Even those who praise God all the time aren't praising Him enough because there's no such thing as praising Him enough. Hello, and thanks for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. Before we kick off today's message, Discovering the Power of Praise, I want to tell you about a great new resource we'd love to share with you this month. During the final year of his life, just before being called home to be with the Lord, Pastor Paul Shepard preached an excellent series on stewardship, one that we've aired right here on Destined for Victory. It was so well received that we decided to put those messages together in a book called Becoming an Excellent Steward.
And to share a few words about the book, I'm pleased to welcome in Pastor Paul's daughter and the executive director here at Destined for Victory, Alicia Greer. Alicia, welcome. I know you have some thoughts about this new book, but also about the man who wrote it. You know, I had the privilege and honor of growing up with Pastor Paul as my dad. And one of the things that he was really great at as a dad was giving advice.
And so I could always go to him for life advice. He was very wise and he lived his life according to godly principles. And as a result, he saw so much fruit in his life.
So, I see this last year of teaching that he did on stewardship as his advice to us as a spiritual father. And one of the things I love about books is it gives the opportunity for that wisdom to be packaged in a way that's timeless. And so, this book is a wonderful way to glean advice from your spiritual father about how to steward every area of your life according to godly principles. And I believe that as we put these things into practice, we can see the same kind of fruit from our lives.
Well, thank you, Alicia. Again, the book is called Becoming an Excellent Steward, available in hardcover form. And we'd love to send you a copy today as our thank you for your best gift of $25 or more to Destined for Victory. You can give that gift by phone by calling 855-339-5500. 855-339-5500 or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online.
You can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538. Uh You're not. Doing anything special when you praise God. You're giving Him what He's worthy of, what is due to Him. I just came to let somebody know it is time for you to put some more on your praise bill.
Your praise bill is a little delinquent. You haven't been praising Him enough. You owe God more praise than you've been giving Him. The reason you're not praising God enough is because there's no such thing as praising God enough. But today on Destined for Victory, featuring Pastor Paul Shepard, you'll be encouraged to begin praising Him more than you have been.
And what better time than right now as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and develop a lifestyle of praise. The message is called Discovering the Power of Praise, and it starts right now. You're not doing anything special when you praise God. You're giving Him what He's worthy of, what is due to Him. I just came to let somebody know it is time for you to put some more on your praise bill.
Your praise bill is a little delinquent. You haven't been praising Him enough. You owe God more praise than you've been giving Him. Some of you have been focusing on yourself. Oh, me, me, me.
I'm unhappy. I'm unfulfilled. I need more money. I need a better job. I need a boo.
I need a whatever.
Some of you all major in me. And you'll never give God praise focusing on yourself. You got to say, yes, there are some things I want in my life, but I do know one thing. Were it not for the goodness of the Lord, I would be way worse off than I am now.
So, for God's sake, Get caught up on your praise bill.
Some of y'all owe God some praise, some much more praise. You're about two, three years behind on your praise bill. Ever since something went wrong in your life, you stopped praising Him as much as you used to. You stopped giving Him glory because you got focused on something. We've got to learn, even in bad times, you owe God praise because if it weren't for Him, times would be worse than they are now.
The Brooklyn Tabernacle, back in the, what was that, the early 80s, probably, they sang a song, In the good times, praise his name, but in the bad times, do the same. Let everything, let everybody give the King of Kings all of the praise. He's worthy. Of it. He deserves to be praised.
I love that song that J.J. Hairston gave to the body of Christ. You deserve it. You got to learn to tell God you deserve it. All of the praise belongs to him.
He literally deserves it. Hallelujah. And you need to make sure you're paying constantly on your praise bill. Make sure you're constantly letting him know. I have met people.
The first time I met someone who was one of those kinds of conspicuous praisers, it caught my attention immediately. It was a gentleman from Africa, and he was visiting our particular church at the time. I was in Philadelphia. And I mean, we would take him out to dinner, wherever we would take, but within every 10 seconds, this guy was praising God. For no particular reason, hallelujah.
And then we're talking so, yes, sir. Praise God. And then so, glory to God. At the table, bless the Lord. Ordering the food.
