Christian Praise Blog

In Christian Praise, the song lyrics of “How Great Thou Art” are very familiar even to those who are not Bible Believing Christians. It is a close runner with the song “Amazing Grace” and for good reason.

As I have explained in other blog posts, Christian Praise is all about bringing our attention to the great things God has done in our lives. We need to focus on the great things God has done FOR us before we can worship Him for who He is. This is the distinction between Christian Praise and Worship.

Thinking about all of the wonderful things God has done for us and how he has created all good things for us helps us to concentrate on what a wonderful God we serve.

Read the lyrics and listen to the video and see if it doesn’t help you turn your attention away from your problems and onto God who is above all of these daily turmoils. Your daily problems will not seem so big when you realize how big your God is.

This song was originally a Swedish folk melody, called “O Store Gud” by Carl Boberg (1859-1940) It was translated in 1899 by Stuart K. Hine.

Here are the lyrics for “How Great Thou Art”

Verse1:

O Lord my God! when I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed:

 

Chorus:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

 

Verse 2:

When through the woods and forest glades I wander

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze

 

Chorus:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

 

Verse 3:

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in

That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin

 

Chorus:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

 

Verse 4:

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration,

And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!

 

Chorus:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

 

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Christian Praise, Christian Praise and Worship, How Great Thou Art

Christian Praise is something that we do to benefit us. Yes, I know this sounds kind of selfish but the truth of the matter is that God admonishes us to Praise Him, not because He needs it but because we need it.

Sadly, some people get this mixed up and think that it is their duty to offer Christian Praise to God. It is in their “to do list” of things that we must do to be a good Christian. Other things on that “to do list” is going to Church on Sunday and Praying. We feel that by being a good little Christian this will somehow earn us brownie points in heaven. How foolish people can be!

Think about it: Why would God need us to praise Him, or to show up for church on Sunday or to Pray or any other religious duty we feel we may need to do? These things stem from old pharisaic legalism that has nothing to do with our true Christian Worship. All of these things are to do with what God want to do for us and in us.

I mentioned in another blog post that the True Secret was not what they are teaching in Law of Attraction Seminars, it is the secret of Christian Praise. This is because of the many benefits we derive from Christian Praise.

Sadly, many people think that if they do things such as Christian Praise, showing up for Church on Sunday and praying then they will win favors with God and God will allow them things and do things for them because somehow they have proved themselves worthy.

I want to make this point very, very clear: You will never be worthy enough in God’s eyes to receive anything from God based on anything that You DO!

We receive from God and are blessed by God because of what He did for us, in sending His one and only Son Jesus to die for us and become an appropriation for our sins. It is because of Christ’s death and our acceptance of this that makes us worthy. He is our Righteousness. When God looks at us He sees Righteousness, not because of works that we have done but because of who we belong to. We are heirs with God and Joint heirs with Christ. Romans 8:17

Christian Praise then is a vehicle in which we draw nigh to God. It is a remembrance of all that God has done for us and in us. As we spend time in God’s presence and wait upon Him it is there that we gain strength that is needed in our daily lives.

Christian Praise is for our Benefit and not for God’s. God is not some self-indulgent entity that requires that we pay homage to Him. He is not like the gods of the heathen that need alms and praise to appease Him. God loves us just the way we are. He looks beyond our faults and sees the blood of Christ which covers a multitude of sins. He sees us as His children and lovingly reaches down his hands in love to help us. He is deserving of our praise, but he certainly doesn’t need it.

They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Christian Praise is something we should do on a daily basis, not because God needs it, but because we do.

Technorati Tags: Christian Praise, Christian Praise and Worship

As a Christian Praise and Worship Leader I realize that many people who come into our church services are a little frazzled and perhaps have many things on their minds. It’s not easy getting a family all dressed and ready to come to Church on Sunday mornings and our thoughts may be scattered and our nerves may be frazzled from all of the preparation. Our motives are right, there is no denying that, but when we come into the house of the Lord we may not be at our best to offer Christian Praise and worship. I find it very beneficial to start out our Christian Praise and Worship service with songs and verses of Scriptpure that help us to get our focus corrected. The Christian Praise and Worship Music should be aimed at leading the congregation from a place of Praise to the inner sanctuary where we can worship God in the beauty of His Holiness. I do not understand churches that start their Christian Praise with Worship. How can I walk in off the street after perhaps battling it out with the kids in the car and be prepared to enter the Holy of Holies? Yes, somedays I can put myself together and actually walk in prepared to worship but for the majority of people they need to be led into Christian Praise and Worship like leading a small child. Our minds are like little children and they don’t always want to do what we want them to do when we want them to do it. This is one of the reasons that the Bible tells us that we need to renew our minds and that is done only through the Word of God. Because I am accutely aware of the things that go on when preparing to get to church on Sunday I do not start the Christian Praise and Worship Service with purely Worship songs. I will always start off on a plane where many people find themselves when they walk into the service. This is why I generally start the service with songs like: I will enter His Gates with Thanksgiving in my Heart, I will enter His Courts with Praise, I will say this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice for he has made me glad. This brings our focus away from the momentary distractions and helps us to remember that this is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.(Psalm 118:24) Then I might go into the Chorus: What a Mighty God we serve This brings us closer to realizing how Great God is Another great chorus to help us prepare ourselves is the wonderful Christian Praise Song: We Have Come into This House The Chorus goes; We have come into this house and gathered in His Name to Worship Him 3x Worship Him Christ the Lord He is all my righteousness, I stand complete in Him and Worship Him 3x Worshp Him Christ the Lord This helps us to realize what we are actually here for. Once we get ourselves lined up in why we are here and what we are here to do and how great God is, then we are truly ready to offer Him Worship. First, Comes Christian Praise and that leads to Worship.

Technorati Tags: Christian Praise, Christian Praise and Worship