Praise and worship

Jesus taught us to end our prayers with thanksgiving and worship. Praise is our declaration of trust in God. When we know the love and power of God, it is the most natural way to conclude our prayers.

God’s word says that we should not be worried about anything but that we should lay everything before God in prayer with thanks and praise (Phil. 4:6). Christian prayer is born up by thanks, praise and worship, quite simply because we know who we are praying to. We have confidence in our heavenly Father that nothing is impossible for him, that he cares about us and that he will, in his great love, come to our aid when we need him.

Praise is our declaration of confidence in God. We thank him because we know that he has heard us and in worship we bow to his will and receive all that comes from his hand with joy. Praise and worship are expressions of voluntary and joyful submission to God.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen. (Matt.6:13)

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honour come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. (1 Chron. 29:1-12)

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. (Rev. 4:11)

Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen! (Rev. 7:12)

Jesus taught his disciples to end prayer with praise and worship and this is the pattern we find throughout the Bible. Christian prayer begins and ends with God.

Yours is the kingdom - God rules today!

We pray for God’s kingdom to come in the confidence that God rules and reigns. We end our prayer with trusting thanks to the one who is our Lord, our sovereign King and Saviour. The kingdom belongs to him. No one can take the government from him. No matter what happens, we know that God has appointed his King and he has full control over everything. We are born again. We have become citizens of God’s kingdom. In God’s kingdom we are under his protection, the evil one cannot hurt us, for it is God who rules today - the kingdom is his!

Yours is the power - God does what he wants!

There are no limits to what God can do. He rules over all resources. No one can hinder him from fulfilling his plan. This is a wonderful perspective to have when we pray, that we can safely lay our lives in the hands of the Almighty and know that he, in his care, will look after us. God is greater than all obstacles. God is greater than all challenges. God is greater than all difficulties. God is greater than all. He has all power in heaven and on earth! Praise be to God, he does what he wants - for his children’s best!

Yours is the honour (glory) - God alone is worthy ofall our thanks and praise!

Our God is the King of Honour and the God of Glory. He is so good and merciful, so loving and faithful, that it is impossible to find words good enough to give him honour and thanks. It is our first duty and greatest joy to thank and praise God, our benefactor. All the good we receive comes from God. The fact that we have been saved is not our doing, it is he who shall have all honour from first to last.

The whole of creation bears witness to God’s goodness. The earth is full of his glory. Every day is better than we deserve! Everything is arranged in a wonderful way. The honour is yours! You alone are worthy to be praised.

When people give God honour and thanks they get a right perspective on their lives. Praise and worship give people a new dimension, a new understanding, a new insight and equip them to live richly and freely. People who praise get the strength to change adversity into blessing and difficulties become stepping stones which lead them higher up and further forward.

Exercise:

Have you made it a habit always to end your prayers with thanksgiving and praise? Why not take some time right now to give thanks to the Lord for his goodness towards you?

Make a list of 10 things to give thanks to the Lord for.

Continue to memorise and add this Bible verse:

I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13)