Thank you, Jesus. I said, wow, this man show praises a lot. But you know what? It it became contagious. Because it made me realize: well, God is always worthy to be praised.
And here's a man who just gives him praise every chance he gets. And I caught that. I remember thinking, God, I want to be a praiser like that. And I started, I found myself, I'd be taking my shower in the morning. Thank you, Jesus.
Hallelujah. I said, oh, I've caught what that man has. And I'm glad I caught it. And I'm glad that I continue to pray.
Sometimes driving, thank you, Lord. Glory to God. Just give Him praise all the time. When you think of the goodness of Jesus and all that He's done for you, your soul ought to cry out, Hallelujah. When you think, see, the old saints, they used to pray, thank you for keeping us from danger, seen and unseen.
You do realize there's some things he did for you, and you don't know. You never saw it. The enemy had you set up, and you never saw the setup. All you know is it didn't go that way. But I came to tell somebody: if you realize there were times you were set up, and the devil tried his best to get you, and the Holy Spirit said, not so.
You gotta learn to praise him for what you don't know. Thank you that they set me up, but it didn't work. Thank you that he meant my demise, but it didn't happen. Thank you that you kept me from danger, seen and unseen. You owe him some praise.
Put some on your praise bill every chance you get. Every now and then just put something new on your praise bill. You can pay it in advance. That's what I've learned. I'm learning to praise him for stuff that hadn't happened yet.
There's things I'm asking him to do. There's things I'm believing him to do. And I don't even see a cloud the size of a man's hand. But just based on I'm believing for it, I'm going to put some praise on it. I'm gonna put some, you know what?
We grew up in days of layaway. See some of y'all don't know anything about layaway I need some honest people. Who would be willing to say, there was a time in my life. When I wanted a certain coat or a certain garment, and we went to the store. And we would say, all right, can I put this on layaway?
And what that meant was, they said, yes, and you'd put the minimum deposit down, and you would pay the store for something you can't take home yet. And they created a record. And you'd go back the next week or two and put another ten dollars. That's what it was back then. You didn't have any major money, but every now and then you put another $10 on it.
Oh, listen, I'm talking back in the days, we would ride our bikes up on the avenue. Tell our friends, that's what I'm getting. Show it to them in the window. I'm getting that. I got money on that right now.
We would ride our bikes to show somebody, I'm gonna get one of these days, you're gonna see me with that on. Listen, I can't tell somebody it's about time you open up a praise layaway account. I want somebody to just set up a heavenly praise layaway account. It hadn't happened yet. I don't know when it's going to happen, but I'm believing for it.
And so every now and then, I'm going to just put some praise on layaway. Thank you, Lord. I don't know when you're going to come through, but I'm going to thank you in advance. Oh, you gotta learn to praise him in advance. Marvin Sapp sang that years ago, but that's still true.
Praise him in advance. I'm believing for it.
So put some praise on it. Until it comes through, I'm going to still be praising God. Because when you see the scriptures, folk who had that kind of faith are people who got rewarded. You remember that little lady? I've taught about her often.
That lady, that's a Canaanite woman who wanted her child who was vexed with a devil delivered. And she went to Jesus, and the first thing that happened is he put her through a two-phase test. The first was he ignored her. She's asking for mercy for her child, and Jesus didn't even. Dignify her with a response.
He just ignored her.
Now, some of y'all say, That's so cold. I don't like that. And I've even heard people try to preach around that.
Well, he didn't actually ignore her. He was just, and they tried to explain it away. No, Jesus ignored her. But he knew she was asking. All he was doing is putting her through a test.
Every master teacher gives tests. And he put her through a test. He kept on doing what he was doing, but she refused to do what some of y'all would have done, which is that you'd have got insulted and you would have teed off on him.
Now, look, I know I'm not an Israelite woman. I know I'm a Canaanite, but you don't have to ignore nobody. See, that's the problem with y'all, right? See. That's where some of y'all would have gone You'd have flunked the first part of the test.
Wait, no, no, you're gonna answer me. He ignored her. Then When she kept on worshiping, I love that the Bible says she kept worshiping. She didn't get thrown off. She just kept worshiping.
