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Notes
from a
Praise and Worship Class
 

From the Writer:
Some of the material is not from me. Part of it comes from books I have read, and from old notes I have collected through out the years. All this is blended in together, to the extent that I don't remember what came from where. It was collected and written for a Bible School in the Middle East. Some of the material was taken out of Strongs (the Greek and Hebrew ). I hope I have not broken any copy right laws in repoducing it here. I also hope this collected information will be helpful to someone who does not have the opportunity to attend a class such as this one.

PRAISE AND WORSHIP LIFE

 Introduction
Hunger for God's presence
The Tabernacle
 Different aspects of Praise and Worship
1. Thanksgiving
2. Praise
What is praise
Why praise the Lord
When to praise the Lord
Where to praise the Lord
Who is to praise God?
Praise as a lifestyle
How to praise the Lord
Praise – a sacrifice of praise
What are the results of praise?
Praise as a weapon
 3. Worship
What worship is
Attitudes and Qualities that characterize worshipers
Hindrances to worship
Reverently fear and worship the Lord
The difference between P&W
 The Responsibility of an Individual Worshiper in a P&W service.
Music's part in P&W
Introduction: Ps.. 100, 95:1-7

Hunger for God's presence. Ps. 42:1, 63:1, 84:1-2.

The Tabernacle:

We will be looking at the different aspects of P&W.
Eph 5:18-20, …be ever filled with THS. Speak out to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, Offering praise with voices (and instruments) and making melody with all your heart to the Lord.

1. Thanksgiving – a response to God's goodness.
a. Thanks in the OT
Towdah = to extend the hands in adoration and thanksgiving. Sacrifice of thanksgiving to God both for what God has done and what He has promised to do. Thanksgiving – Ps. 26:7, 50:14, 69:30, 100:4, 107:22, 116:17, Isa 51:3, praise – Ps. 42:4
Ps. 100:4-5, enter His gates (into God's presence) with thanksgiving, approaching God involves thanksgiving. Thanksgiving for:

b. Thanks in the NT
1 Thess 5:16-19, this is God's will for us – to give thanks to God in the midst of whatever is happening. If you desire to do the will of God – be a person who gives thanks. Live a life of thanksgiving. If you are not giving thanks you are actually out of the will of God. You can be at the right place and do the right thing but still feel out of the will of God – if you have ceased to be continually thankful. Remember – the moment you cease to be thankful, you are out of the will of God!! Because you are not responding appropriately to God's goodness.

Eph 5:17-20, understand the will of God, be filled with the Spirit of God. One of the manifestations of being filled with the Spirit is giving thanks to God. Matt 12:34b, out to the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. If the heart is filled with thanksgiving it will come out of our mouths. Give thanks to God the Father for everything (that there is or that we have) in Christ Jesus. When you cease to do give God thanks it is an indication that you are beginning to leak out.

Col 1:12-14, giving thanks to the Father for our inheritance, deliverance and redemption.

Col 3:15-17, be thankful…giving thanks to God the Father through Jesus.

Eph 5:4, thanksgiving to replace filthy, foolish and sinful talking or joking.

Phil 4:6 – Col 4:2, praying with thanksgiving. Don't bring a request to God without thanksgiving.

Jesus – our example, giving thanks to the Father:
John 6:11, thanksgiving – miracle.
John 11:41-45, thanksgiving – one raised from the dead and many believed in Jesus.

c. What does thankfulness accomplish?
1. Provides access to God. Ps. 100.
The gates gives ushers you in to the courts and the courts gives you access to the actual house of God. Some may feel that you are far away from God despite your prayers, it could be because you are not approaching Him by the way prescribed. You can stand outside the courts and shout at God and He will hear you and have mercy on you but you will not enjoy close access to the Father unless you come with thanksgiving and praise. No matter how we feel, no matter what our circumstances there are 3 facts that never change:

Don't focus on your feelings or situations, but focus on these eternal, unchanging aspects of God's nature and of His dealings with us.

2. Result of thanksgiving: special access to God that thankfulness provides.
Luke 17:15-16, 19, one of the 10 said thank you and was made whole. Express your gratefulness. The one who gave thanks was the only one who came close to Jesus and he was made whole.

3. Thanksgiving unlocks the supernatural miracle power of God.
John 6:11-12, 23, the feeding of the 5000. Jesus took the food and gave thanks and then He distributed it. All Jesus did was to thank God for what He had in His hand and then act on that. Jesus didn't pray a long prayer. John 11:41-44, Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus simply said "Father I thank You that You have heard me.” Then He spoke to Lazarus to come out and out he came.

d. Some practical suggestions to help cultivate the giving of thanks:

e. What is the opposite of being thankful?
Rom 1:21,unthankfulness. Humanity declined from the inherent knowledge of God to appealing wickedness, a very low level because they didn't glorify Him as God and they were not thankful…
There are two steps down in the dark pit. When they knew and recognized Him as God, 1) they did not glorify God as God and 2) they were not thankful.
Rom 1:25, and they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.

2 Tim 3:1-2, …in the end hard times will come because people will be lovers of themselves, money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…

What kind of conduct is the opposite of being thankful? "murmuring, complaining". When we say anything – it is either positive or negative, very few things we say are neutral. If we are not expressing gratitude therefore we will almost certainly end up complaining.

1 Cor 10:7-10, Paul is here warning Christians from falling into the same errors God's people fell into after they were delivered out of Egypt. …nor complain as some of them did and were put out by the destroyer.
We are faced then with two opposite possibilities:

Set your will: "I'm going to be thankful. I'm going to continue to find the scriptural reasons for being thankful and I'm going to practice thanking God all the time.”

f. Sacrifice of thanksgiving:
Jonah 2:9-10, Jonah was praying but not until he gave a sacrifice of thanksgiving did the fish spit him up on land. "But as for me, I'll sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving…" That really was a sacrifice! When you are in the belly of a fish, it takes real determination to start thanking God.

