The presence of God is available to you 24/7, and the quickest way to feel His presence, is by praise and worship. The Bible says that God is obligated to turn up on the scene, when His people worship Him. God craves our worship and it is our duty to worship our creator, who granted us life in the first place. Did you know worship is a weapon against the enemy and has turned dire situations around, when God’s people called upon His name? If you are discouraged or down in the dumps right now, it’s time to focus your attention away from yourself and onto the mighty God you serve! Join Carl now…
Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…
Friend, it’s my sole purpose to encourage you today. I want to stir you up, I want you to know that the presence of God is within your grasp; the presence of God is accessible to you right now, 24/7, and you can make a demand on God’s presence at any time, but the question is, how? The answer is, through praise and worship. Friend, for some reason the subconscious mind of most Christians has delegated praise and worship only for the church service each week, but that should not be the case. The truth is, we need to cultivate an ongoing atmosphere of praise and worship in our everyday life and if we don’t there’s a tendency for us to become negative, especially in our thought life and consequently the words we choose to speak.
Now friend, I know life is tough sometimes, no-one’s pretending that we should just whistle while we work and pass through life on a bed of roses, “no”. My point is that we should praise and worship the Lord in spite of the circumstances, not for the circumstances. God doesn’t send the trials and temptations of life as I’ve said before. The book of James makes it clear God tempts no man with evil. Job 14:1–2 says “Man is born from a woman, and lives a short, trouble-filled life. He comes up like a flower and withers away, flees like a shadow, and doesn’t last.” Yes the Bible says we have troubles in this life but as we praise and worship the Lord we bring Him on the scene which can cause a resolution to our problems. Winston Churchill once said, “If you find yourself going through Hell, keep going.” Friend if you’re going through a tough time today, don’t focus on your surroundings but press on in faith. And the very best way to express our faith is to praise and worship the Lord despite our obstacles, circumstances and problems. You see cultivating an attitude of praise and worship in your life is one of spiritual maturity.
In truth friend, worship is a weapon, it can change the atmosphere for the positive, just like words of anger or rage can manifest a dark atmosphere. And let’s not forget, the walls of Jericho didn’t fall by way of dynamite or wrecking ball, they came down in a blaze of glory, with the sound of trumpets and shouts of triumph. Praise and worship also changes our focus from the problem to the Lord. When the answer arrives, we give thanks, but it’s too late for praise and worship then, because the time to praise and worship is now whilst we’re going through the trial, not after it’s passed. I like what Kenneth W. Hagin said one time, the current Pastor of Rhema Bible Church down there in Tulsa Oklahoma and I’ll never forget it, he said, “Prayer asks, but faith receives“. Oooh, I like that friend, think about that for a moment. The most common aspect of our prayer life is asking God for stuff, but praise receives because it’s our way of thanking God in advance for the answer before it has manifested.
Friend, right now in this nation eleven percent of Americans are on some kind of antidepressant drugs, they’re also called Psychiatric Drugs. Some sources believe that number could soon be as high as 1 in 6 in the very short future! Check this out, the number of people on antidepressants increased by 400 percent between 1998 and 2008. What’s even more surprising is that 69% of the people taking Anti-depressants have never suffered from any major depressive disorder and have never met the criteria for obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia or generalized anxiety disorder. Yet they still take these anti-depressant pills anyway. That means friend in layman’s terms, one in ten people in this nation are on anti-depressants and the majority of those taking them are doing to so just to feel better or get by in life without a proper diagnosis for what ails them. The reality is we’re fast becoming a society that increasingly self-medicates, turning from last resorts to quick fixes.
Now it’s a well-known medical fact that the chemical composition of the brain can be altered in depressed people, yet I do not believe that chemical imbalance is the cause of depression. Friend, as a minister and having studied God’s word, it’s very apparent that our thoughts determine our emotions, not the other way around. Thoughts are primary and feelings are secondary or consequential to our thought life. I truly believe that if we change our thought life, it will positively impact our feelings and ultimately benefit our physical body also. As I said before, the soul condition remains largely undiagnosed in modern medicine and the state of our soul, i.e. our mind, will and emotions can have enormous repercussions on our physical bodies, which go undetected. It’s my contention that thoughts of self doubt or periods of sadness or stressful situations are a part of life certainly but they need to be managed, rather than succumbing to the temptation of popping another pill when we feel these thoughts beginning to overwhelm us. Friend just because you have thoughts or feelings like this doesn’t mean you’re ‘mentally ill’ or ‘clinically depressed’. No as a Christian you have authority over your thought life and you’re the one who determines which thoughts can stay and which ones must go. I like what brother Hagin said, concerning this and I might be paraphrasing but he said something like, thoughts are like birds, “we can’t decide which ones might land on our head, but we can decide which ones are allowed to nest.”
