Praising God

    Our teaching today in church was about praising God.  I took notes on what I thought would be the most important things to remember.

   When we worship God at church we start out with having a worship band play music.  During this time of worship music, most people choose to dance and lift up their hands in the air.  One of the things I like about Living Light (my church) is that everyone participates to the fullest in worship.  They aren't afraid of what others around them will think like most churches, they just give it their all.
   We are sometimes afraid to give our all in praise, just because what the other's will think around us.  Yes, we are humiliating ourselves, but it doesn't matter what anyone thinks around us.  Being concerned with what people think is a form of pride, and God likes humble people.  It doesn't matter what other people think, what matters is what God thinks.  It's a form of obedience, do what God is calling you to do in praise.

   When you praise God, their should be evidence that you have praised him.  People around you should see that, that's what you are doing.  Thanking God silently is a totally different thing.  Praising God is hard, that is because it is a form of sacrifice.  Praising God, sacrifices our attention, pride, energy, and time.  We need to praise God even when we don't feel like it, or when he seems far a way.  Like when we hear bad news.  God is there to help us through these situations, he never leaves our side.

    Praising God can be used as a weapon against the enemy.  A tip for ending a fight is to stop, and praise God for what he has done in your life, and usually the fight will end because you'll notice how much the fight didn't matter in the first place.

Here are a few verses you can check out, on the importance of praise or just praising God in general.
- 1 Peter 2 : 9-10
- Acts 16 : 23-25
-Psalm 51: 16-17
- Hebrews 13:15
- James 4:6
- Psalm 8:1-2