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Heart of a Worshipper International Expounded Upon
Worship Study
"The Relationship Between Praise and Trust"
In this study we are gonna be looking at the relationship between two things that are essential parts of every strong Christian’s life. These two things are Praise and Trust.
I started talking to God about what He wanted me to study with you today. It took a few days of asking, but He finally showed me that He wanted me to talk about the relationship between Praise and Trust.
I think every one of us as a Christian wants to have an interesting and non-boring relationship with God if we were honest with each other today.
Nobody wants to feel distant from God or bored with being a Christian. Nobody wants their life following God to be un-exciting and without connection or direction from Him.
We haven’t written about these two things together before on the Heart of a Worshipper website, but it is a connection that I believe God makes, and we need to have a basic understanding of where they fit into our lives, and how they work together.
Let’s begin with Praise:
Praise in it’s most basic element is adoration of God. Now we do give praise to people sometimes, for example last week the guest speaker that we had in at our church kept talking about how great and anointed our worship team is. He was blown away by it, and even asked if we would lead worship for his upcoming wedding. So he did give some praise to us. And people do give praise to each other, and to their animals. I give praise to my dog (Promise) when he does something good.
Praise in its most basic element relates to God, and is simply the adoration of God; but it is more than just that. Because there is action in the word in scripture. When it is mentioned, usually something is being done, even if it’s really simple. Praise is demonstrative, moving, open, assertive. It has sounds and songs and movement. Praise isn’t passive, presumptuous, or secretive.
When my dog does something good, such as sitting on command or fetching a tennis ball, I will pat him on the back in praise. That takes movement and action on my part. My youngest son, little Christian, many times will hop around in some silly simple movement and yell..."DAD! Look at this!" as he hops on one foot or does a fake headstand. I will tell him how cool he is and give him praise for his coordination. That takes breath on my part, and effort to think of something good to say to encourage him.
I was at a local high school recently to attend the "Mr. Handsome" contest which my nephew competed in. People were screaming and shouted their acclamations in a crowd of maybe 500 people or so. I could not believe the effort that people were putting in to make it known who they really liked during the performances. By the end of the evening a winner was chosen, and let me tell you, people were worn out from giving those young men their praise and adoration. Praise is everywhere in our societies. You just have to know what you're looking for.
It seems that there are really three main forms of Praise that we see in the Bible:
1. Praise that is Vocal.
2. Praise that is Audible.
3. Praise that is Visible.
Let me show you what I mean. Look at these scriptures:
Vocal: Audible: Visible:
Ps 145:21 Ps 47:1a Ps 63:4
Ps 63:3 Ps 150:3-5 1 Chron. 15:28-29
Ps 66:11 Ps 149:3
Ps 26:7 1 Chron 16:29 (Havah -kneel)
2 Chron 20:18 - Havah
Psalm 96:9 - Havah
So when you look at it like this, you can come up with an easy definition of Praise.
Praise is simply: Adoration of God that is vocal, audible, or visible.
I believe that our willingness to praise God comes from having a proper perspective. And this is where trust comes into the picture.
I wrote earlier about how nobody wants to have a boring Christian life. Nobody wants to have an un-interesting or boring relationship with God. See a real important first step to having an interesting, exciting, and un-boring relationship with God is Trusting God.
Trust is an issue in everybody’s life and it doesn’t matter if you are 5 or 85. People in general have certain areas in their life where they just don’t trust somebody or something. And that isn't always a bad thing! Sometimes people don’t trust sharing their feelings with another person or a group of people. And of course when you become a Christian...then trust takes on some whole new characteristics.
I use this illustration when I teach on this subject in churches: I have a beautiful box that I present to the crowd and tell them there is a prize in it. I then ask who would like to take the box and what’s inside of it. But here’s the thing...If someone takes the box, there is a consequence that comes with it. If they take it, they absolutely have to do what is supposed to be done with the thing that’s in the box. They have to suffer that consequence…Could be money. Could be underwear. Could be a toothbrush. Could even be a cell phone bill. With that said...I ask who’s willing to take the box without knowing what’s in it, and what they will have to do with what’s in it. Someone always volunteers, and when someone volunteers to take it...before giving it to them...I ask…
"Why do you want the box, and why do you trust me that it’s not gonna be something bad?" They usually say that they know I wouldn't do anything bad to them. They open the box, and it is something good inside. Sometimes :)
See this illustrates how trust works. Some people trust way too easily...like a little child...who could get kidnapped being lured with a piece of candy...And some people just can’t seem to trust anybody or anything. And in that box example, either somebody trusted without knowing the risk, or if every person chose to decline, then nobody would’ve trusted me at all. And the point is that when you choose to trust in a person or in something...There are risks involved…and consequences that wait for you.