Ps. 69:30-31, 107:22, 116:17, thanksgiving as a spiritual sacrifice.
Jer 17:26, 33:11
Heb 13:15, thanksgiving a spiritual sacrifice.

Conclusion:
Come before God with a grateful, thankful attitude, for who He is and what He has done and is doing and will do, for Jesus and the blood of Jesus.
Remind, tell yourself of His goodness, etc.
Live a life full of thankfulness!!!!

"so give thanks to the Lord for His love endures for ever", "nahmeduk ya rabbena agli rahmetak /3 lill abed"
 2. Praise – our response to His awe-inspiring majesty, we acknowledge His greatness.

"Fix your eyes upon Jesus look into the reality itself, everything around come to its right place in the light of His glory and might.” When we are praising God we are fixing our eyes on Jesus, and all our problems that seem so big to us they get their right perspective and size. Because we see how great and big God is and what He has done for us and what He can do for us.

Ps. 48:1, Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised! Our praise should be in proportion to God's greatness – which means it has to be measureless. The more we praise God the more we acknowledge His greatness.

1 Pet 2:9, we are a royal priesthood …that your may declare the praises (set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections) of Him who called you our of darkness into His wonderful light.
- a priest is one who draws near to the divine presence.

What is praise?
Praise – dictionary definition: to command, applaud, express approval or admiration of, extol in words or song, magnify, glorify. (to honor, celebrate)

Praise is proclaiming, declaring things about God!!!!!

Praise is based on and focuses both on the character of God and the acts He does towards us, His children.
  • God is worthy to be praised just because of who He is.
Praise is a function of our will, not our emotions.
  • We must will ourselves to praise even when we don't feel like it. Should be based on God's greatness, not our feelings.
    • Ps. 103:1 "Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name".
    • David commanded his soul to bless the Lord.
    • Ps. 43:5 "I will bless the Lord"
When we truly understand, recognize the greatness of God praise comes easily.
  • One way to know Him is by His names.
    • Ex 15:26 "Jehovah rapha" the Lord the healer
    • Gen 22 "Jehovah jireh" the Lord will provide
    • Ezek 48:35 "Jehovah shammah" the Lord is there

Hebrew words for praise.
All expressions of praise have faith as their basis. When the Jews heard the words for praise they understood a lot more than we do today because they understood the meaning of it.

  • YADAH (3034)– to throw out hands; to worship with extended hands, Ps. 7:1, 9:1, 28:7, 33:2, 42:5, 44:8, 63:4, 100:4, 134:2, 141:2. The opposite is to wail, vrida ones hands complaining. Our hands are an extension of our inward nature. Aggressiveness inside – hands hit people. It is an expression of a deep surrender to God and it is an extension of our hearts desiring to exalt Him.

  • TOWDAH (8426)– see thanksgiving

  • HALAL (1984)– (root word for hallelu-jah) to shine, boast over God, celebrate foolishly. = Praise to Yahweh, speaking the glorious attributes, workings, mercy, goodness, power, love, etc. to God, Ps. 104 – 106 are perfect examples of this. Translated praise, praised, praises – 2 Chron 20:19, 21, Ps. 22:22-23, 26, 111:1-3.
    An abandonment of self and a boasting in the Lord and being in love with the Lord.

  • TEHILLAH (8416)– to sing halal, a hymn, song of spontaneous praise, glorying in God in song. This is the kind of praise God inhabits. There are more than 300 times we are exhorted to sing with some different Hebrew words for "sing", so psalms, hymns etc could be praise and yet not be tehillah. It is songs of the spirit – unprepared – that flow forth spontaneously from our spirits. It implies to total involvement of oneself in praise to God. Ps. 100:4, 22:3, 9:14, 33:1, 34:1, 65:1, 147:1-2, 149:1-2, Isa 61:3.

  • SHABACH (7623)– to address in a loud voice, tone, shout. To command, triumph or glory; to shout proclaiming with a loud voice. Ps. 63:3, 117:1, 145:4, 147:12. The phrase "shout unto the Lord" can be understood as the action of Shabach – Ps. 32:11, 35:27, 47:1, 65:13, 132:9.

  • BARAK – to kneel or bow down and to bless God or to give reverence to God as an act of adoration. It implies a continual, conscious acknowledgment of God – an attitude of expectancy, in a worshipful attitude expecting to receive, but is not a begging attitude, but yielded. Praise, salute, thanks. Often translated to bless or blessed – Judges 5:2, Ps. 16:7, 34:1, 63:4, 66:8, 100:4, 96:2, 103:1-2, 20-22, 134:1-3.

  • ZAMAR (2167)– to touch the strings; to sing and play with instruments. Translated many times as "sing praises" and implies the singing of praise, in set composition of words and music. This kind of praise is mostly rejoicing. 1 Chron 15:16.

Praise - Ps. 21:13, 57:7, 108:1, 138:1, sing praises – 9:11, 18:49, 27:6, 47:6, 92:1, 108:3, 147:1, sing – 30:4, 12, 101:1. (98:5)

2 Chron 20:19-22, "…stood up to praise (Halal) the Lord, the God of Israel wit ha very loud voice…he appointed singers to sing to the Lord and praise (Halal) Him in their holy garments as they went out before the army, saying, Give thanks (Yadah) to the Lord for His mercy and loving kindness endure forever! And when they begun to sing and to praise (Tehillah), the Lord set ambushments against the men of Ammon, Moab and … who had come against Judah and they were self slaughtered.”

