Tehilla

By him (Jesus Christ) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name (Hebrews 13:15). Just as the priest offered sacrifices of burnt offerings and incense in the Old Testament, today, we offer sacrifices of praise to the Lord with the fruit of our lips, which are the words we speak in praise and thanksgiving to Him. The underlined expression, “giving thanks” is the Greek, “Homologeo”, meaning to make confessions; making confessions to His Name.

Our sacrifices of praise are with words, and they transcend statements like, “Lord, I give you praise.” For it to be a true sacrifice of praise to God, it must be mixed with substance from your spirit. You must have definite reasons for praising Him and then voice those reasons. Your Praise of Him must have content. In other words, you’re to consciously praise and thank Him in the Name of Jesus, for specific reasons.

The sacrifices of praise are confessions, declarations, psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs that you render to Him for His love, grace and goodness towards you. They also refer to tributes or speeches that acknowledge and celebrate his majesty; confessions of His Word that we make to glorify Him. These confessions are the fruits and calves of our lips—words from our mouths that give glory to God. Therefore, when making confessions, say beautiful things about the Lord and give testimonies of His wondrous works. Proclaim what He has said about himself and about you: “…for he hath said…So that we may boldly say…” (Hebrews 13:5-6). As you make those confessions in Jesus’ Name, He (Jesus), as our Great High Priest, presents them before the Father, who receives your praise and worship as a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savor. Hallelujah! “When you praise the Lord from your heart in the beauty of holiness, the result is a divine explosion of glory.

Praise and worship the Lord in the face of daunting challenges, and His glory will be manifested on your behalf “If you desire a miracle today, whether it’s in your job or finances or even trouble at work; or perhaps it has to do with your health or that of a loved one; whatever it is, as an act of faith, set this matter before you, and begin to sing songs of praise in the spirit and also in your understanding again and again, as the Spirit gives you utterance. By this act of faith, you’re invoking the power of the mighty God—the most High God—over the matter before you,” A lady was diagnosed with breast cancer, she had been to the hospital many times before she learnt of a praise concert we organised three years ago. She came in with a heavy heart, hoping that one of the ministers would receive a word from the Lord and minister to her. As we began to worship the Lord with songs of praise, she said she suddenly felt a wind come upon her from the east and it carried her with a strength she could not explain. The next thing she knew was standing up from the ground. Thirty minutes later, her clothes were soaked with sweat and tears. She was made whole instantly. This is a level of praise that can take you when it is done wholeheartedly and with reckless abandonment not when you are praising God and checking your body to see if you have been healed or constantly checking your bank account to see if your debts have been cleared or checking your phone to see if that news you were waiting for has come! That is transactional praise and those who do it get nothing out of it. You must lay things down and allow your sacrifice to be total! Imagine a man who brought an animal to be sacrificed to the Lord and then keeps holding on to it instead of sacrificing it, such a man would end up not pleasing the Lord.

A sacrifice of Praise works the same way, you are here praising the Lord for who he is regardless of your circumstances, you are screaming, and jumping, and dancing and rolling on the floor, and twirling and singing and screaming and jumping, and running and shouting the way a child does at the sight of his parents. I have seen dogs get all excited at the sight of their owners, they sure know how to praise without words and yet their praise gladdens the hearts of their owners and espouses great affection towards them in the process. We must learn to praise God simply because He is God! “You don’t have to say much. Don’t talk about the thing that’s been bothering you; keep your focus on the Lord, as you sing and dance to the Lord, chanting verses of praise to extol His majesty, the power of God will surge through your being. Don’t stop at this time; as the inspiration increases, speak in tongues again and again, until you have a note of victory.” No matter what the case is, such worship will be followed by the miraculous. Rather than feel downcast, helpless or overwhelmed when you face challenges, employ the worship and praise strategy; the power of God’s Spirit will be stirred, and you’ll have a testimony. Remember Paul and Silas in Acts 16:25 Praising God under such circumstances shows the ability of the worshipper to release himself or herself from the chokehold of situations that were meant to demoralise, conquer, diminish, demean and destroy our spirit. Many Christians fall apart in the midst of any form of crisis, they only praise God when things are going well for them and they insist that they will praise God as long as things are working out for them. They however don't have the foresight to see that all things are working out together for their good, to them the only path before them is the only path that must be set aright, even if it is the wrong path or if God has a bigger plan for them than they could ever think or imagine. I have seen people who praised their way out of great storms, knowing that the reality they are walking in is one of unending pleasure at the right hand of God. The highest level of praise is the kind of praise that we do, not because one celebrity musician or singer is on the stage and making us exercise or vibe to her sounds, the highest level of praise is ministering to the Lord from the heart. Ascending in praise of praise, singing in the spirit, entering into the Mareh, moving out of our flesh into the spirit unhindered and setting our spirits aglow in the light of the eternal one. Praise is spiritual, Praise is divine, Praise can be carnal when we begin to compete among ourselves and use praise to build up our ego. Praise, however, is a key that opens the door into dimensions of the realm of Glory when it is done properly. Imagine how the heavens lit up the day Jesus was born, angels from the Realms of Glory sang praises and their songs lit up the whole earth, shepherds heard the sound of their ethereal praises and gained an understanding of the wonders that had been done. There were no drummers or saxophonists or minstrels and yet the praise that was rendered demonstrates to us that praise is real when it comes from the heart. David would sing to the Lord in the wilderness as a shepherd boy, the Lord heard him and the Lord saw something unique David had tuned himself like a guitar or a harp or an organ to the melodies of the Spirit through his praise. Until we are tuned into the reality of divine praise, we will only praise the Lord in the flesh, sweat a bit, lose our voice and boast about how much we danced and did other physical exercises. When praise is done right, the whole assembly realises one thing only, as they praised, the heavens joined them and the Lord is glorified “Praising God is a spiritual sacrifice. It’s an offering. It’s something that you actually give to God. Our praises have spiritual significance. They don’t come to God as songs. In heaven, these songs don’t sound like songs. They have a meaning. They come as incense to Him.” We praise the Lord with our words, with our songs, with our spirit as we worship in the language of the Holy Spirit, with hands lifted, wearing our best outfits, with our hearts lifted like the smoke of the sanctuary ascending above without any care for he alone is worthy of praise! Praise the Lord!!!
PS: Tehilla Praise is happening in Lagos on the 22nd of November. November is our month of praise. The Lord commanded it so and it has come to pass. No matter where you are under the heavens, come and join us Plan, prepare, come with friends and family. We will gather and praise the Lord, we will praise the One who is called Holy, we will worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness, we will sing unto him with a voice of triumph, we will magnify and exalt His Holy name. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!