Why we sing songs of praise

Singing praises to God or worshiping him opens up a window to heaven. As your praise reaches the heart of God, it becomes a two way stream of communication. As you touch God with your praise, his Holy Spirit touches you and ministers to you. Praise and worship can also open the door to blessings from God.


At the Ferry pub in Wallasey on 16th October from 7.30pm we will sing worship songs and have Bible teaching: people can come and find out how prayer can change this area in radical ways for the better.

We praise God because he is worthy of all praise. He is the maker of Heaven and earth and the entire universe. He has given us life and through his son has saved us from eternal damnation. He loves us completely despite of our short comings and sinful nature.

Probably the best examples of how to worship the Lord can be seen in the life and Psalms of King David.

God described David as “a man after his own heart”. David loved God and God loved David. David had a wonderful musical talent and regularly came before the Lord in songs of love and thanksgiving. He danced and played music to praise God. In (2 Sam 6:14-15) it says

“And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet”. (KJV)

David wrote beautiful words to express his deep devotion and love for God. David actively pursued God, and desired to have a close personal relationship with him. This is demonstrated in (Psa 57:7 -10) where he writes

“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds”. (KJV)

When we praise God we are allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through us directly to our Father in Heaven. The Holy Spirit’s presence can be felt right inside of us and surrounding us as we speak to the Father through him. I have heard many times of healings taking place when people have been worshiping God, and I believe this is because the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon them and ministers to their needs while they are praising God.

There are several different Hebrew words used in the Bible to denote praise and worship. These can be translated into the following English meanings.

Worship – To fall down prostrate (especially reflexively in homage to royalty or God), to bow down, crouch, fall down flat, humbly beseech, make or do obeisance, do reverence or to stoop.

Praise – Literally to use (that is, hold out) the hand; to revere or worship (with extended hands); intensively to bemoan (by wringing the hands): give thanks, rejoice; a celebration of thanksgiving for harvest, to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration) or congratulate.

The main difference between worship and praise is that we worship God for who he is, and praise him for what he has done.

You will see that many of these translations display the theme of humility – of coming before God in subservience and in reverence of his awesome power. We are not praising him as we would a child who has done well, from the viewpoint of someone who is older and wiser – we are to praise him out of our total unworthiness to even be in his presence. In humility we need to grasp the magnitude of his awesome power, love and grace and praise him for them. We need to praise him for loving us despite of how unworthy we are of his love. We need to lift his name on high, not because of who we are, but because of who he is.

The Bible rescues us from positive thinking's biggest threat

Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

When you make an excuse, you are opening a door for negative thoughts. Excuses are just your way of trying to trick your mind. You are trying to pass on responsibility for something every time you make an excuse.

Excuses can make becoming a positive thinker very difficult. If you are someone who is used to making excuses, then you will have a hard time becoming a positive thinker unless you stop making excuses.

Excuses are something that can make your mind think it is doing positive things when it really is not. An excuse will just make you think you are okay and not being negative at all, but in reality using an excuse is just a negative thought in disguise.

In order to be a positive thinker and put the power of positive thinking to work in your life, you have to get rid of the excuses. If you feel that you are about to make an excuse, then stop. Think about why you are making the excuse. What are you going to get from it? What benefit does this excuse have?

Try to identify what is really going on and why you feel you need to make the excuse. Are you just trying to sneak in a negative thought and trying to explain to your positive side why it is okay? This is common, especially when a person is just beginning to use the power of positive thinking.

Do not give up, though, if you start to find yourself making excuses. Just learn to be aware of this common tactic your brain has to try to keep the negative hanging around.

Turn the impossible into reality.

God creates reality through faith. In Genesis he performed a miracle for Abraham. He made a statement that was humanly impossible but God made it so.

And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Gen 15:5-6)

God told Abraham that his physical descendants would be as many as the stars in heaven. Now when this statement was made, Abraham and Sarah were already past the child bearing age.  Nevertheless, God said it would happen. Now what is Abraham to do? He believed God! He acted upon this information. "Believe" in the Bible, means acting upon what God said to us.

Then what does God do in response to Abrahamís acting upon His statement concerning a child for himself and Sarai.?(Abraham's old age made no difference to God.) When he acted on His word, God did two things.

1. He counted Abrahamís action upon His promise to have children the same as righteousness. (The word righteousness means cleared of all guilt.) Whatever sin may have been in Abrahamís life, this was his freedom from his past. His believing God was counted for the clearance of all the guilt for all his sins.

2.  God did was give Abraham and Sarah their own, natural child. His name was Isaac. And later, Isaac brought forth Jacob and Esau. You know the rest of the story.

Since God did the above miracle for Abraham, he can do the same thing or greater for us. Nothing is too big for God to do in our behalf.  How comforting to know that what God did for Abraham, he can and will do an equal thing for us Christians today to meet our needs also.


Buy Pete A Coffee

Kindness is often underrated online

“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.” – Proverbs 19:17, NIV

Patty grew up with a single mom and five siblings. Her father had died in a boating accident and although the family wasn’t wealthy, they had been able to comfortably meet their financial needs.

That changed after her father’s death. Patty’s mother struggled to support her six children. It seemed there were always more needs than there was money to meet them. 

Years later when Patty was an adult, she was looking on Craigslist for gently used furniture. She found a “wanted” ad by a single mother looking for secondhand boots for her children.

Patty remembered the pain of going without as a child and she quickly contacted the woman to let her know she wanted to help. She bought the single mom a pair of shoes for each of her children.

Now, Patty makes it her mission to search through Craigslist ads for those in need. If she can provide the item, she does. If she can’t, she lets the poster know about an organization or charity that might help.

God, help me to remember the needy. Let me be quick to share my time, resources, and gifts with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.