  • There are 8 different words for sing – they are all joyful and triumphant.

  • Praise should be a spontaneous expression from the heart. A natural expression of our love for God.

    Greek words for praise:

      (133) AINESIS = praising a thank offering,
      (134) AINEO = to praise God,
      (136) AINOS = praise of God.
      (1867) EPAINEO = to applaud, commend, laud, praise
      (1868) EPAINOS = laudation, commendation, praise.
      (5214) HUMNEO = to sing, to laud, sing to the praise of (hymn) Acts 16:25

     Why praise the Lord
    (Not because He needs it but we are dependent on His response to praise.)

  • He is worthy of our praise – Ps. 48:1, 145:3, Rev 4:11

  • Commanded to – Ps. 150:1, 81:1-4
    Remember it benefits us not God. Not until we praise Him can we come into a proper relationship with Him and without a thankful heart we can't grow in the grace of God.

  • God is enthroned in our praises – Ps. 22:3. He sits on, inhabits our praises. God sits on a throne, so when we praise Him we are offering Jesus a throne to sit upon, in this way you acknowledge Him as your King. Praise doesn't command or bring God's presence, but it acknowledges that He is present.
    Praise is not so much God coming into our presence, as it is our going into His presence. Praise is to lead us out into God's presence. As we praise Him we go up to His mountain, Ps. 132:13-14. And God is there to meet us. Ps. 132:15-16. We are entering His gates not Him entering our gates. Draw near to Him so will He draw near to us, Jas 4:8. The problem is never with God it is always with us. We need to ascend unto the Lord in our hearts.Isa 29:13, 2:3, Ps. 24:3-4

    Levels of God's glory, presence, His presence is not coming or going in a sense but we are the ones who change our awareness of His presence. When we praise our hearts are stirred by YHS and we become more conscious of God's presence:

    • God is omnipresent.
    • We are the temple of God so His presence is in us. 1 Cor 3:16
    • Matt 18:20, He is where 2 or 3 are gathered in His name.
    • 2 Chron 5:13-14, a cloud of glory. When the cloud filled the temple the people could not see anyone or anything around them because all that was visible to them was the presence of God. Our goal for the worship should be that we come to that point where we don't see anything around us but we become totally taken up with God, to see only the Lord.

  • There is power in praise against the enemy – Ps. 8:2
  • It is a good thing to praise the Lord – Ps. 92:1
  • We are created to praise Him – Jer 13:11, Isa 43:21, Eph 1:4-6, 1 Pet 2:9
  • It is a beautiful garment, praise from the upright is beautiful – Ps. 33:11, Isa 61:3
  • It is fitting for the upright to praise Him. Ps. 33:1.
  • For the Lord is good and has been good to me! Ps. 13:6, and for what He has done, Ps. 52:9

    When to praise the Lord

  • When we feel like it, James 5:13
    When we don't feel like it, Ps. 42:4. To not praise the Lord because we don't feel like it is allowing our emotions to dictate, rule.
  • Now, always, every day includes today, Ps. 34:1,113:2, 145:1-2 – don't take a vacation from praising God. 146:2, all my life, as long as I live. When is not always?
  • Ps. 57:8-9, speaks of rising early to praise the Lord.
  • Ps. 119:62, speaks of praising God late at night.
  • Hab 3:17-18, in hard times and (Deut 28:47) in good times. Any time is good to praise Him.
  • There is no limit on when or how much!!!!!

    Where to praise the Lord

  • Everywhere:
    • Ps. 149:5, when we are home in bed, at home, alone Matt 6:6, with family Prov 22:6.
    • Ps. 112:3, across the entire horizon (since the sun rises in the east and sets in the west)
    • John 4

  • Some specific places where praise is very appropriate:
    • Ps. 35:18, 68:25-26, Heb 2:12, in the congregation of the saints, in church.
    • Ps. 18:49, 57:9-10, 96:3, before all men and nations. God has purposed that His praise be declared before unbelievers so that they might see and fear and put their trust in Him. Ps. 40:3, Isa 11:10, Jn 12:32
    • In the temple, 1 Cor 3:16, we are the temple of God in the NT.
    • In the new testament, Acts 2:46-47. The new believers are examples for us – they praised God!
    • Rev 4:6-11, Isa 6:1-3, heaven is full of it, continually! And it will continue forever!

    Who is to praise God?

  • Ps. 150:6, everything that has breath – that leaves no one out. Ps. 115:17, the dead do not praise the Lord, so are you alive today?!
  • Ps. 64:1, let all upright in heart praise Him, Ps. 135:1, praise Him you servants of the Lord.
    Purposes for Praise:
    • Access to God.
    • Build up our strength and faith in God.
    • Warfare, fighting against the enemy.

    Praise as a lifestyle

  • Praise God daily no matter the circumstances and feelings.

    1. Our corporate times of P&W should be a wonderful celebration and the by-product of an entire week of P&W unto the Lord.
    2. Rom 4:20-21, he was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God. So praise is a lifestyle, demonstrating your continual trust in your heavenly Father. Because you trust God you believe that what He promised He is also able to perform and you just praise Him! Faith is a change of focus from the problem to God and praise helps us to keep our focus on God. Praise drives fear and worry away!

         How to praise the Lord – God's way!
  • Physical expressions should lead us to do it from all that is within us. Do it on the outside and inside. We must initiate a physical release if we want a spiritual release.

  • Bodily action to be an expression of what we are saying to the Lord.

