- It gives you the opportunity to have constant relationship with God because the Bible says that God inhabits in the praises of His people. Psalm 22:3, He said “He inhabits in the praises of Israel”. So when you praise God, you are in his presence every time, and it enhances the constant relationship with God. So you are not there today and then tomorrow you are out. You are always present in his presence. So when you are praising God like we are saying, one of the benefits is that you are in constant relationship with God. It enhances constant relationship with God and unbroken relationship with God.
- It gives you access to the voice of God. The voice of God is easily accessible when you are constantly in his presence. When you live a constant life of worship, when you are in his presence always you are able to hear him. It becomes very easy to hear the voice of God. And it is through the voice of God that the Assyrians in your life will be defeated. The bible says the voice of God is powerful, the voice of God breaks the cedars of Lebanon, the voice of God is so powerful, you need the voice of God to defeat that enemy, that voice is only available in his presence. In fact, faith is active in line with the voice of God so you don’t have faith until you hear his voice because faith comes by hearing. Are you able to hear him, so as you praise him, as you worship him, as you abide in his presence, you hear him clearly with precision. You are not guessing.
- God respond promptly to your cry because you are in his presence. Mathew 9:18-19, Mathew 15:25. When you praise God and abide in His presence, God will respond to your cry, to your yearning, to your expectations because your heart and God’s Heart are connected. It’s heart to heart. The bible says “as face answers to face, that’s the way the heart answers to heart. If you have the heartbeat for God, your heart is connected to his heart, you are able to read his agenda, you are able to see into his plan and then once you are aligning into his plan he hears you. The bible says this is the confidence that will have, if we pray according to his will, according to his heartbeat or according to his commandment, or according to his word, he hears us. So when you are praising God, you will hear him clearly and that will make you to act in line with his will and with his word and he will hear you, he will respond to you because God will only respond to things or prayers that are in line with his will.
- You enjoy unending showers of blessings. Before you recover from one blessing shower, another one is coming when you are in his presence. Zechariah 14:16-17, he said “ and it shall come to pass …………………………………….” So any nation or any person whose heart is not connected to God, who is not connected to this King of kings, he said the rain shall not fall upon them. Rain here depicts the blessing of the Lord that makes way and added no sorrow. Their lives will be full of toiling, is full of all manner of evil, all manners of sorrows but that will not be your portion in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. So to praise God gives you access to constant relationship with God, he gives you free access to his voice, he make him to respond promptly to your cry because you are going to be acting in line with his will and he will give you access through constant rain of blessing of God.
- If you are praising God, the benefit you are going to reap is that a lifetime of worship makes obedience easy. It make obedience to the word of God, obedience to the instructions of God, it makes it very easy because you are in his presence. The Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So when you hear him clearly, it becomes easy for you to do it because you are empowered. The bible says his voice is full of majesty, is full of power and so when you hear the word, the same word that you heard is loaded with the power, with the virtue that will empower you to do it. That is why those who hear God don’t find it difficult to obey God because they hear him clearly and the power to do it is included in the word that they heard. The reference is in I John 5:3.
- It enhances the revelation of God. It makes you to understand who God is. Many people know about God but they don’t know God personally. They don’t have first hand information about God. They rely on what their pastor, or their friend or their neighbor tells them about God. Many people have turned their bible into a photo album and they just look at words, some once a month, some once every year some even don’t look at it at all just like where we keep our photo album. We only open it when we have a visitor. The same way they don’t relate with God but when you worship God, when you praise him, when you celebrate, when you have a heart for God, it enhances your understanding of God. You will know him. Paul says “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection”.
Brethren, this last Sunday of the year gives us a golden opportunity to reappraise our heart, to reappraise ourselves and our approach towards God. Don’t get too familiar with God. I’m a pastor, as a pastor you may just study because you want to preach. Are you relating with God because of your love for him or because you want to study to go and preach and be shouting for people to see you as a wonderful preacher. As a man that has access to the word or you are mindful of your relationships because you may be too busy with the work of God that we don’t have time for the God of the word. It’s all about our relationship. Wherever you are, do you think about God? Paul said “what is that thing that will separate me from the love of God, shall tribulation, or circumstance …, they are there to threaten your relationship with God. Is it your ambition, you want to become the best sportsman, the best medical doctor, the best Engineer even the best pastor in this town at the expense of your relationship with God. This is the time to appraise ourselves and say Jesus here I am. The deeper you go in worship of God, the more of him that you know. The more intimate you become with him, that he doesn’t need to shout before you can hear. The still small voice of God can pop up in heart, you just know the direction and you become a friend of God.
Wherever you are right now, celebrate God and appreciate him once again for the privilege to be alive in the sanctuary in the last Sunday of the year. It’s a great privilege, it’s a great honour. Give him praise, give him glory, say father I thank you, Lord I bless you, I appreciate you, It’s a great honour to be alive. The bible says let everything that has breathe praise the Lord and I will praise you from everlasting to everlasting. That song writer said should eternity end and start all over again even then I will still praise him. Job said all the days of my life will I wait until my change comes even though he slays me I will yet praise him, I will praise him. In every situation I will praise him. In every circumstance I will praise him. You will get to the level where you will never ever accuse God of anything because he is the source of our help. The bible says he is the only present help in times of trouble.
Brethren I want you to wake up, quit all these religion wasting of time, religious cans, religious dogmas that won’t save you, we are talking about a sound relationship with God. And as we go into 2023, let it be your passion that I don’t want to take my relationship with God casual so that I won’t be a casualty. Don’t want to be casual with approach to the kingdom I will spend time sowing seed into the passion of the kingdom. I’m going to be sowing my financial seed. I’m going to be involved in the motivating and joining others to serve God spiritually, mentally, physically, financially, every opportunity I get for the expansion of the kingdom because that is the heartbeat of God. If that has not become your passion in life, you have not started the journey. Will you praise him even when the circumstance doesn’t look as if is in line or falling in line with your expectation? That is the question.
Wherever you are, you want to say at this moment, I want to rededicate my life to Jesus, you have looked at it, you’ve looked up, down, left and the right and you have discovered that you have spent all your time, all your energy running after vain things and you want to say Lord Jesus I want to give you my life, I want to rededicate my life, I want a new beginning, I don’t want 2023 to be like 2022, I want to be a better person in the year, wherever you are just say this after me ‘Lord Jesus, I want to dedicate my life to you, help me Lord, I come unto you, help me Lord to serve you in line with your will and your purpose in the mighty name of Jesus. And if you are not yet born again, this is an opportunity. You are listening right now because you are not saved until you are saved. The Bible says Jesus did not come to condemn the world. He says “for God so love the world that he gave us his begotten son that whosoever believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life”. God did not send his son to condemn the world. He sent his son to come and save the world. So give your life to Jesus and run after him. Leave the world system, leave them they can’t help you. You are helplessly helpless. Wherever you are just say “Lord Jesus, I accept you into my life today. Be the Lord of my life, I surrender everything unto you in Jesus mighty name we pray, amen.