The Prayer of Praise

To the giver of all, give thanks.

15 weeks ago today, we began a journey, and that journey is called the pathway to praise. And while our teaching on this subject is going to come to a close, your testimony about this subject is going to continue on all throughout eternity.

If you have learned anything, I would trust that you have learned this one thing over the last 15 weeks. Number one is that praise will always bolster your condition. Two, praise will always beautify your complexion. And praise will always brighten your situation. If you remember anything, remember that.

Praise will bolster my condition. Why? Isaiah 61, verse number 3 says that the spirit of God will clothe you with the garments of God so that you no longer have a spirit of fainting. That's important. So when you are clothed with this garment of praise, it bolsters your condition.

And number two, praise will always beautify your complexion. Because the Bible says in Psalm 33, verse number 1, that praise is beautiful. Psalm 147, verse number 1 says, praise is pleasing and is beautiful.

There is nothing that beautifies the complexion of an individual than praise. And thirdly, praise will always brighten every situation. Because the Bible says in Psalm 34, verse number 5, that those who look to him will be radiant.

So when you walk into a situation, whether it be good or bad, praise brightens the situation. So if you don't remember anything at all, at least remember that. Because that will move you along the pathway to praise.

But let me say it to you this way. There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. Now the chapters are not inspired. The words are, but the chapter breakdowns are not. The verses and their numbers are not. Those are given to us by the translators.

The words themselves are all verbally inspired by God. But there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. So even when the translators were putting together the scriptures and they began to number them and to give them chapters and chapter headings, God in his providence was even at work in that.

For if there's 1,189 chapters in the Bible, that means that there is one chapter that is smack dab in the middle of all the chapters. Right? That means there's 594 on one end and 594 on the other end. So there's something exactly smack dab in the middle.

And it's in the middle of your Bible. And even God in his providence had everything mapped out. To perfection.

Because in the middle chapter of the Bible is the core and the center of everything. Even God orchestrated that. And even though that chapter is the smallest chapter in the Bible, consisting of two verses, 13, I'm sorry, 17 Hebrew words in two verses, even though it's the smallest chapter in the Bible, it is the most potent chapter in the Bible.

Because it's the core of all that we believe and hold dear. And that is Psalm number 117. So turn in your Bible to Psalm 117.

Psalm 117, listen to what it says. It says simply, praise the Lord all nations, laud him all peoples, for his loving kindness is great toward us and the truth of the Lord is everlasting, praise the Lord. So right smack dab in the middle of the Bible, God says, praise me.

He gives the scope of his command. I want all people and all nations to praise me. I want everybody in creation to lift my name on high.

I want everybody in creation to give thanks to me. The scope is never ending. All nations, all people.

In Romans 5, I'm sorry, Revelation 5, verse number 9 tells us that there will be one day people from every tribe, every tongue and every nation lifting praise to God in glory. But that doesn't mean that everybody on earth is gonna go to glory. But the command is given.

And the scope of that command is all people, all nations. And then he gives the specifics of the command. Number one, his loving kindness is great.

Number two, his truthfulness is forever. Why do all people, all nations praise him? Simply because he is a merciful, compassionate, loving God who only gives truth to people. He is the God of truth.

And so the specifics of the command for all people everywhere are to praise him because he's merciful and to praise him simply because he is truthful and everything he says is absolute and it lasts forever. And the summation of the command simply is: praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, hallelujah, praise him.

Right smack dab in the middle of the Bible is the essence of our existence, to praise the living God. And those of us who are believers can do that because the Bible says, which is our theme verse, Isaiah 43:21, you can remember it by saying IS 43:21. Isaiah 43:21, it's our key verse.

The people that I have formed for myself, they will declare my praise. And so we as believers, because we've been formed by God, we declare the praise of God, that's what we do. We praise his glorious name.

