Lesson 8. “Effective Prayer” School. Author Mary Alice Isleyb focuses on the prayer of praise and worship.
“With all prayer… pray…”—it says in Ephesians 6:18. Now I would like to teach you about the Prayer of Praise and Worship.
We know that praise and worship are part of normal Christian life, but I included them in prayer because prayer is friendship with God, and praise and worship are part of this friendship.
You will see that praise and prayer are very closely connected, and the more praise and worship you bring into your prayer, the more changes you will see in your friendship with God.
Verse 4 of Psalm 99 speaks of an important purpose of praise: “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.” One function of praise is to bring you into the presence of God. When the Bible speaks of the gates and courts of the Lord, it refers to the spiritual state and the ability we have through Christ to remain in the presence of the Lord.
The blood of Jesus made this possible. How? The curtain in the temple was torn when He died on the cross. Now every believer can stand before the Lord’s throne as a righteous person and serve Him. We use praise to enter His presence and come to Him with a joyful heart.
First Peter 2:5 reveals another purpose of praise:
You yourselves, as living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For us, praise is an offering of a spiritual sacrifice to the Lord.
God is still the same God who rewards sacrifices. In Old Testament times, He did so through natural fire. Under the New Covenant, He responds with the fire of the Holy Spirit burning in our hearts. We read in Hebrews 13:15:
Through Him, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess His name.
Notice: continually. That is why praise is such an important part of our prayer life.
The Bible contains many forms of praise. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “praise” had many corresponding expressions: glorifying God, praising Him, bowing the knees before the Lord. It also means lifting our hands to Him, rejoicing Him, and praising Him.
Since this word has so many meanings, you should not fixate on just one way of praising the Lord. Led by the Spirit, expand the ways you express praise in your life.
The Lord inhabits the soul with glory
When I worked at a church in Sweden, we set a goal of developing strong worship of the Lord among the believers. We encouraged people to be free and joyful—to praise God loudly, fervently, and sometimes even with exuberant manifestations, because we saw that this is what He desires.
Psalm 22:3 says that God Himself gives His people the desire and ability to praise. It is praise that causes the Lord to live so deeply within us.
Determined to be free in our worship and praise, we sang, danced, shouted, and clapped for the Lord because our hearts were overflowing with His joy and glory. You should do this confidently and freely.
In one building, our dancing before God nearly caused the floor to collapse. Plaster was falling from the ceiling of the telephone company located beneath us.
Those who worked there came upstairs and asked us not to dance like that. We calmed down, and the pastor sought an answer from God. Then one day, as we were praising the Lord in this way, He said to the pastor: “I will give the people who praise Me so intensely anything at all.”
God is looking for people who praise Him with all their hearts. Of course, this does not mean that you should cause trouble for those who live or work below you, but God loves free, strong, confident prayer of praise. This prayer includes not only praise but also worship, since it is a Prayer of Praise and Worship.
We know that all the inhabitants of heaven do one thing: worship the King of kings and Lord of lords—God.
We worship God not for what He has done, but in order to establish a more intimate relationship with Him, and we worship Him because He is God. Worship touches the deepest chords of the Lord. His heart is turned toward the earth, seeking worship. When you worship Him, it is the glory of the Lord that fills that place.
Praise Is a Choice
In the 10th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we see the story of Martha and Mary and how they acted when Jesus visited their home. Martha immediately began preparing a great feast. She was so busy with it that she did not find time to stop and listen to Jesus. Mary, however, sat at His feet and began listening to Him.
When Martha complained to Jesus that Mary was not helping her, He answered:
Martha! Martha! You are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. Luke 10:41–42
Notice that Mary made a choice. You must feel in your heart that worship is a choice! For the people of this world, worshiping the Lord is unnatural! The god of this world is the Antichrist, who opposes worship of the living God. However, your inner being has the heart of a worshiper, and the Holy Spirit living within you, the Lord, prompts you to worship Him.
God is your Father, and the Holy Spirit builds a bond of love between you and God. But for this, you must make a choice, as Mary did. She chose what would never be taken away from her.
As you worship God, you will understand that no one will ever take away what you have received from God as a result of an intimate relationship with Him. In response to worshiping Him—not only for what He has done, but because He is God—you receive love and knowledge.
In worship, you draw near to God, and He becomes closer to you. His presence and existence become tangible in your life. You grow in awareness of who He truly is, and He becomes your most precious first love.
First Corinthians 3:16–17 says that we are God's temple and that the Holy Spirit lives in us. When you worship Him with all your heart, you praise Him and are filled with His glory. Nothing in your life can replace the Prayer of Worship and Praise.