  • 1. Ps. 9:1, 111:1, 138:1, praise the Lord with all my heart! 1 Sam 16:7b, the Lord looks at the heart.
  • 2. Ps. 47:7, with our understanding!
  • 3. Lifting up our hands – Ps. 63:4, 134:2, 141:2, 1 Tim 2:8. In reverence to His presence.
  • 4. Clapping – Ps. 47:1. Clapping of hands shows appreciation.
  • 5. Playing of instruments – Ps. 33:2-3, 57:9, 150:3-5a
  • 6. Standing – 2 Chron 5:12, Ps. 135:2, Rev 4:9-11
    Shows respect, when the president enters the room we stand out of respect. We stand in respect to the presence of God. It also indicates alertness.
  • 7. Kneeling, bowing and prostration – Ps. 95:6, Rev 19:4, Eph 3:14, Phil 2:10-11, Neh 8:6. Shows reverence to the Lord, show the humility we sense in us.
  • 8. Singing – Ps. 47:6
    Audible – Ps. 26:7, 66:8, 17, 98:4, Acts 16:25. Let the sound of His praise be heard.
    Praise is not praise until it is heard. Ps. 63:5, with joyful mouth and lips.
  • 10. Dancing, leaping – Ps. 30:11, 149:3, 150:4, Ex 15:20-21, Acts 3:8, 2 Sam 6:14-16
    1 Cor 15:46, sometimes we must initiate a physical release if we want a spiritual release. The goal is the release in our spirit, but sometimes it will not be achieved until we do something in the natural such as dancing, lifting our hands, bowing, etc.
    God is dancing with joy, Zeph 3:17, (gil (Hebrew) = go in a circle, dance around, shout for joy.) Dance before God not man!
  • 11. Shouting – Ps. 47:1, 35:27
    Several times it is mentioned that when a shout of praise was lifted up the enemy fled. - Rev 19:6-7, shout for joy!!! Shouts of joy, a joyful noise, Ps. 66:1, 95:1-2, 98:4, 100:1
    - Cry out, Isa 12:6, Ps. 89:26
  • 12. Singing in tongues – 1 Cor 14:15, allows us to express our praises to the Lord directly from our spirits. Acts 10:46.

    •      A sacrifice of praise
  • No one can praise God for you! Praise sets us free to come before Him!
  • A sacrifice speaks of something costly, the giving of something that is dear to us or hard for us to do. A sacrifice is not a sacrifice until it costs us something. A sacrifice of praise is in the midst of great trial, difficulty, grief, sickness, demonic oppression, temptation, relational difficulties, financial problems. The devil might whisper to you: you are a hypocrite, how can you praise God when you hurt that bad inside. Say to the devil: I will praise the Lord and I command you to shut up! Then praise till you get a break through – explosion in your spirit.
  • Heb 13:15, offer continually a sacrifice of praise. When we don't feel like praising, we are tired, feeling depressed, hurt, rejected, when everything seems to be against us – that's when we offer up a sacrifice of praise. When we chose to praise God our emotions will come into line with your will! So praise must function according to our will and not our emotions. It has nothing to do with how my day has been or bills not paid, trouble on every side.
  • We praise Him with the attitude of "I will bless the Lord", not "Bless me Lord". When we truly bless the Lord we will be blessed, but the important thing is our motivation.
  • To offer a sacrifice it costs us something, it will not be easy but it is a choice. It will mean giving up our bad attitude, unforgiveness, depression, rejection, feeling sick, self pity, our ego, our desires, our weariness that we hold on to and we treat it as something dear to us.

    What are the results of praise?

  • Ps. 50:23, who brings an offering of praise glorifies Me, prepares a way so that I may show, demonstrate to him the salvation of God. (this is another way to translate this)
  • God is glorified.
  • When we praise Him we prepare a way for the manifestation of salvation in my situation, God will come with His divine intervention.

  • Ps. 100:4, takes us into the courts of the Lord. Praise takes us into a deep experience of communion with God in worship.
  • Isa 61:3, we can't be a praiser and stay depressed!!!!

    Praise as a weapon

  • We do our selves a great favor and the enemy great damage when we praise God!
    Eph 6:11-12, we are in a spiritual war not a natural one. Our enemy and problem is not people but our enemy is principalities and powers (forces that are motivating the people) that inhabit the atmosphere around us. Evil powers hover over nations, cities, families and even individuals – Dan 10.
  • 2 Cor 10:4, our weapons are also spiritual. One of those weapons is praise. When we praise during a battle we are confessing and rejoicing that God is our victory, and it releases God's power.
  • Ps. 149:6-9, shows us that praise and the word area combination that will defeat the enemy. And it shows us that praise is to be used to win back what the devil has stolen from us. Spiritually speaking a judgment has been pronounced on the devil Rom 16:20, and all his power has been spoiled but this judgment must be executed (the thief judged at court will not go by himself to prison but needs to be taken there). We – the church – have the honor to execute God's judgment and destroy satan's kingdom. Knowing this can change the way we view what the devil tries to throw across our paths. We need to praise God in faith that He the enemy is being executed. Luke 19:13 occupy till I come, to take possession of, run the devil out of town and subdue what I have given to you till I come back.
  • Ps. 18:3 I call to the Lord who is worthy of p. and I'm saved from my enemies.
  • Ways of using praise as a weapon:
    • To invade enemy territory – before an evangelism team goes out on the streets, praise can prepare the way.
    • In standing firm against an attack – in the midst of a battle, continue to praise God who always causes us to triumph in Christ. 2 Cor 2:14,