And then after that, then. He said Well It's not right, as she kept on asking. He said it's not right to take the children's bread. Give it to dogs. See, that's where some of y'all would have been.
It's not even about. Anything else at this point? Wait, what? Yeah. You know, when you go into that self-talk.
where you're having a conversation. With nobody in particular. But that's not keeping you from talking. Did he just call me a dog? I know he ain't called m no.
I must have heard wrong. He did not stand up here in my face. And call me a dog. And it's not like I'm asking just for me. I don't mind.
You want to insult me? I'm asking on behalf of my daughter. I believe the children are our future. Keeps them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside.
You'd have teed off on him. Look, I don't care who you are, I don't care who your father is, I don't care. She said, fine, we're going to be dogs. Uh-huh. She said there's a fine, I got something for that.
She said. Truth. You're right. It's not right to give the children's bread to dogs. But let's stick with the analogy.
Even the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table.
So I'm here as a Canaanite woman. I'm not suggesting that I deserve to be sitting at the table. I know I'm not one of your chosen people, but I do believe that since the children at the table don't always eat properly and drop crumbs, nobody bothers the dogs when they come along and pick up the crumbs. She said, All I need you to do is let me get some of the crumbs of blessing that are left by the Israelites who aren't recognizing your power. When she got through working that analogy, Jesus said, Woman, great is your faith.
You got faith that I wish some of these other folk would have. And he said, Your child is going to be just fine. And she got delivered from that very moment. I came to tell you, it'll never hurt you if you put some praise on it before you get your blessing, before you get your healing, before you get your deliverance, before the new job comes, before the new stream of income takes place in your life. Just go on and give God some advanced praise.
Because he deserves to be praised. Don't you just love that? Praise God before the blessing, before the victory, before He answers your prayer. Let's pause right there for just a moment. We'll be back with more of today's Destined for Victory message featuring Pastor Paul Shepard.
But if you can't stick around or if you want to share this message with a friend, visit our website, pastorpaul. net. And when you stop by, we hope you'll click on the online store where you'll find books and video messages that feature the teaching and preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. That's found at pastorpaul.net. Do you know why it's so important to discover the power of praise?
First, because you were created to praise God. Second, because He's worthy of that praise. And reason number three comes your way next in the rest of today's message: Discovering the power of praise. Once again, here's Pastor Paul. Number three, the next reason why you should discover the power of praise is because praise is a gateway into God's presence.
Have you ever noticed that Psalm 100, verse 4 says, Enter into his gates with what? With thanksgiving. And into his courts with what? With praise.
Now, that's a picture of the Old Testament temple. You went into the outer court, and he's saying, Let's use that language to talk about your relationship with God. When you come into the outer courts, he said, Bring some thanksgiving with you. Thank God for what He's already done. See, you never have any reason to come to church and have an attitude.
You never have any reason to just come to churches and just stand there. I'm going to let them sing. I don't feel like singing. The nerve of you to act like it is other people's job to entertain you. You come to church as a priest to offer your sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise.
And you gotta come in there and thank him. For what he's already done. That's entering into his outer courts. Thank you, Lord. See, the old saints taught us, that's why you got to realize there was a method to those saints.
When they were walking with God, they did it openly because they were letting the children know this is the way you relate to God. We couldn't even have a little cookout without one of the saints praying a long prayer. We'd had a little cookout, and folk would come over, but if they call on one of those prayer warriors, They are men. Mother Hager, you come on, pray over the food before, and you couldn't get to the table. Before Mother Hager finished praying.
Oh, thank you, Lord. Thank you. Come on, y'all. Let's pray. Lord, we bless your name.
We praise you for blessing us. You woke us up this morning. You started us on our way. Oh, God, you gave us a mind to be here with the saints of God. Thank you, Lord, that you touched our bodies.
Thank you, Lord, that you let us drive here without the loss of one. Thank you, oh Lord, that no hurt, harm, or danger came to any other saint. Thank you, oh God, that. And the kid standing there says, she's not even praying over the food. We trying to eat.