But the unbeliever cannot, more so the unbeliever will not. They won't. Let's know what the Bible says in the book of Romans, verse 21, chapter 1, for even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God. Even though the pagan people know God, they refuse to honor him, to praise him, to glorify him as God, and then the next phrase, and give him thanks or give him praise.

Everybody in the world knows that there's a God. Agnostics do not exist, atheists do not exist. In their minds, they're a legend in their own mind. They think they do, but they do not, because the Bible's contrary to that. All pagans know that there is a God, but they refuse to honor him as God, and they refuse to give him thanks. So verse 22 says, they became fools. Fools.

Pagans are fools. Unbelievers are, as the Bible says, morons. Why? Because they're foolish.

They refuse to believe the truth and obey the truth of God. So it says in verse 28, they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer. So unbelievers refuse to acknowledge God.

They turn their back on God. And then it says in verse number 30, they are haters of God. How can you hate something that you don't think exists? How can you hate something that you believe is not anywhere around? But they're haters of God.

And then it says, they're unloving and merciful, verse 32, and although they know the ordinances of God, stop right there. Even though the unbeliever, the pagan man, knows the ordinances of God, the commands of God, the precepts of God. Even though they know that, and what do they know? They know that all nations are to be worshiped and to praise him, and that all nations are to laud him, to glorify his name, because of his mercy and because of his loving kindness, because of his truthfulness.

They know that. Don't think that the unbeliever doesn't know that. They do know that.

How do we know? Verse 18 of chapter 1, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. So now we know that the unbeliever knows the truth, they just push it down. They suppress the truth.

They don't wanna honor God. They don't wanna give thanks to God, so God turns them over to their foolishness. And when he does that, they refuse to acknowledge him as God any longer, and they hate God.

They hate him because they know the ordinances of God. And this is this, that those who practice such things are worthy of death. Every unbeliever, now note this, every pagan, every unbeliever knows the ordinances of God, the commands of God, because the Bible says, back in Romans 1, verse 19, that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them.

Verse 20, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes and his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, not vaguely seen, but clearly seen. And so they know the ordinances of God, which says, the wages of sin is death. How do they know that? Because God has written his law upon their hearts, and what they see is clearly evident to them.

But they hate God. They love their sin, but they hate God, and they will not praise him. They will not give him thanks.

They will not honor his name. And they know that even though they will not do that, they will not obey the command, they know that because they will not do that, they're gonna die. They're worthy of death.

And it goes on, it says, and they give hearty approval, and they say that not only do they do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice the same. Wow, unbelievable. Simply because God, in the middle of the book, gives us the core value of our existence, that we are to praise our God, laud him loudly, because he's a merciful, kind, and loving God who speaks nothing but truth.

But the unbeliever hates that. So he will not praise God. But we can.

So we do. We continue to praise him, not just for the moment of our conversion, but all throughout eternity, because we've been cloaked in a robe, a garment of praise, and we've been formed by God to declare his praise. And that's what we do.

So that brings us to our conclusion. And the conclusion is the prayer of praise. Having looked at the priority of praise, and the prerequisite of praise, and the prayer, and the, excuse me, the perpetuity of praise, and everything surrounding that, the priority and purpose of praise, we've done all that for the last 15 weeks.

We come to the end, and we conclude with the prayer of praise. And the prayer of praise teaches us how, when we pray, to praise the Lord. Because every prayer should consist of the components which we will share with you today in the conclusion of every prayer you pray.

So if you got your Bible, turn to me, turn with me to the most familiar prayer in the Bible, Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6, it's commonly called the Lord's Prayer, but that's the wrong name. It is not the Lord's Prayer, it is the Disciple's Prayer.

In John 17, you have the Lord's Prayer. But in Matthew 6 and Luke 11, you have the Disciple's Prayer. For the disciples said in Luke 11, Lord, teach us how to pray, and he would give them what he says on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6 about the Disciple's Prayer.

This is how you are to pray. And I want you to notice something about the prayer. It consists of two major components.