  • Biblical examples of praise used as a weapon: Every time God told them to praise God their enemies were still there like giants before them. Look to God and praise Him!
    • 2 Chron 20, when they sang (a form of praise), God fought the battle for them and they won. Ps. 135, 143:12, God's mercy in action = the destruction of all his enemies. As a father has mercy on his child, as an enemy is trying to hurt it, by dealing with the enemy. We need to have a revelation about God as a warrior (savior so we can be saved, etc.)
    • Acts 16:16-26, when Paul and Silas sang praises in they were delivered. Paul responded to every circumstance in faith and with praise. He learned to give thanks to God when he was in the most trying circumstances. 2 Cor 2:14, Phil 4:4.
    • Josh 6:1-20, when the Israelites shouted (a from of praise) the walls fell.
    • Judges 7, when Gideon’s army shouted the battle was won.
    • Isa 61:3, put on the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. So if you don't want to be depressed and you don't want the enemy to come with his dark and evil thoughts - put on the garments of praise.
    • Ps. 8:2 – Matt 21:15-16, from the mouth of babes you have perfected or ordained strength – praise! The ordained strength of God's people is praise. Why has God ordained our praise? Because of our enemies. A baby can cry! It is out of the inability to take care of themselves. Babies – the weakest – has a strong weapon to impose silence on the enemy. Why do we need to silence the enemy the devil? Because he is accusing us all the time. We might ask God why don't You silence the enemy? God replies: Because I've given you the weapon with which to do it. Silence = to cause to fail, take away, to put down. As we lift our voices to God we defeat the power of satan that would bring us into bondage.

  • Warfare thorough praise does not dictate to God (nor manipulating God) what He should do, but it praises Him for His wisdom and might, recognizing that He is capable of setting the problem in the best possible manner. We are not to focus on the battle or the enemy but we are to look to the solution – God. Dan 11:32. Ask God and He will show you what battles to fight.

    •  Worship – our response to and acknowledgement of His holiness.

    It is not a question if we will worship but what we will worship. We are created to worship. Ex 23:24-25. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,(NIV). Worship, serve = abad (Heb).

    What worship is

    Worship is to adore reverently, to feel deep devoted love for, to regard with respect and with great awe and devotion.

    Meaning behind the Hebrew words for worship.

    Greek words for worship:
    • PROSKUNEO (4352) – To kiss, like a dog is licking his masters hand, to fawn, to crouch, to prostrate oneself in homage, do reverence to, adore, worship. Pros = towards, kuneo = to kiss.
    • SEBOMAI (4576) – To revere, adore, devout religious worship stressing the feeling of awe or devotion in worship.
    • LATREUO (3000) – to minister to God, render homage, serve, do the service of worship. Phil 3:3, worship by the Spirit of God
    • EUSEBEO (2151) – to be pious, towards God show piety, worship
    • ETHELOTHRESKEIA (1479) – will worship, voluntarily worship
    • ENOPION (1799) – before, in the presence, in the sight of… to worship.

    Ps. 29:1-2, worship the Lord in holy array or in the beauty of holiness, 96:9

    John 4:23-24,

    Rev 5:11-14, Neh 9:6, the multitudes of heaven worship You.

    When we worship we:

    • reverence (fear), respect, give ourselves to totally, know (we can only worship to the degree we know), trust in totally, center of our lives, have full security in, adoration, love, is first priority.
    • Worship is more than songs it is our lives, and heart attitude.
    • Words and songs are not needed.

    Worship is:

    • Respect for God the Holy One and the Great One. Ministering unto God.
    • To pour out ones love and adoration before Him.
    • A heart attitude of humility. Humbling of yourself under God – has to do with worship.
    • Worship is not a musical activity but a function of the heart.
    • It is an outpouring of our whole being in the presence of God, it is an outflowing of our deepest love and adoration. Luke 10:27, to love the Lord with all your heart, Matt 4:10, Lk 4:8 to worship Him only.
    • Worship is birthed out of our understanding of God as He has revealed Himself to us through His word and as we have experienced Him in our lives.

    Matt 4:10, Because Jesus said: Worship the Lord your God.
    (Mt 2:1-2, 11, they came to worship Jesus. Mt 28:9, 16-17. Lk 24:52, Jn 9:38, Ph 2:10-11.) Heb 10:22, worship - draw near to God with true honest hearts in full assurance of faith and hearts purified from guilt.

    John 4:23-24, God is calling His people into a greater intimacy with himself. God wants our hearts more than our service. He is not looking for worship as it is but He is looking for worshipers! A worshiper is one who lives worship, lives a lifestyle of worship! Lives lived in an attitude of worship in all that we do and say. Isa 29:13, Matt 15:7-9

    2 Chr 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war." (NIV)

    Worship in spirit and in truth:

    • Have our mind involved.
    • Be through Jesus who is the truth and in accordance with God's word – truth Jn 17:17.
    • Our hearts need to be true to God, pure.
    • Not hypocritical 1 Sam 15:24-31, the motivation wasn't right. It is not to show others how spiritual we are, we are not to put on a spiritual front.
    • True worship gazes honestly into heaven and invites the cleansing presence of THS.
    • It is not enough to worship in sincerity but also in truth, the revealed truth of God in His word. Not just with the symbols of the tabernacle but the reality of it.
    • Our worship is no higher than our knowledge of God as worship flows our of a relationship with God which is strengthened by learning of Him through His word.

    True worshipers – opposite of false worshipers. In spirit – opposite of going to a certain place. In truth – opposite of ceremonies, rituals and offerings.
    Matt 15:8-9, These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. (NIV)

  • Worship is deep within us calling out to the deep in God.
  • Worship requires a relationship, intimacy, giving and receiving. Open your heart to God as you worship Him. Don't rush through it.