At one time in my life I was part of an investment company that was formed by elders in a church that I worked with when I lived in Texas. I slowly and cautiously got involved as a representative, and many people I knew were also promoting the company. For about a couple of years or so, the returns were amazing, and we were all seemingly building wealth much more quickly than with other investments. At first the company was legit, but all of the sudden one day we found out that the person who formed it was scamming and that the past year of contracts were basically fraudulent. The bottom line was everybody lost most of their money. I'm talkin' about banks, churches, ministries, investment companies, and even retirement accounts for people near retirement. Millions and millions of dollars were embezzled. It was horrible. I lost all the money I had invested. My parents lost all there's too. My aunt and uncle, my friends. everybody lost! In a flash, it was all gone, because of one person's greed and dishonesty. My point is...this person claimed to be a responsible, savvy Christian investor. He took our trust for granted. Many people risked it all based on trusting this man. But he was a man, not the God of all creation.
You See being a Christian involves risk and consequences.Being a Christian involves RISK; just like the risk I take trusting my motorcycle not to have it’s wheels fall off when I'm riding a wheelie. Along with risk, being a Christian involves trust. It means giving your heart and life to God. Don’t you think that would take some trust? GIVING YOUR HEART AND LIFE TO GOD!
What are the consequences in our society of doing that?
-Having other people look down on you, or judge you because of your beliefs. If you are in a non-Christian country, this probably means risking being beaten or tortured for your faith.
-Not being able to be in the most popular group in school, college, work, or friendship circles.
-Staying away from things that God considers sin, but that you probably wouldn‘t stay away from if you weren't a Christian.
So there are risks and consequences for putting trust in God, but there are also some great rewards right!
1. It's Completely Free
2. We Get Eternal Life Through Faith in Jesus Christ
3.We Get to Feel His Presence Daily, and Have Him Guide Us into Our Love Lives, Careers, Skills, and Life Paths
4. We Get to See God Perform Miracles in our Lives and the Lives of Others. Plus So Much More!
And to have a relationship with God where you regular hear the Holy Spirit’s voice, and You have God guide your steps into that right love life, that right school, that right college, that right career, that right business, that right ministry...To have that kind of relationship with God that isn’t boring…Where He is an active part of your life, you’ve absolutely gotta find a way to TRUST GOD! And that might be tuff for some of you. But it’s something you can learn to do with practice.
You see praise enters into the picture here. Remember our definition of praise:
Praise is simply adoration of God that is vocal, audible, or visible.
Our Praise of God and Our Trust in God are directly connected, and if your perspective on God is not right, then you will not want to praise God very much if at all. I think we’ve established that we are undeniably told to praise God in scripture right? But there is something more to it that I believe God has shown me. There is a scripture in the Bible in Proverbs 3:5-6 that reads:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
Another scripture in Psalm 56:3-4 reads:
"When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee. In God whose word I PRAISE, in God I have put my TRUST; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
I want you to think of a teeter totter or see-saw like you see on a play ground. I played on those things so much as a little kid 'cuz we had a playground in our neighborhood, and we had a playground at my grade school. Have you ever been on a see-saw?
They are based on weight transfer and leverage. You get on one end, then somebody comes along and reaches up and pushes the other end down, and uses that leverage to hold the board down; and then they push off with their legs and you come back down. Then you push of the ground with your legs and go springing up and then they come back down. It’s fun to do...especially on the ones that go up really high.
Did you ever have somebody stop while you are up in the air, and you were just fearing that they were gonna get off while you were up there, and then they did, and what happened? You came crashing down really fast, and if you were lucky you caught yourself, but if you weren’t…What Happened? BAM! BUTT BURN and BUTT VIBRATION right? You get off the thing with bruised buns and a sore tailbone and you kinda walk like a chimpanzee for a while!
I think a lot of people have an innate fear of see-saws now because of experiences like that. What happened in that situation though? A person’s what was betrayed? Their TRUST!
See some people are just people that can not be trusted. They have an ulterior motive. They are trying to use people, and will lie and cheat, or steal to get whatever they want. I have an old friend who was a convicted pathological liar. He was that way.
