Text: Isa 38:20, Rev 4:8-11
As believers, we must be able to sense what is happening in the spirit. If you don’t know that God hears your prayers, it will be difficult for you to expect an answer. God lives within an atmosphere of praise as recorded in Rev 4. Praise originated in heaven and God dwells in an atmosphere of praise. If it were possible for you to move God from one location to another, you would have to create the same atmosphere of praise in the new location before you can move God there. God dwells only where there is praise. Have you ever praised God to the extent that we feel some presence in the vicinity? Luke 8:29. The natural surroundings of the spirit will be such that it can energise the spirit. Spirits dwell in places that are addicted to their nature. That is why we must be wary of our environment. It takes a level of understanding to run away from sin naturally. In Matt 9:23-24, Jesus had to send the mourners away because as long as they kept crying and wailing, the presence and spirit Jesus was trying to invite could not dwell there. In which atmosphere are you living? In 1 Corth 10:10, the Bible says the children of Israel were destroyed in the wilderness because of their complaints and murmuring. Anytime you complain, you are altering the atmosphere negatively. How many of us have felt better after complaining? Your bones get dried, you open the door for all strange spirits to afflict you, and you never feel better.
How to get God amid Praise
Ps 22:3, God is first Holy and then inhabits His people’s praises. This is because the protocol of praise rides on God’s Holiness. Anyone who would praise God must first depart from iniquity – 2 Tim 2:19. Anything that does not align with the Holiness of God is out of track. What is the practical consequence of sin? In Acts 5, the Holy Spirit did not want the church to be of a mixed multitude at the early stage – and Ananias and Sapphira were used as examples to set the record straight. Do not toy with sin; it is not a punishment. It is the best advice anyone can offer you. Do not try to justify sin. That will only lead to more sins thereby hardening your heart.
Praise is first a thing of the heart before a thing of the mouth. An old man of God with an ugly voice was one day singing “Jesus you are my best friend” and people were screaming, shouting and rolling on the floor in the congregation. What happened? The man was expressing his true relationship with Jesus to the congregation. He was expressing his real position in Christ.
Praise is God-centred and has nothing to do with your problems, degrees or achievements in life. It is God-focused. Then it goes that not every song qualifies as praise for praise is God-centered. Any praise that does not exalt His Majesty is not praise. David understood this fact, no wonder he humbled himself and danced undignified before God.
Praise is allergic to challenges. Ps 114:3-7, Before the presence of the Lord, mountains skipped like rams and the little hills like lambs. Praise is allergic to challenges.
Paul and Silas praised God, and an earthquake took place in the prison yard. I do not know the content of the prayer of Paul and Silas but I was sure it was not for freedom because they did not run out of the prison in a hurry. Put praise in your daily timetable and check the outcome.
Shalom