Someone once said that depressed people are inherently selfish because their focus is entirely upon themselves. Whether this statement is fair or not, there might be an inkling of truth to this but, I do believe some people are more prone to negativity and you might have a history of depression in your family that needs resolution. Whilst in some cases but not always, I also believe an evil spirit could be working against some people when they always feel down in the dumps, full of dread and eventually becoming depressed. Friend, may I suggest to you there’s no better way to get out of the ‘mollygrubbs’ than praise and worship but you need to do it consistently to get results, even if you don’t feel like doing it. As you do so, the chemical composition of your brain will change and you will begin to see life in a more positive light.
Friend, God has promised a Canaan land for each and every one of us. Canaan is not a type of heaven. Canaan is taking possession of everything God has for you in this lifetime, not the next. Yes we will take possession of some stuff in heaven certainly but down here is where we need to conquer the Giants in our land and maybe your giant is depression. You can slay that giant right now as you shift your focus off of your problems and on to Christ Jesus. You can do this by praise and worship. The wonderful things is, there’s no greater act of faith than praise and worship because as we do so we’re casting our cares upon the Lord and He will fight for us as the scripture says. This is what Abraham did in Romans 4:20, let me read it for you,“He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.”
But how did he give glory to God for Isaac? He praised God until he saw him manifest in his life. In the very next verse it talks about Abraham becoming fully persuaded that God could do what He promised and I firmly believe praise and worship was the means by which Abraham, glorified God and received His promise. If you read this same verse in the Amplified version it says in verse 21, that he gave praise and Glory to God, not just glory as it says in the King James Bible and this is key. The truth is praising God makes our faith stronger and stronger whilst at the same time casting our cares off of us, on to the Lord. We have a choice with our tongue friend, we can either spend our time murmuring and complaining or we can turn it around and use our tongue to glorify God through praise and worship, strengthening our faith in the meantime.
Now, there’s much to say about Praise and worship in the OT. It describes praise as God’s dwelling place and His authority and power in the Book of Psalms. In Gen 49:8, it says the hand of praise will be on the neck of our enemies. Wow! In Judges 20:18, it says that Judah will go first, but friend, but did you know that Judah means Praise! It’s based on the Hebrew word yadah, which means, “to make confession, to give thanks, to revere, worship or praise.” Friend, Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and praise needs to have first place in our lives! Remember what I said before friend, there are five reasons why the children of Israel failed to enter Canaan or the Promised Land in their lifetime and we should let this be a warning to us. They are: Murmuring, tempting Christ, Fornicating, Idolatry and Lust.
You could argue that three out of these five are tied to the tongue. What better way than praise and worship to steer the tongue toward the Lord and away from murmuring as we keep our eyes fixed upon Him. Remember too, the Apostle Paul warned the Corinthian Church in 1st Corinthians chapter ten, about these shortcomings of Israel in the wilderness. These admonitions are as pertinent today as they ever were because they’re written to us in the NT. We too can fall short of entering into our Promised Land and for these five reasons Paul mentioned. Friend if your praise and worship outweighs your murmurings, you’ll be successful in this life. Our flesh will never feel like worshiping. Praising God is the best way to keep our flesh under. We need to tell our flesh what to do and make a decision to praise and worship even when we don’t feel like doing it, because we will be rewarded for doing so by experiencing times of refreshing that come in God’s presence. I believe friend that as we praise the Lord, He can cause increase to come into our lives. Listen to this scripture.
Psalm 67:5–6 (KJB) says, “Let the people praise thee, O God; Let all the people praise thee. 6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; And God, even our own God, shall bless us.” wow friend, blessings for praise! The Book of Psalms chapter 24, verse 8. “ Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.” God is indeed mighty in battle for you friend and praise and worship is the means by which you can cause Him to come on the scene to assist you in your situation. In 1 Peter 2:9, the Apostle Peter describes us a as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood whose express purpose on this earth is to show forth the praises of God. Wow that is precise, our job on earth is to praise God, Let me ask you, are you doing your job friend? Because Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice on the cross, namely himself, some Christians think there are no more sacrifices to make in the New Covenant, right? Wrong! Hebrews 13:15 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.” Wow! We are to offer up a sacrifice of praise continually and that is our mandate for living today!
Friend, I believe sometimes we place a greater onus on doing works of service for the Lord instead of building relationship with Him. Let me share with you a profound scripture regarding worship that might surprise you. In Zechariah 14:16-19, God declared to the prophet Zechariah that every nation who did not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King would have no rain in their land. No worship meant; no rain. In those days of agricultural predominance, if rain didn’t come in season, the crops failed and the animals suffered as well. You could say, in modern terms, the blessing and favor of God is not on those who don’t value worship. The priority of God’s heart is that we worship and obey him, and our faithful works of service are secondary, not primary. Are the heavens like brass for you right now friend, do you need the rain to fall? It’s time to life up your hands, worship Him and let the blessing and favor of the Lord fall upon you today.
We should never separate worship from any other part of our life because all that we do is unto Him. I’ve had some of the most amazing times worshiping the Lord. I urge you today to lift up your hands, sing praises to Him and remember your first love once more. Tell him how much He means to you friend and thank Him for all he has done and is going to do. Friend to worship is to be in awe of majesty in the presence of His majesty.
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