    Ps. 46:10, there are times when our worship will not be full of words but will be a humble prostration of our souls before God, revering His greatness in silence and stillness. Worship involves "eye contact" with God. Worship is an expression of love. You can express that without words and with just eye contact.

    Who can worship God?
    Those who are born again can worship God as their spirits are alive to God.
    Worship is for those who are childlike enough to just open up their hearts and respond to God in sincerity and honesty and enjoying a relationship of loving communion with Him

    Where?
    Jn 4:21-24, we can see here that worship is not bound to a certain place or time rather it is a function of the spirit of man reaching out to the Spirit of God.

    …and when?
    Matt 4:10, Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" (NIV)
    Worship the Lord everyday. It is first priority to sit by the feet of Jesus. Second to serve. We excuse our lack of worship by pointing out the many things we do for God. We are somehow in a hurry to serve God and we neglect to worship Him. The greatest service will never be a substitute for worship.

    What happens?
    Ps. 46:4, in worship we partake of the very river that flows from the throne of God. The waters of Siloam whose course ran underneath and through Jerusalem and supplied the city with water. THS provides us with renewing water as we worship from our innermost beings, cleansing and refreshment over our souls. Eze 47:9, as the river of God begins to flow during our times of worship, it brings life, abundance and healing, washing over broken hearts and restoring parched souls.

    Attitudes and Qualities that characterize worshipers

    What attitudes should we have?

  • To give everything – not holding anything back, giving and surrendering all.
  • Preoccupied with God.
  • Fidelity (trohet)
  • Loyalty, faithfulness
  • Trust, reliance, confidence
  • Love
  • Obedience
  • Pure – not selfish
  • Humble – not to show others how I'm worshiping God. It is between you and God. Also realizing who you are and who God is. It is a position acknowledging, submission and dependence on God. The real essence of worship centers in on the bowing of ourselves and the flattening and prostrating of fleshly pride (the human will to assert its own way).

    In worship we are recognizing our total utter dependence and total abandonment to Him: (Mt 15:25, Then came she and worshipped (knelt before) him, saying, Lord, help me! (KJV)

  • The more self sufficient – the less we worship.
  • The more independent, the less we worship.

    Qualities that characterize worshipers (a worshiper knows the ways of God):
    Luke 7:36-50

  • Givers – she gave something costly and she had to brake the jar to get anything out of it, once opened one had to use it all, so it was all or nothing. Ex 23:15, (Ps. 98:8-9)
  • Weeping – outward manifestation of a heart deeply stirred before the Lord, repentant over come, unreserved, broken before God.
  • Kissed Jesus feet – there is a Greek word for worship – proskuneo – to kiss the hand toward, to do reverence or homage by kissing the hand, to bow oneself in adoration. She was pleasing God rather than man. After she did this the fragrance the anointing was all over her.
    When we worship He will respond, He will turn to us and speak to us, He is eager to do it. A loving heart that cries out to God – that is what matters.
    We will never grow to the point where we are "above" worshiping God. Spiritual maturity doesn't exempt one from being a worshiper. Because in heaven there is and will be worship, Rev 4:9-11.

    Hindrances to worship (hindering attitudes in worship):

  • Guilt and condemnation are among the greatest hindrances in worship.
    Heb 4:14-16, 10:19-22.
    Never allow sin to stop you from meeting with God. Come before Him and let Him convict you of sin. He will convict us but not condemn us. Conviction will lead us to repentance, condemnation to despair. John 3:17, 8:11. Sin can't survive in His presence. So if we want to get rid of it draw as near to God as you can, flee to His presence and confess your sins and receive His cleansing, healing, holiness, purity.

  • Wrongly formulated attitudes of the mind and of the heart:

      1. Pride – the very essence of worship is self abasement and humility. Worship is humbling of self and the exalting of God. So how can one say "I exalt the Lord" without ones humbling of self. Are we going to worship the way THS leads us to regardless what others may think? Why do we tend to be more concerned about others opinions rather than God's. "Never do anything because others are looking at you, and never refrain from anything because others are looking at you.”

      2. "If it feels good I will do it" – If we allow our worship to be controlled by our feelings we will never gain victory in our Christian walk. We don't worship because we feel like it.

      3. Presumption

      4. Spectatorism – how easy it is for us to get caught up in watching the proceedings of the worship and afterward find that we have done everything but worship or we have been like an audience at a performance. Worship is not performed by one part in behalf of the other. No one can worship for another. Rom 12:1, 1 Cor 3:16, 1 pet 2:5-6, Rev 1:6. We are all called to a spiritual priest hood t offer up thanksgiving to God. We are all participants in raising high His glorious praise. Watching everybody else doing it and not entering in our self.

      5. Sentimentalism – we often become sentimental in worship when we become more taken up with the music or tune than with the message of the song. Overly familiar songs are in danger of becoming sentimental for us. We should not just respond emotionally, we need a complete response of our whole beings. God intended music to help us to open our hearts and become more receptive to Him not to worship music. Music is a vehicle not an end in itself. Eze 33:32 "When I am moved by the voice of him that sings more than by the words sung. I confess to have sinned" St. Augustine.

      6. Lip service – while our lips are moving our hearts are not a part of the message, half heartedness, hypocrisy, in God's eyes, Amos 5:21-23

      7. Fear of being manipulated – God is worthy regardless of any human foibles manifested by the leadership.

      8. "We've never done it this way before"

      Another hindrance to worship is because the devil wants worship. Isa 14, Eze 28, Mt 4:10.