And she praying all around the world, the missionaries. Hey, the missionary is gonna be alright. They were teaching us. Thank him for everything. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise.
You thank him for what he's done, but you praise him for who he is. He is who he is. That's why he does what he does. And when you start praising him for who he is, exciting things happen because he is worthy of that. And it gives you a gateway into his presence.
Number four, praise wards off the spirit of heaviness. I came to tell somebody, you need to put on a garment of praise and take off that spirit of heaviness.
Sometimes heaviness is a spirit. Oh, I'm not telling you what I think.
Sometimes I'm telling you what I know. Every now and then, a spirit of heaviness comes over you. You don't even know why you're heavy. But you just have to take that thing off. Because the enemy will saddle you with that if you let it, if you wear it like it's part of your garments, then he'll leave you heavy.
But I dare you to take that off, say, No, no, I'm gonna put on a garment of praise. I'm going to praise God even though I don't feel it. See, praise is not related to your emotions primarily. You can praise him out of your emotions, but don't confine your praise to your feelings. I need to tell you something, and you need to let this resonate for the rest of your life.
We are spirit. Who have souls, who live in bodies. We're three-dimensional. We have bodies. We have souls.
We live in bodies. And we are spirit beings.
Now, here's what I need you to get: your spirit needs to drive your life. Don't let your soulish realm, which includes your emotions, Don't let that drive. Your intellect, your will are fine, but they too can't lead you, and certainly your emotions can't lead you.
So don't let your emotions decide whether you praise. Don't let your emotions decide whether you go to church. Don't let your emotions decide whether you worship through giving. Don't let your emotions decide any spiritual discipline in your life. You got to let your emotions be a passenger, but never the driver.
Do not put your emotions in the driver's seat of your life at any point. I just helped you a whole lot. Do y'all realize what will happen if you let your emotions drive your life? If you do things based solely on the way you feel, Somebody gonna be shot. Come on, somebody.
All kinds of things will go haywire if you let the emotions in the driver's seat. You leave them as passengers. And you have got to put on that garment of praise. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Not I feel like blessing him at all times. There are times I don't feel like praising. I just know I owe him praise, and I'm going to give him that praise. On the worst day of his life. Job praised God.
Literally, the worst day of his life. Children dead, wealth gone. What did Job say? The Lord Cave And the Lord has taken away. Bless it.
Be the name of the Lord. He didn't feel like that. Tears could have been streaming down his face. But he said, I gotta bless God. And so do you.
You've got to ward off the spirit of heaviness. One more thing, let me let you go. God has given us many blessings and benefits. Psalm 103 says, Bless the Lord, O my soul. All that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul. Forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from destruction. Just giving you a sampling of the things he's done for us, crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. Anyone ever had God give you tender mercies? He was tender when he didn't have to be.
Satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. There are so many benefits you receive just as you walk with God. And the psalmist said, You got to learn to bless him at all times because of all the benefits. There are benefits in being a praiser. There are benefits in being a worshiper.
There are benefits in being a person who lets the Lord know how much you love him. Whatever you do, brothers and sisters, be on the praising side of things in your life. Don't be on the complaining side. Don't be a complainer, be a praiser. Have you noticed complaining doesn't do you any good?
Have you figured it out by now? Complaints never add to your life. They only take away. In the good times, praise His name, but in the bad times, do the same. In everything, let the King of Kings have all the praise.
Amen. Consider the words of Psalm 9, verse 1: I will praise you, O Lord, with my whole heart. I will tell of all your marvelous works. Thanks for joining us today for Destined for Victory's message: Discovering the Power of Praise. To find out more about Destined for Victory's mission and purpose, or about the special gift reserved for you when you make your generous year-end gift, please come see us at pastorpaul.net.
That's pastorpaul.net. If you want God to like what he sees when he looks at you, just give him praise because praise looks good on his people. We live in a world where folks are walking around damning God and cursing God and denying God's existence. But when he sees his child worshiping him and praising him, it looks good on you. You want to make over?
Just get into praise. That's next time on our Destined for Victory message: Discovering the Power of Praise. Until then, remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
