This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.
At Planetshakers, we LOVE to praise God!
Rarely will we meet together without engaging in some sort of passionate praise and thanksgiving to the God that we love and adore.
We believe that authentic praise carries the supernatural power to change an atmosphere completely and open the door to miracles, signs, and wonders. There are countless times in the Bible that refer to the power of praise. When we praise, we join in agreement with other like-minded Believers to declare who God is and lift Him up above any circumstance that tries to steal our faith, joyand hope!
Praise prepares our hearts for God’s Word by steering our attention away from our problems and back onto His greatness! It readies us to receive what He wants to do in our lives throughout a church service, small group or even as we seek Him on our own.
Praise is powerful! That’s why we intentionally start every Planetshakers meeting with praise so that we can establish an atmosphere of faith that is free from the restrictions that our doubt and unbelief bring! If you want to put this blog into action now, you can listen to our latest praise songs and change the atmosphere you are in now while you praise God for his goodness.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name!
Anything of the enemy that is affecting the atmosphere simply cannot remain when authentic praise fills the airways! By using our bodies to passionately and wholeheartedly declare and celebrate the character and promises of God, we are lifting up the Kingdom of God to establish a fresh new atmosphere; full of possibility and expectation! This defeats whatever the enemy tries to bring against us, in whatever situation we are facing.
Anything of the enemy that is affecting the atmosphere simply cannot remain when authentic praise fills the airways!
God finds our authentic praise ‘irresistible’ and responds with His Presence! There is a devotional our Church made about how to ignite Praise and Worship in your life.
But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.
Praise is an act of faith
Praise is about having faith in the character of God even when we are struggling with challenges in life. It is when we CHOOSE to focus on and believe in Him that our faith is exercised, and it is faith alone that pleases Him and moves Him to action in our lives—personally and corporately!
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become restless and disturbed within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence..
God wants us to know exactly who He is, how He feels and what He is capable of. We establish this revelation in our hearts by singing songs that declare and prophesy His unfailing Word and promises over our lives.
In Acts chapter 16, we see Paul and Silas demonstrate the supernatural power of authentic, passionate praise. Facing unimaginable conditions while being wrongly imprisoned for their faith, they chose to stop focussing on their circumstances and instead, turn their attention fully onto the faithfulness of their God. So powerful was their faith-filled praise in that dark, miserable prison, that their environment suddenly changed and they were instantly set free. The Kingdom of Heaven ‘burst’ through the atmosphere, magnetically drawn to the authentic faith of two suffering men, and the miraculous power of God was released— shaking everything around them and releasing them, and everyone around them, from their chains!
Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.”
We see another great example of the power of praise in Joshua chapter 6. Carefully obeying God’s instructions, His people marched obediently around the impenetrable walls of Jericho, and when the right moment arrived, let out a shout of praise and victory. Once again, moved by their faith, God burst into their circumstances, shaking the earth and causing the walls to collapse and a great and otherwise-impossible victory to be won!
When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.
Praise is not just singing upbeat, loud songs, but rather a faith-filled declaration of God’s power and nature in the face of impossible circumstances that attract the supernatural power of Heaven to bring breakthrough! Our praise is actually a ‘weapon’—one of the most powerful you will ever use! But this is a weapon that can only be activated by FAITH. Our words and what we declare have the power to change the situation we are in,
Praise is a faith-filled declaration of God’s power and nature in the face of impossible circumstances that attract the supernatural power of Heaven to bring breakthrough!
James 2:17 teaches us that faith that is not accompanied by action, is powerless to do anything at all.
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
It takes faith to respond to our challenging circumstances with praise. When we use our bodies to clap, dance, sing and shout— even when we feel like doing the very opposite— we are positioning ourselves for victory. The Bible tells us that our spirits and our flesh (our sinful nature) are constantly at war with each other:
For the sinful nature has its desire which is opposed to the Spirit, and the [desire of the] Spirit opposes the sinful nature; for these [two, the sinful nature and the Spirit] are in direct opposition to each other [continually in conflict], so that you [as believers] do not [always] do whatever [good things] you want to do.
Our flesh loves to respond to how our circumstances are making us feel, and this is when we must allow our spirit to lead the way. Our flesh will want us to respond to the fear and doubt we are feeling, while our spirit pushes us to respond with faith in the goodness of our God to bring the breakthrough we need.
At Planetshakers, we believe that when faced with challenges, bad news, disappointments or a negative diagnosis; the best and most productive thing you can do is PRAISE God. As you declare His goodness, power and promises, passionately and out loud, you remind yourself, the enemy and the circumstances that God will have the final say and that there is NOTHING that can stand in the way of His deliverance!
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
A girl in our church once gave an incredible testimony regarding the power of praise in her life. She had been diagnosed with a throat condition that prevented her from singing. She could no longer worship lead due to this condition preventing her from using her voice. As this girl attended our conference full of faith that God could and would bring the breakthrough she so desperately needed, she did her best to sing out the powerful words of ‘The Anthem’— a Planetshakers song that declares the victory won by Jesus on the cross. She described how her throat literally ‘popped open’ and she was instantly set free of her debilitating condition! Despite her diagnosis, she chose to step out in faith and praise God to the best of her ability—and God met her there with a miracle! The moral of this story is not to let bad news dictate your belief in the power and nature of God, but instead, take a step of faith, turn to Him in praise and then wait for His response!