     Reverently fear and worship the Lord
    Have a fresh revelation about God's greatness! It'll change the way we talk, live our lives.
    The way we see God determines how we live. Example: hate sin or not, love people or not, want to live holy and right or not, forgive or not. God is Holy, love, is a Father is a judge we have to have the balance of it all; just but merciful, compassionate, righteous, patient.
    We need to know Him by experience not just head knowledge Phil 3:10. We can be taught things about God but who is He for you?

    Worship – reverence. You can't worship in any other way. If it doesn't have reverence in it it is not worship. There is reverence in worship because we see Him as He is. Worship is us giving of ourselves. Isa 29:13 their fear toward Him was taught by the commandment of men. He is saying that the people had reduced the glory of the Lord to the glory of corruptible man. They served God in the image they had created – not by His true image, but their own standards.
    Rom 1:2-21, 23 God reduced to the image of corruptible man. The church today is surrounded with a culture that worships man. What is the image of God there in Egypt? We serve God in the image we have made.
    Ex 32:4 "This is your God o Israel that brought you out of Egypt.” The golden calf. They reduced God's greatness to a level they were more accustomed to dealing with.

    If a king or a famous person goes to another country where he is not known, how will he be treated? As an ordinary man, as any foreigner, he will be given little or no respect.
    John 1:10-11 His own didn't receive Him, the One who created the universe didn't receive the honor He deserved. His own didn't recognize the Awesome one they professed to serve faithfully.
    Truly knowing God brings a fear of Him not afraid of Him.
    Heb 12:28-29 worship in awe and fear.
    Lev 10:3, And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying: 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.' "So Aaron held his peace. (NKJ) ++++ The Lord never comes where He is not reverenced.
    Seek God's face ask Him to reveal Himself. Eph 1:17-21
    Words like "I stand in awe of You, Lord" can become a religious tradition. If we can't stand in awe of Him we need to cry out to the Lord to reveal more of Himself to us so we can truly praise and worship Him. He reveals Himself to us through His word!

    We serve a great God, nothing is too hard for Him! Ps. 93, 95, 96
    Ps. 96:4 "God is to be reverently feared and worshiped above all so called gods!”
    We can only worship the Lord to the degree that we know Him, see Him, that He is revealed to us. What image of God do you have?
    Isa 6:1-3
    Rev 1:10-18 (17); 4:8, 10-11, John saw Jesus in the spirit. Different degrees of God's glory revealed. In heaven complete glory! No man in the flesh can see God's glory and live.

    Praise vs worship

    •  The Responsibility of an Individual Worshiper in a P&W Service.

    Do you know what God is looking for? Do you know why we sing? Why are some touched by God? We are here to worship the living God! To meet with God! Worship is coming to God bowing down, humbling ourselves declaring He is king over our lives and not the world etc. Who and what are you yielding yourself to?

    When we come to Him and bow ourselves down before Him – He will meet with us. A change of our focus from ourselves to God. In His presence is all we need. You might be in a need of healing, deliverance, you have problems etc., when we start to worship Him. Remember worship is not singing songs just. People can get healed, set free by His Spirit as they are worshiping God. Worship was a sacrifice and it still is a laying down of our lives, our wills, feelings and we say by bowing before Him. Heart attitude, the outward action should be a reflection of what is going on on the inside that He is our king, we are not our own.

    Worship a laying down of our lives.

    Close your eyes, forget about the people around you for a moment. Let's talk to God. Here I am Lord. I make a decision right now to lay down my life at your feet and I will exalt you, I will praise you. Instead of looking at myself I'll look at you Lord. You are the great one you are the majestic one the exalted one. I'm coming to you Lord. Talk to Him not to me, or your neighbor. If you want to meet with God remember who you are talking to. You don't want the secretary (somebody working for God) but you want the king, the boss himself. If you come to me and say to the person standing next to me that you want to meet with me, but you keep on saying this to the person next to me saying you did a great job ullis etc. God is standing right here saying "I'm here!”. He is waiting for us to come to Him. So change your focus from being conscious of what the others might think. Who you are conscious of is in reality who your are talking to. When you pray are you praying to the people or to God?? Sometimes people pray nice prayers without having touched the heart of God. It is like a performance. When we sing – sing to God! I don't care what people around me will think. See Him make a decision to come to the king of kings.

    When we really worship God His power will flow, life will flow. Don't be discouraged nor give up. Just yield all of you to God. I'm for you Lord, all of me to You. You can tell me anything but what are you telling God from your heart what have you made a decision about in your heart. You take the first step. Remember who you are coming to. You are coming to Father God the Holy and almighty God. We come as a child because of His grace and we are coming to the King Lord of our lives as well. We can come as a child because of the blood of Jesus into His Holy presence. Bowing before Him telling Him He is the King, not just a word but in reality, He is your Master.

    King         crowd
       \
         \
          \
                me

    The eyes of my heart focused on God not on the crowd around me nor my problems. I say I come to you Lord.
    God wants to refresh you challenge you take you higher in His presence. It's all in His presence. He wants you to be able to worship Him wherever you are not just in meetings. That there'll be a constant flow of His presence, refreshment hearing from God. If you want to hear His voice spend time in the word and in His presence worship Him.
    Your spirit always want to worship God. It is your mind flesh feelings that says otherwise. Deep calls to deep. Learn to listen to your spirit not feelings mind etc. To get the mind on the Lord – listen to your spirit – it cries out abba father. What are we listening to? It is not important how many times we sing each song or how many songs we sing, if you are standing before God it doesn't matter what matters is Him!!!
    Challenge them to give it all! Don't let anything hold you back from having all that God has for you/His presence.
    Get into God's river and flow with, it be sensitive.

    The first responsibility of every worshiper is to minister to the Lord.

    It is our responsibility to make our songs a praise from our hearts unto God. .