Jesus told us that God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:21–24). Here Jesus presents the Law of Worship. Deep within, every person is created to worship something; they strive to draw near to something higher and surrender themselves to it. The spirit of this age has replaced this desire with humanism. Humanity has exalted itself and worships only itself, imagining that everything exists for its pleasure. But when you come to Jesus Christ, you understand that you were created to worship God, even when you pray.
Jesus said that we must do this in spirit—and with all our heart—and in truth. We need to combine knowledge of God with deep personal relationships, rather than simply possess information. We must have living fellowship with God, worshiping Him in spirit and truth.
Worship includes offerings
The Word of God says:
And has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever! Rev. 1:6
What does a preacher do? He brings a sacrifice. And worship is part of that sacrifice. When we worship, we give something to the Lord; we can give money, time, and so on. But another aspect of worship is giving Him a part of ourselves as obedient servants: singing for Him, loving Him, listening to Him, and worshiping before His throne.
If you devote time to listening to God in the place of our worship, you will hear the answer you are seeking. Many spend time in prayer, but do not listen to God.
The word “worship” has many meanings. One of them is to bow physically and to bow with your heart, thoughts, and entire being.
To worship also means to fall prostrate in complete reverence, or awe, before God. In this case, awe does not mean being afraid of God, but honoring Him.
In the New Testament, the word “praise” also means to kiss and adore the Lord. In the place of our worship, we especially experience our love for God and His love for us.
In fact, God requires us to treat Him with reverence. When giving the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel—and to us, since they guide us in how to live before the Lord—He commanded: “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:3–6).
Often in worship we fall prostrate before Him and say from the depths of our hearts: “I will not allow another person or thing to rule my life. I am completely Yours. Everything in me belongs to You.”
He not only commanded us to worship; He also desires our worship. Then Jesus died on the cross. He gave everything He had. For what He did and for who He is—the exalted King—He is worthy of worship. Everything we have comes from Him, through Him, and from knowing Him.
People usually worship their jobs, movie and pop stars, and even themselves. But there is no fullness in the heart if we do not worship God, our first love, our Lord Jesus!
Praise brings the power of God
If you worship God, you will become stronger with Him, because He is the strongest! He is the God of earth and heaven! There is no one like Him!
As you worship Him, you will experience a power you have never experienced before.
But those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength; they will rise on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
The word “wait” means to serve the Lord, while “renew” means to become new and refreshed.
We worship God, which means we serve Him, and a divine exchange takes place. Our human strength is replaced by the unsurpassed power of God! And with this power, we can rise in the spiritual realm!
The Word of God says:
Be silent before Me, O islands, and let the nations renew their strength; let them draw near and then speak; let us come together for judgment. Isaiah 41:1
In worship, the Holy Spirit brings us into the presence of God. In prayer, we give Him our love, mind, and will, and His presence brings forth fruit in our lives.
The more we devote ourselves to God in passionate worship, the more our ties with the world are broken, and our heart is joined to the heart of the Lord.
One of the fruits is purity and holiness. The power of His presence cleanses us from unrighteousness and sin, and the holiness of the Lord begins to work in you.
Often during worship, God speaks to your heart and ministers to you; the glory of God reveals sins and what you need to change. It works in you, through you, and upon you, and in the presence of God, transformation takes place within you, influencing your life.
Over time, as you worship, the gift of prophecy will come upon you, and prophetic words from the Lord will flow from your lips. Revelation 19:10 says that the spirit of prophecy is the spirit of worship.
As we worship Jesus, we open the way for Him to speak through us.
We also know that people are healed during worship.
Remember that the Prayer of Worship and Praise is not merely words. Jesus says that it must come from the heart (Matthew 15:8–9). It is better to obey wholeheartedly and worship the Lord than to bring Him sacrifices.
Some people prefer to be “religious,” obey no one, and express themselves less freely. But God would much rather have those who freely praise Him with all their hearts!
Begin to worship and praise the Lord longer than you did before. Enter into intimacy with Him, and this will make your prayer strong, clear, and open before Him.
Paul taught us how we should conclude every prayer:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
This means that we should end every request to God with thanksgiving. We should thank God that He has heard us and answered our prayers, for who He is and for what He has done in our lives.
When we do this, our prayer time brings us peace, joy, and contentment because we have obeyed the Bible and prayed as the Lord commands. We have made every prayer and offering of our hearts known to the Lord…
Praise and worship are an important and powerful part of your life. Remember to include them at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of your prayer. Focus your heart, mind, spirit, body—every part of yourself—on God, your Heavenly Father; Jesus, your Lord; and the Holy Spirit, your Strength and Helper, the One who is always with you.
End of lesson.