Praise is a weapon! When you praise, you remind yourself, the enemy and the circumstances that God will have the final say and that there is NOTHING that can stand in the way of His deliverance!
Praise is an act of thankfulness
Of course, praise and thankfulness go hand in hand, and there is always so much to be grateful for! If we praised Him all day, every day, we would never finish thanking Him for all of the seen and unseen ways that He cares for us and blesses us. He is a good Father and we will never fully understand how He is constantly working behind the scenes in our lives to love, protect, nurture and favour us.
And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.
While it is not difficult to argue that God is worthy of our best praise, sometimes we excuse away our lack of passion because we don’t have a ‘confident’ or ‘outgoing’ personality. Maybe we feel that jumping and clapping are for younger people and undignified for older people. At Planetshakers, we try to free people from that kind of thinking by reminding them that praise is not about THEM. It is not about what feels comfortable or appropriate. It’s not about your personality or nature. It’s not about who’s watching you or judging you. It’s not about how you’re feeling or what’s going on in your life. It’s about GOD and how HE feels when we celebrate HIM with all of our body, mind and strength! In fact, you won’t find a Bible verse anywhere that exempts you from praising God passionately, loudly and by moving your body! There are no verses that instruct us to only praise Him if we’re young, outgoing, happy or ‘feel like it’ at the time. Quite the opposite in fact!
Praise the Lord Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. Sing to the Lord with the harp, With the harp and the sound of a psalm, With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
In using the phrases, ‘everything that has breath’ and ‘all the Earth’, we find no convenient loophole for us to avoid participating with passion and energy! Likewise, a quick scan of the list of musical instruments, in addition to the clapping and dancing mentioned here, suggests that God loves a LOUD sound of praise and the sight of a JOY-FILLED dance offering— no matter how uncoordinated it may be! That said, it is important to remember why we celebrate God in this way in Church. Although it is good to have fun and experience joy in God’s house, amongst God’s family, we must always remember that our praise is for HIM. He is the focus of our attention and devotion, and when our gifts, talents, and praise become an opportunity for us to be noticed and admired by others, we have missed the point, and it loses its supernatural power to bring breakthrough in our lives.
"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" Psalm 150:6 There is no convenient loophole for us to avoid participating with passion and energy!
If you need any more convincing on the power and importance of praise, let’s look at the science. Medical research tells us that the lymphatic system of our bodies—designed to eliminate waste and toxins— relies on our muscles and movement to operate effectively. Movement provides the ‘pump’ action that forces unwanted waste from our body, and when we stop moving, toxins begin to build up and cause big problems.
Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
When we praise God passionately, moving our bodies as we dance, clap and sing, we are not only staying spiritually healthy but also physically healthy. Not only are we driving out fear and unbelief, but also natural toxins that threaten our health. This is the genius and glory of God on full display! When we authentically praise God, not only do we touch His heart and attract His Presence, power and breakthrough in our lives, but we also set ourselves up for good health in the process!
Praise brings joy
At Planetshakers, we are driven by the desire to create a fresh new sound of praise that the world has never heard before. We want to engage every generation and every culture to praise God in a joyful, fun and liberating way. It is sometimes said that our services feel like a ‘party’ and this can be easily misinterpreted as ‘worldly’ or ‘shallow’ or only for young people. But we live with the revelation that Heaven will be a party atmosphere as people from every tribe and nation praise God in their own style and language— expressing the ultimate joy and gratitude to Him for what He has done in their lives. It will be loud, passionate, vigorous, unrestrained (having left behind the physical limitations of our Earthly bodies), and it will go on for all eternity! Most importantly, it will be directed at Jesus alone—the One that we love.
We hope and pray that our music builds bridges that connect people all over the world with this very special mandate of lifting Jesus high in our praise so that He can draw all men to Himself. Ultimately, that is what praise is all about.
From the rising of the sun to its going down, the Lord’s name is to be praised.
Heaven will be a party atmosphere as people from every tribe and nation praise God in their own style and language—expressing the ultimate joy and gratitude to Him for what He has done in their lives. Praise is all about JESUS!
Key Points
- We believe that authentic praise carries the supernatural power to change an atmosphere completely and open the door to miracles, signs and wonders. When we praise, we join in agreement with other like-minded Believers to declare who God is and lift Him up above any circumstance that tries to steal our faith, joy and hope!
- Praise is about having faith in the character of God even when we are struggling with challenges in life. It is when we CHOOSE to focus on and believe in Him that our faith is exercised, and it is faith alone that pleases Him and moves Him to action in our lives—personally and corporately!
- Praise is a weapon! When you praise, you remind yourself, the enemy and the circumstances that God will have the final say and that there is NOTHING that can stand in the way of His deliverance!
- "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" Psalm 150:6 There is no convenient loophole for us to avoid participating with passion and energy! It is not about what feels comfortable or appropriate, your personality or nature. It’s not about how you’re feeling or what’s going on in your life. It’s about GOD and how HE feels when we celebrate HIM with all of our body, mind and strength!
- Heaven will be a party atmosphere as people from every tribe and nation praise God in their own style and language—expressing the ultimate joy and gratitude to Him for what He has done in their lives. Praise is all about JESUS!
