No rock will take my place;Praising and worshipping GOD!

I start with this psalm, because since I was growing up, this was the second psalm i learnt as a child:

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

  Serve the Lord with gladness:
  Come before his presence with singing.

  Know ye that the Lord he is God:

  It is he that hath made us,  and not we ourselves;

  We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,

  And into his courts with praise:

 Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;

 And his truth endureth to all generations."

   I never understood its importance, until I learnt the significance of praising and worshipping GOD. My Pastor at LHCC, Pastor Ronald King SR always use this term “I am giving GOD a yet praise!”. When I first heard this years ago, I did not know what it meant, and even when I understood its meaning, I was unable to fully praise and worship GOD. Not that I resented doing it, but first and foremost, my heart was heavy. I also came from a church that was too reserved, traditional, there was no clapping, shouting, no raising of hands or even dancing. I bet you that if I go back and do all that, I will be put out. As for the singing, well that’s another story. Second of all, I was hurting emotionally, physically and spiritually from ones that I had trusted and looked up to.

   It is not easy singing, clapping, praising GOD when in pain and you look around you seeing everyone having such a great time. I had built this wall around me to stop anyone coming close to me, to stop them from hurting me anymore, not knowing that the wall was not only keeping people out, but it was also preventing GOD from coming closer to heal me and stop all the pain. Being in LHCC slowly helped me to tear down the walls. Pastor Angela King, who is such an awesome worshipper, always said we should leave every issue behind and enter church dancing and singing. I was able to let go and allow the Holy Spirit to take over and take control. It was then that fully got what Pastor Ronald meant by giving GOD a yet praise. At that point, I knew that I had done all I could do in my present situation, and that only GOD can do the rest. LHCC has one of the best praise and worship team ever! The minister of worship Ronald King Jr has a phenomenal voice!

   All I did in the beginning was close my eyes and listen to him and the team and listen and my healing started, and slowly I saw GOD all around me. I started praising and worshipping GOD with all of me! Tears came from nowhere and it felt great! There was a sense of relief and release. I have heard of churches that don’t believe or practice using musical instruments in their churches. Some don’t even believe women should be a part of the praise and worship team! I don’t know where they got their ideas from, because even the Bible advocates using instruments to praise and worship GOD. It is mentioned in nearly every bible book, especially the Psalms. When king David was bringing back the Ark to Jerusalem, he danced to praise and worship GOD “and David danced before the Lord with all his might 2^nd Samuel 6:14”

   Miriam led the women in praise and worship in the desert “ then Miriam the prophet Aaron’s sister took a timbrel (tambourine) in her hand and all the women followed her with timbrels in their hands dancing and Miriam sang to them “sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted Exodus 15:20”. Praise is when you thank GOD for what he did and worship is when you give him glory for who he is ( T D Jake ministries). I learnt that praise is the joyful recounting of all GOD has done for me. It was me thanking GOD for all his mighty works, past, present and pending on my behalf.

   My pastor always says that worship should come from deep down in your belly when you are truly worshipping GOD. Worship comes from a different place deep in our spirits. Worship should be reserved for GOD alone (Luke 4:8), and not for people, things etc, as is commonly done these days. Worship is the art of losing oneself in the adoration of GOD. It gets to the heart of who we are, to truly worship GOD, we should be able to humble ourselves before him, surrendering every part of our lives to his control, love him for who he is, not for what he has done. It should not be occasional, not seasonal, not just when we are in the mood. Praise and worship should be our daily lifestyle!

   I now praise and worship GOD without inhibition or hesitance no matter where I am or how I feel or whatever tests or trials, or darts or curve-balls the enemy is throwing, because I was created to praise and worship GOD, because if we don’t, GOD can raise stones to worship him. I would rather take those rocks and a sling like David did and go after those giants guess what? I have made up my mind that NO ROCK WILL TAKE MY PLACE! Hallelujah King JESUS!! Hallelujah GOD!! Great things you have done! You are and always will be The Great I AM!!