One is God and his glory, and the second is man and his need, and you cannot reverse the two. For if you reverse the two, you diminish God's glory in your mind, and you accentuate your glory on your behalf. So you cannot reverse them. It's all about God's glory, and then it's about man's needs. And you know the prayer. It simply states it this way.

Pray then this way. How? Well, you pray our Father who is in heaven. Those who pray, listen carefully, are captivated by his paternity, that he is their Father in heaven.

Hallowed be your name. Those who pray properly are not just captivated by his paternity, they are consumed with his purity. That his name be made holy in their lives.

And then he says, your kingdom come. Those who pray properly are concerned with God's program, not their program. And then he says, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In other words, they are committed to God's plan. That's how you know you pray about God and his glory. You are captivated by his paternity.

You are consumed with his purity. You are concerned with his program, his kingdom, and you are committed to his plan. Once you understand that, then you tackle man and his needs.

Give us, forgive us, and deliver us. And those who pray that way, pray, give us this day our daily bread. You always rejoiced in his provision.

And then you pray and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors. You recognize his pardon. And then it says, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

You rest in his protection. And then it says, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen. You rejoice with all praise.

The doxology is what I wanna talk to you about this morning. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen. A doxology is simply a praise that's offered to God.

It's simply the prayer of praise. And the prayer of praise will consist of five major components. Now you'll notice that in your Bible, that last phrase, the doxology is in brackets.

And the reason that is, is because there are some manuscripts, excuse me, that do not include it, and others that do. So the question comes, why is it in brackets? Did the Lord really say it? Because in Luke 11, it's not recorded. But in Matthew 6, it is recorded.

So did the Lord really say these words? Well, I believe he did. And I believe it based on two major issues. One is that no Jew would ever conclude a prayer on the negative, always on the positive. That's number one. All you gotta do is research Jewish prayers. And talk to Jewish people.

But number two, everything that's stated is absolutely true. In fact, it sounds a lot like David's prayer in 1 Chronicles 29. When it says in verse number 9, then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart.

I love that because I wonder if when you gave today, you gave willingly and fully. They were collecting for the temple. And they were gonna build this structure, Solomon was, for the glory of God.

So they gave willingly, they gave fully with all of their hearts, they did it joyfully because they wanted to honor their God. I read that and I wonder how many of us today when we gave to the Lord, we did it willingly, we did it joyfully, we did it energetically, we did it fully because we wanted to honor God with the first fruits of our increase. That's what they did.

Listen to David's prayer. So David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly. And David said, blessed are you, O Lord God of Israel, our father forever and ever, our father who art in heaven.

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. Indeed, everything that is in the heaven and the earth, yours is the dominion, for yours is the kingdom. Yours is the dominion, yours is the glory forever and ever.

Verse 13, now therefore, our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name. That's just one example. Let me give you one more.

Book of Revelation, 5th chapter, 13th verse. To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. Same thing.

And the four living creatures kept saying amen and the elders fell down and worshiped. Those are just two examples, one of the old and one of the new, that really point to the fact that as you pray the prayer of praise, a doxology, you pray specifically for yours is the kingdom, yours is the power, yours is the glory forever, amen. So what are the five components of the prayer of praise? Number one, the prayer of praise consists of this, that you always affirm his preeminence.

With the phrase, for yours is the kingdom. The word is basileia, which means to rule. It means to reign.

It means that yours is the dominion. Same thing said in Revelation 5 and First Chronicles 29. For yours is the rulership, for yours is the kingdom.

Lord, I want to affirm the fact that you are preeminent, you are the king of all and you're the only one who can give us a kingdom. In fact, the kingdom of God is a endless, changeless, priceless kingdom. And so when you pray the prayer of praise, you are affirming the fact that God himself, because he's the king, is preeminent overall.

That's why Christ says in Matthew 6:33, seek ye first my kingdom and my glory. And all these things should be added unto you. See, our problem is we have another kingdom, ours.

