PRAISE

Introduction

“The quietest place you’ll ever find is in the dressing room of a defeated team.” Frank Damazio

Acts 16:16-34 (NIV)

¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." ¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.

· When trouble finds you, it finds you at unexpected times. Paul and Silas were going about their normal thing. Normal, to them, was going to church. If they met trouble while going to church, how much more trouble would you find if you weren’t going to church. Where would you go if you needed help?

· Paul and Silas tolerated the demonised girl for a while. Why? I believe they were seeking advice from God to deal with this matter.

¹⁹When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."

· When you do things for God, it is often not in the interests of the world.

²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. ²³After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

· Even when facing trouble, Paul and Silas praised God.

· They were vocal about their praise! Totally unashamed. If you were in trouble, what would your reaction be?

· Paul and Silas was already in the process of praising God. It did not say that at midnight, they “…began to pray”. I believe that for a violent earthquake to occur by miracle, there must have been a substantial amount of praising to do beforehand! Hence, I can conclude that from the time they were flogged and thrown into prison, they were already focussed on praising God, and looking past their predicament.

· Paul understood the secret of praising God in the midst of adversity:

⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)

· You have a emotionally-independent decision to make when it comes to rejoicing in adversity. Either you do or you don’t. Either way, you will change – to become stronger or weaker.

²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. ²⁷The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

· It has often been said, that what happens in the supernatural, echoes in the physical. When physical bonds were broken, spiritual bonds were broken.

²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

· How could Paul and Silas see the jailer almost killing himself? Perhaps another case of the physical darkness relating to a spiritual cloud?

³¹They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." ³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

· When you praise God, others are affected by it.

· A life lived in intimacy with God, calls for a life of praise. A life of praise is evident on the outside.

· Who knows of people who are somewhat depressing to be around? Be honest!

· Who knows of people who brighten up your day just by being with them?

· Now, who would you rather be around?

· What sort of person would you like to be with?

· Praise is evident in people’s lifestyle: by the things they do, by the things they say, and by their behaviour.

Why should we praise?

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Hebrews 13:15 (NIV)

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:4-8

· We are commanded to rejoice. It’s not a suggestion, nor is it a recommendation. It is a commandment – to rejoice ALWAYS!

· Why does gentleness follow joy? One of Vine’s definition explains it as “meekness…a quality of the wisdom from above.”

Vine’s definition of “Gentleness”

from epi, "unto," and eikos, "likely," denotes "seemly, fitting;" hence, "equitable, fair, moderate, forbearing, not insisting on the letter of the law;" it expresses that considerateness that looks "humanely and reasonably at the facts of a case;" it is rendered "gentle" in 1 Tim. 3:3, RV (AV, "patient"), in contrast to contentiousness; in Titus 3:2, "gentle," in association with meekness; in Jas 3:17, as a quality of the wisdom from above; in 1 Pet. 2:18, in association with the good; for the RV rendering "forbearance" in Phil. 4:5, RV, see FORBEARANCE. Cp. B. See PATIENT. In the Sept., Esth. 8:13; Ps. 86:5.

"mild, gentle," was frequently used by Greek writers as characterizing a nurse with trying children or a teacher with refractory scholars, or of parents toward their children. In 1 Thess. 2:7, the Apostle uses it of the conduct of himself and his fellow missionaries towards the converts at Thessalonica (cp. 2 Cor. 11:13,20); in 2 Tim. 2:24, of the conduct requisite for a servant of the Lord.

or epieikia, denotes "fairness, moderation, gentleness," "sweet reasonableness" (Matthew Arnold); it is said of Christ, 2 Cor. 10:1, where it is coupled with prautes, "meekness;" for its meaning in Acts 24:4, see CLEMENCY. Trench (Syn. xlviii) considers that the ideas of equity and justice, which are essential to the meaning, do not adequately express it in English. In contrast with prautes ("meekness"), which is more especially a temperament or habit of mind, epieikeia expresses an active dealing with others.

· What is this wisdom from above? The next verse explains it. It is FAITH! Faith gives us cause to rejoice!

· With faith, we can look past the problem we’re in, and look at the One who can either take us out or through it.

· “Either He calms the storm, or calms us in the midst of the storm.” – David Doery

How can we praise?

Recall worship is about acknowledgement, acclamation, abandonment, adoration.

The first definition of praise is Acknowledgement or recognition. Like any relationship, friends are more than just objects with whom we associate ourselves with. We communicate the fact that we understand who they are. With God, we praise Him by recognising who He truly is.

Next, praise is Acceptance. Why is the Mona Lisa priceless? Why are diamonds precious? It is because we have given it worth, or value. With God, it goes deeper. We don’t give God worth – he is in Himself worthy and deserving of praise. We need to accept Him not only for who He is, but what He has done and will do. When we fail to praise Him, it doesn’t change whether or not God deserves praise – it’s more to do with our ignorance or apathy.

Finally, praise is APPRECIATION. We’re touching on the emotional side of things now. Know that praise should dictate our emotions, not the other way around! However, appreciation is usually associated with the emotional “high”. When you have seen a good movie, or recognise a fantastic tennis player, it’s something you wouldn’t keep to yourself. Praise is about sharing how much you value someone or something with someone else! How much is God worth to you? Start sharing Him around!

¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe ¹⁶as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labour for nothing. ¹⁷But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Philippians 2:14-18

“In worship, WE create the atmosphere in which God performs miracles.” – Frank Damazio

Discussion

Acts 16:16-34

1. What gave Paul and Silas cause to rejoice?

2. What is the difference between happiness and joyfulness?

3. How can you be joyful in the face of adversity?

Why should we praise?

4. How can faith help you to praise God?

5. What are the fruits of praise?

How can we praise?

6. Write down something to be thankful for, praise God and share it with others.

7. Write down something you need prayer for, and praise God regardless.

Sources

Damazio, F. 2003 “Being Noisy for God”, Thursday night rally, Hillsong Conference, 10/07/03

“In Praise of Praise” (URL: http://www.becomingcloser.org/Psalms/praise.htm) [Accessed: 12/07/06]

“Topic: Gentle, Gentleness, Gently”, Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (URL: http://www.mf.no/bibelprog/vines.pl?word=gentleness) [Accessed: 12/07/06]