would ask God over and over to heal her. But she was getting worse, friend. She was getting worse. And one night, I think in a dream, she got a vision of a scale that I’m talking about. On one side was prayer and the other was praise. And her prayer scale was very heavy. But the praise was lifted high. And the Lord said, the more you praise me and get that prayer and praise scale into balance and tip those scales back into balance, then you’ll be healed. And oh friend, this lady went on a massive praise session.
Now, she had smallpox. She had horrible welts on her skin. She was in great pain. But she praised God in spite of this. And as a result, in several days time, she was supernaturally healed 100%. The more and more she praised, the stronger and stronger she felt. And friend, that situation was turned around. But friend, yours can be too. Do you have a mountain of debt in front of you? Do you have rent that needs to be paid? Do you have sickness in your body? What is the specific need you’re asking God for? Are you believing for a husband or a wife? What are you believing for? Start praising God for it.
And it will manifest as your prayer and praise scales come into balance. It’s time to balance the scale, friend. Are there any more sacrifices to make for us? Many Christians will say, and rightfully so, no, Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. He was the once and for all sacrifice. No sacrifices need to be made anymore in the New Testament, pastor. Right? Wrong.
In the New Testament, there are two sacrifices for us to make. We have to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice. It says it in Romans 12:1. But in Hebrews 13:15, it says, “By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.” That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Friend, if you’re struggling to see a breakthrough in your life, or having trouble seeing your prayers answered, it’s time to praise. It’s time to sacrifice for God and get your praise on in Jesus’ name. Friend, I’ve had some of the most wonderful times praising God. The times of refreshing that you can have in His presence as we praise Him for who He is and what He is about to do in our lives. And don’t forget John 16:13.
How be it when the Spirit of truth comes, He will show you things to come. Friend, in times of praise and worship, I’ve actually seen things about my future, which is really encouraging and exciting. So friend, please, please, please, get your praise on after listening to this message.
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