We're building our own kingdom. We think we're the ruler, we're in charge, but he is the king. And yes, there is a universal kingdom where God is the king over heaven and earth.

There's a spiritual kingdom where he sets up his throne in your heart and mind. And one day there will be a literal kingdom, Zechariah 6:12 and 13, where the branch, the son of David, will rule and reign as priest and king from Mount Zion. But you affirm his preeminence, for yours is the kingdom.

The Bible says that, Psalm 29:10, the Lord sits as king forever. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 1:17, that he is the king eternal. The Bible says in Revelation 1, that he is the ruler of the kings of the earth.

In Daniel 4, he is the king of heaven. In Matthew 2, he's the king of the Jews. In John 1, he's the king of Israel.

In 1 Timothy 1, he's the king of the ages. In Psalm 24, he's the king of glory. In Revelation 15, he is the king of nations.

And in Revelation 19, he is king of all kings and Lord of all lords. The prayer of praise affirms his preeminence. You're the king and yours is the kingdom.

And I'm gonna seek your kingdom above my kingdom. I'm gonna submit to you as my king because you're in charge. That's the prayer of praise.

It affirms his preeminence. He is king of all and that kingdom is priceless. That's why Matthew 13 gives us the parable about the treasure and the parable of the great pearl.

For the man who finds the kingdom is willing to give up everything to obtain the kingdom because the value of the kingdom, it's priceless. So the prayer of praise consists, number one, of the fact that it affirms his preeminence. Number two, it consists of the fact that you always acknowledge God's power.

For yours is the kingdom and the power, the power. How do you acknowledge his power? This is how Paul did in the book of Colossians, the first chapter. We said this, we proclaim him, verse 28, admonishing every man, teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

For this purpose also I labor, striving according to his power which mightily works in me. Paul acknowledged God's power. Paul acknowledged the fact that the reason I teach and the reason I admonish every man, that I might present every man complete in Christ because of the power of God within me to allow me to accomplish that purpose.

So I acknowledge his power. I love what the book of Nahum says when it says, the Lord is great in power. 56 times in the Old Testament he's called Almighty.

10 times in the New Testament he's called Almighty. Nine of those 10 times in the book of Revelation he is the Pantocrator, the Almighty one who rules over all the nations and is powerful enough to do whatever he wants. The Old Testament calls him El Shaddai, calls him El Gabor.

El Shaddai, God Almighty, El Gabor, the mighty God. What's the difference between El Shaddai and El Gabor? Glad you asked. El Shaddai is from a Hebrew word which means breast because God is the sufficient nurturer of his people.

So he is great in power because of his provision. El Gabor comes from a word that stems from the fact that he is a hero, a warrior, a soldier. Therefore, he is powerful enough to do whatever he wants.

He is powerful enough to protect you. El Shaddai, he's powerful enough to provide for all that you have. El Gabor, he is powerful enough to protect you from whatever comes your way.

So when you give the prayer of praise, you say, for yours is the kingdom. I'm gonna affirm your preeminence and yours is the power. I'm going to acknowledge that you have the power to accomplish anything and everything.

And then, number three, yours is the power and the glory. I'm going to accentuate your person. That's the prayer of praise.

For yours is the power, the kingdom, and the glory. The glory speaks of who he is. In the Old Testament, the root for glory is the word heavy.

So a person was heavy because of the amount of possessions that he had. That was his glory. And the heavier he was in possessions, the greater glory he received.

Or he was heavy in terms of his possessions. He was heavy because of his position. He climbed the ladder of success, and the more power he had because of his position, the more glory that individual had.

So therefore, a man was glorious by the number of possessions that he had, the amount of power that he possessed, because of the position he was in. They were weighed down. They were heavy in those things.

That was a man's glory. There's nobody more heavier than the Lord Jesus because he owns everything. He receives all the glory, all the praise.

