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Prayer Lesson 2 - Praise
A Song of Praise
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalms 100:4
APPLICATION FOR LAST MONTH’S THOUGHT
List seem like such time consuming things sometimes and I know as young people your life is busy, but if you could take minute in the midst of reading this and list about 3-5 things that you are thankful for, then tomorrow add another 3- 5 things to that list, then on the next day add 3-5 more things, pretty soon you will have an amazing list of things you are thankful for, so when you enter his gates, lifting holy hands unto him, you will have a list you can go by while giving thanks to God.
Let’s move one step further toward our goal of “Going Beyond The Veil”
This one is simple and I really think as young people you will enjoy it: When the scripture says to “and into his courts with praise," (the word praise means - laudation; specifically a hymn, sing)
This means for us to begin with our list of thanks, lifting holy hands if we desire as we do so, then once we have given him all the thanks we can, we begin to sing songs of praise to him. If you are like me and the acappella version of your singing is not really what may be consider by others as a joyful noise, then this is a good time to put on a CD that has praise music and for a few minutes of time, begin to sing praise unto God, clap your hands, praise him in a dance, whatever best fits your personality.
Singing can be an should be a part of your prayer time, clapping, dancing, etc can also be added into this, this is why we find the Psalmist telling us to: Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms (poem set to music – song). Psalms 95:2
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Psalms 100:1-2
Our enemy would like to make you think prayer is a hard and laborious thing, but actually it can be very interesting and even enjoyable when done according to scripture. So why not practice today, stop long enough to make your list of 3-5 things, thank God for them and then begin to sing to Him, giving Him the praise He is worthy of; you may even discover that you enjoy clapping, dancing, & etc… to show Him your deep appreciation, just as David danced before the presence of the Lord as the Ark of the Covenant was being brought into Jerusalem.
TAG – Enjoy let’s celebrate and praise him, singing unto Him a new song, dance, clap, and rejoice before your God, this is a day that the Lord has made, (just for you)
Prayer Lesson One: The Gate
The desire of the anointed generation is help young people move beyond the normal and into the realm of the Most Holy Place, the secret place, into the deep presence of a loving God.
This year we will go beyond the Veil. The veil hung in the tabernacle that Moses built it separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, behind the veil was the Ark of the Covenant, which is the place that God meet with His people, for His presence would come and rest upon the mercy seat of that Ark. Shall we take this year 2010 and move beyond the veil into His presence where our life can be forever changed…
Let’s Go…
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalms 100:4
The Gate
To fully get the message of the gates, we must get some definitions from our friend Strong’s Dictionary:
Gate – shahar – an opening, door or gate.
Thanksgiving – todaw – an extension of the hand, avowal or adoration.
This lesson is so simple and beautiful. As we enter into His gates, we often see that as a church building, or a service time, but actually it is anytime we desire to speak to Him. Most commonly the specific time we pray whether it is on a daily basis, a weekly basis or just at random times. When we begin to pray, we are actually moving into His Presence or His Spirit. Simply put we are moving into Him:
Jesus said it like this: Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. John 10:7-9
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
When you begin to pray, you are entering into Him, we call it moving into His presence or His Spirit, but His presence and His Spirit is HIM! So as we begin our journey to move beyond the veil, this practice this month the art of moving into HIM, with thanksgiving.
I wonder how it would feel if we lifted our hands, (extension of the hand) to Him, before we ever allowed a word to fall from our lips, and then as we feel His presence surround us we would begin to be thankful for all that He has done for us, starting with the fact that He came to earth in the form of man, to make a way for us to come into His presence, in other words, His journey to earth was so that you could do, just what you are doing now and without that we would be unable to move into His presence…
Thank you Lord for making it possible for the anointed generation to have the opportunity to move into your presence, we are so privileged to have these opportunities, please do not ever let us take them for granted. God has been good to us… Let’s not stop thanking Him there, let it continue on into facts like He forgave us of our sins, He washed our sins away in the waters of baptism, He filled us with His Spirit as we began to speak in other tongues as His Spirit gave us the utterance, He picks us up every time we fall, He forgives us for our mistakes even after we have been “saved”… Let your praise continued with hands lifted, with clapping of your hands, your moving in through His gates…
Shall we move a little deeper… Take a few minutes and think about what it means to really adore something, and begin to move those thoughts of adoration from understanding into the words you are speaking to your God.
EXTRA THOUGHT:
The Gate of the tabernacle plan was hung upon four gate post, which I believe to represent, the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John, each one of these writings give us a different view of Jesus the Christ. The gate itself was made of 4 different colors of clothes or threads… Blue, Purple, Scarlet, and Linen
Blue – His Deity – He is God
Purple – His Royalty – He is King
Scarlet – His Suffering – He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world
Linen – His Holiness – He is sinless
Even before He was born a type and shadow of Him was designed for us to still follow today. He truly is the gate, so let us move into Him with Thanksgiving…