Other people or material things seem very trustworthy on the outside, but they really can’t be trusted. My old Dodge Caravan we had a few years back was great for a while, but then it became unreliable mechanically...It looked almost like new on the outside, but looks were deceiving and I couldn't trust it not to strand me!
REAL TRUST TAKES TIME & PATIENCE, and most of the time trust is something that has to be built up from nothing. If somebody breaks a person’s trust in them, then sometimes it can take a long time for that trust to be built back up again. Teens do this all the time with their parents and curfews.
Think of that see-saw again…
See praise and trust are like this see-saw.
We know we are told to praise God in scripture. We know that we are told to Trust God in scripture, and lean not on our own understanding. We know that praise is going to be Vocal, or Audible, Visible, or a combination of those three things.
But praising God, and trusting God are connected in that your trust in God is on one end of the see-saw, and as you put your trust in God it is like you are putting that trust up on the high end of the see saw, and your praise is at the other end on the ground, and when you put the heavy weight of your trust in God on that see-saw, it makes the praises have the ability to spring up toward God you see. And your relationship with God is the board, and your faith in God is the foundation.
Sometimes people find themselves, and this may be you today; but sometimes people find themselves having difficulty praising God. Whether that is Vocally like speaking, or singing...or Audibly like clapping...or Visibly like by bowing or waving or even looking up. Sometimes there feels like something is blocking you from praising God like you want to in your heart.
See as I wrote earlier...Praise is active...It’s moving...It’s demonstrative...It’s open...It’s assertive. People can see, or see and hear you doing it. So it takes a commitment to God. A commitment to not worry about what other people are seeing you do. A commitment to come out of your shell and allow yourself to be seen and heard adoring God. The only way we can do that. And be free in our praise, and be honest in our praise…is by trusting God.
Some people just never seem to be able to take that heavy weight of trust, pick it up, and put that trust up there that pulls that see-saw down and causes their praise to spring up. But I’m writing to tell you today that YOU can trust God!
And the point here is that the reason our trust gets broken in people is the fact that people change. You trust a boyfriend or girlfriend or husband or wife for six months or 6 years, and then you catch 'em with somebody else. You trust a van for 3 years, and then it falls apart. You trust a financial wiz with your money and he steals it.
See material things and people change; and then many times the trust is broken, because that thing or that person isn’t steady like they were before, or doesn’t act like they did before. That vehicle isn’t reliable like it was before.
But if you wanna get serious about God. And have an interesting and non-boring relationship with Him. A relationship where you hear His voice. You feel and see His power. And you know deep in yourself that He is really real. Not just because I tell you I’ve seen Him, or I’ve heard Him...To have that kind of relationship, it starts with you trusting God. Making a decision to trust God. And allowing your praise of Him to break out.
See people change. Mechanical things change and break. People will break your heart, or become untrustworthy. But God is the one thing, and the one Person in your life who will not change, and whom you can trust. God won’t change because He’s the same all the time and always will be. And because He doesn’t change...you can trust Him. When you put in the effort to get to know Him…You put your faith in Him, and you have a relationship with Him…Then 6 months down the road, you can know that He’s still gonna be the same. 3 Years down the road, He’s still gonna be the same. And that’s a good thing.
He and only He is worthy of all our Trust and our Praise. So make some effort, and put your trust in God, so that you can be free to praise him from your heart today!
You might not have one person in your life that you feel you can really trust, and you might not even feel like your good at praising people. When I’ve had difficulty praising God openly in the past, the Lord began to speak to me about praising other people. Complimenting them, and acknowledging publicly and privately what a great job they’ve done or how they’ve been good at something. It’s the same with God. We put our trust in Him, and we let him know how we feel by praising Him. By adoring Him Vocally and Audibly, and Visibly. I’m telling you that God is somebody you can trust in. He won’t give up on you. He won’t try to control you. And He will forgive you when You screw up if you confess that to Him.
But because of all his goodness, He is worthy of our trust and our praise.
In Christianity you start your relationship with God through basic faith Him and even that faith is a gift from Him. That faith is established as a foundation, then you make effort and develop a relationship with Him; and in that relationship we are told to both trust in Him, and to praise Him.
The first step to being a praiser is trusting God. Examine your life right now; and make sure that you trust God...and if you haven’t been, then let’s figure out why and try and work on it. God’ll help you, all you have to do is ask. But trusting God, is the place to start.
By
William Charles
Copyright 2004
Heart of a Worshipper International
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