    How can you prepare yourself for congregational P&W?.
    Pray and stir up the gift in me..

    We ought not to come for a hand-out but should rather bring an offering..

    We are to make His praise glorious. Ps. 66:2.

    A worshiper worships at every opportunity and does not demand an encouragement from a worship leader before entering into praise..

    Put on the garment of praise, a smile and lift your hearts to God in thanksgiving and praise. Cast off concerns. Fix your mind on the Lord not on what to do afterwards, who to talk to, where to go, etc..

    Looking around the congregation is a big distraction during P&W. How can you overcome that distraction? Shut your eyes..

    Unison, unity = oneness, being one, single, harmony.

  • Matt 18:19-20, there is power in unity. Disagreements, division and people pulling in different directions will not bring unity. Unity if all follow the flow of THS, respecting the leadership that is there..
  • 2 Chron 5:13, they joined in unison as with one voice..

    •  Why do we P&W in a meeting?
    It is not to perform, fill time, because of tradition, or because we like singing.

    But because God's word tells us to do that. Ps. 68:26, Heb 2:12

  • To exalt God and build a throne for God in the service.
  • Lead the congregation out to God's presence.
  • For God's glory to fill the place, an atmosphere where God can move mightily and minister to and meet the needs of the people.
  • Prepare the hearts of the people to receive from God's word, be open for what God will do, be focused on Jesus.
  • Bring everybody into one accord.
  • Give God freedom to do what He wants.

    P&W a part of helps ministry.

    Music's part in P&W

    David played for Saul.

    Song and music in P&W is not the goal but it is a vessel or vehicle that helps us to go where we want to go.

    The world evaluates music according to if it is nice, beautiful or awful, bad. But we as believers should evaluate music according to if it is holy or unholy, pure or not pure. Music from God builds up but from the world tears us down.

    IF we want to have a P&W ministry that is genuine and fruitful we must first be worshipers ourselves.

    P&W in the OT and the NT

    OT – the altar upon which the sacrifices where offered or incense burned. It was man's simplest and earliest effort to give outward expression of faith in God to worship God and to show his need of sacrifice for sin. As man got to know God better and better, generation after generation, God showed them how to praise and worship Him. Moses: Ex 15:1-18, 20:5, Mirjam: Ex 15:20, 21

    God established through Moses the tent of meeting or tabernacle. Heb 8:5, everything was made according to the plan given to Moses on the mountain.

    David developed the praising and worshiping and he brought more freedom, 2 Sam 6:5, 12-17. David was dancing with all his might before the Lord when the ark was brought back. David wasn't only the king but also the leader of all worshipers (the levites). 1 Chron 15:16-22, 27-29, 16:1,4-6, 23:5, 25:1-6. The praise and worship was well organized.

    The children of Is. had been pilgrims from Egypt to the promised land. When they were settled in their new home it was natural for them to desire something more permanent than a tent in which to worship. David got idea from God of building a temple for the Lord. But it was his son Solomon that built it in Jerusalem. The tabernacle grew to a temple.
    2 Chron 5:7, 11-14, when the temple was finished the levites praised god and the glory of God filled the temple.
    2 Chron 29:25-30, 30:21, Hezekiah returns the worship to the temple.
    Ezra 3:10-13, Ezra established the new temple.
    It was depending on if it was a good or evil king, if he lived close to God or not, that determined if they were praising and worshiping God.

    The synagogue – a Jewish place of worship. The Jews that were scattered abroad felt the need of places for assembling together and worship the Lord and read from God's word. It differed from the temple in the fact it was a plain building.

    We can trace the desire for spiritual worship up through the successive steps from the altar, tabernacle, temple, synagogue.
    It reaches it's highest stage of development in the institution of the church founded by Christ. Acts 2:46-47. Jn 4:23-24, worship in Spirit and truth.

    All the time in all these stages the people has been tempted to worship other gods.

     Flow with the HS in worship and Moving prophetically in P&W

    • To move with an awareness of the desire and leading of THS, to discern the direction of the Spirit and to lead God's people into a fuller participation of that.

    • It is walking and talking with God. A 2-way communication. It is not just us giving to God but Him expressing Himself to us so we need to give Him space to do this.

    • Prophetic songs, songs inspired by THS:
      Song of the Father who sings over His saints.
      Song of the Son who sings in the midst of the congregation.
      Paul called the song of the Lord - Spiritual songs, Eph 5:19
      A spiritual song can be uplifting of the whole congregation. 1 Cor 14:3,15
      Singing with the understanding or in tongues – spirit.

    • A spiritual song can be:
      A praise unto the Lord
      The song of the Lord – Zeph 3:17, He rejoices over you with singing. Ps 91:14-16 (this was sung as psalms where sung), in Ps. 91 the psalmist starts singing to the Lord but the Lord ends up singing to the psalmist.
      A sung prophesy (when we prophesy we should testify of Jesus, Rev 19:10)
      A reflection of the heavenly song
      Song of deliverance, Ps. 32:7 – can break oppression over people's lives.

    • Rom 12:6, prophetic gifting is unlocked by faith.
      To move prophetically one must spend much intimate time in the presence of the Lord.
      We must wait for our turn and be alert to the best moment to participate.
      Let your ministry be an outflow of your life. Learn to practice the presence of the Lord in your personal life.
      We can have all the good songs, singers, musicians etc., without the anointing of THS these tools are ineffective. God is not impressed with our talents or music He wants our hearts.

    How to lead
  • When God ward ministry is our first priority it will urge us man ward.

  • If the praise time becomes a time for us as worship leaders to break through we will not be able to devote all our attention to leading that service.

        

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