We are commanded to praise the Lord. Psalm 150:6 says, “let everything that has breath, including us, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. In Jesus' name.” Praise is not dependent on our situation. It is a call to obedience.

We praise because of what Psalm 100:5 says, “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” This is a promise we can count on and we should remember in the midst of all things. God’s desire is to dwell with His people.

Moses was on a mountain for 40 days and nights. In this time God gave him the 10 commandments. God also gave Moses the plans for the first church. In the Old Testament there was a building God instructed Moses to build called the temple. This physical representation was also a prophecy of what is to come. The gates are blue, purple and crimson. They represent the broken body of Jesus. Recognize the gates. They are the portal to something amazing.

We are beckoned to show up with a heart of thanksgiving. God wanted us to have a place to dwell with Him. The temple went from being outside of us through Jesus to being within us.
God dwells within us.

The reason we start our services off with singing is because before we seek God for anything we need to praise Him for everything. We must enter the courts with praise, because He is worth being praised. Praise is an outward expression of an inward attention of our affection.
Posterior praise is a position of gratitude. Preliminary praise is the praise of expectation. We praise because we trust He will and has acted on our behalf.

Praise puts focus on our God. Praise is a magnifier of God's goodness. In this way, God gets bigger and our problems get smaller. Praise brings us to a place of humility.

Praise confuses the enemy. It is a spiritual weapon. Praise leaves no room for negativity. You can’t praise and complain at the same time. Praise invites God's presence into our lives

Psalm 22:3, “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.”

God inhabits the praises of His people. Praise renews our spirit. His power is in our praise because in our praise He is present. Praise paves the way for God's power to be displayed.
Our feelings have to catch up to our obedience. So when we don’t feel like praising, praise anyway.

Hebrews 13:15, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.”
God deserves our fan praise more than anything or anyone else does. When we don’t know how to praise we need look no further than scripture.

Psalm 47:1, “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.”

Lamentations 3:41, “Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say.”

Praise is not just a physical representation, it is a spiritual weapon. King Jehoshaphat feared and prayed (2 Chronicles 20:15-22). What we do after we feel fear is what is important. We need to remember and remind ourselves of who God is. The battle is never ours, but we do have to suit up.

God’s plan doesn’t make sense because praise confuses the enemy. The enemy doesn’t even know that when he is coming to fight us he is bringing us all the things we can praise about.