It speaks of the manifestation of his brightness because the glory of the Lord would shine all around when the Christ child was born. And John would say in John 1, verse number 14, he would say, and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth.

We beheld his person, his presence, his manifestation in the flesh. We beheld the heaviness of our God by looking in the face of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And those who pray the prayer of praise, they not only affirm God's preeminence because he's the king of his kingdom, and not only do they acknowledge his power because his is the power, but they accentuate his person for his is the glory.

In other words, they accentuate the fact that God is to be seen in and through me. I am not to be seen by anybody because I don't matter. Only God does.

That's the prayer of praise. The prayer of praise says, Lord, I want the righteous radiance of my redeemer to be reflected in and through his redeemed. That's what it means to give glory to God and accentuate his glory.

And so that's what we do. That's the prayer of praise. And whenever we go to the Lord in prayer, it's all about God and his glory.

Then it's about man and his needs. And we have this great crescendo, this great doxology that leads us to say, for yours is the kingdom. I affirm that you are preeminent and yours is the power.

I acknowledge that you are the powerful one and yours is the glory and I receive none. Therefore, I accentuate your person. And then forever.

Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. In my prayer of praise, I claim his permanence. He is the eternal God forever and ever, which guarantees his reliability and gives me security.

It guarantees his reliability because he's forever. He's the eternal God. No one created him.

He's always existed. Try to wrap your mind about the fact that God has always been. He's always being.

He always is and was and will be. He's the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, but yet God had no beginning. He's the eternal God that's always existed.

And what he does lasts forever. And so it guarantees the fact that I can rely upon my God. He is absolutely reliable because he's always there.

He's never not there. And that gives me security, knowing that my God is my protector because he's the all-powerful one. So the reason, the reason that I pray this prayer this way, in the reason that I claim his permanence is because I've accentuated his person.

And I've only accentuated his person because I've acknowledged his power and I've affirmed his preeminence over my life. That's the prayer of praise. And then it concludes with amen, amen.

It concludes with accepting, accepting his providence. So be it. So be it, Lord.

I affirm that you are the eternal God. In fact, the Bible says in Revelation 3 that he is the amen. In other words, Christ is the final and fullest of all that God is and was and will be.

And therefore, he is the finality of everything. So I say, so be it. Amen, I agree.

I accept your providential control over everything in my life and your plan for me. I accept that you're my father in heaven. I accept your paternity.

I accept that your name is to be made holy in my life. I accept your purity. I pray thy kingdom come.

I accept your program. I pray thy will be done. I accept your providence.

And I pray give us this day our daily bread because I accept your provision. And I say, and forgive us our debts as we forgive those who have sinned against us. I accept your pardon.

And I pray, and lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil. I accept your protection. I accept it all because you are king.

You are Lord, and I want to pray the prayer of praise. And all God's people said. Amen. Let me pray with you.

Father, thank you for today.

Thank you for your word. So much to cover in such a little time. But you are a great God.

Thank you for allowing us to be here today, all by divine appointment. I love the fact that nobody comes to church by accident. They come by divine appointment.

Whether they were dragged here by their parents. Whether they were pushed here by a friend. Whether they were invited to come.

They just drove by and saw the sign. Looked us up on the internet and saw the name of the church there. All of that within the realm of your providence.

Was a divinely appointed time for us to hear how we are to pray the prayer of praise. Our discussion on the issue could go so much longer. There's so much to say about praise, thanksgiving, and rejoicing.

But Lord, you gave us these 15 weeks to look at what the Bible says concerning the pathway to praise. We come through these months better people. We come through these months recognizing the beauty of praise.

We come through this knowing that our condition is only bolstered by praise. Our complexion is only beautified by praise. And our situation, no matter what it is, will only be brightened by praise.

So, we praise you. And we thank you that we can be here today to lift your name on high and to glorify you as King of kings and Lord of lords. And all God's people said, amen.