Reflection

Battlefield Of The Mind FOR TEENS

by Joyce Meyer

pg 17 "... Praise kicks the devil's tail every time. He can't stand to hear it. It's like Freddy Krueger's metal talons scraping down the blackboard of his mind. It makes him cringe, cover his ears, and curl into a fetal position, hoping it will go away. But this praise must be real, from the heart. You can't go through the motions - raise your hands just to mimic someone else - or mindlessly mouth the words to a praise chorus."

read this para yesterday...It kinda reminded on how I first love praising Him. It was motivated out of beating the devil imagery. Some worship leader was telling us that if we clap our hands during praise and worship, we're actually smiting the devil.I don't know how much of it is real or mere symbolism. But either way, it's still has positive effects. Coz we hate the devil so much :P

The second part about mimic-ing is true. As much as we as worship leaders encourage active participation during worship, shown through liftin of hands and weeping, dancing, laughing in His presence, it's a fine line between doing it out of the heart and doing it because people do it too. I struggle with saying "church, I want you all to lift your hands to God" unless I have a reason for them to do so, like if I'm orchestrating a prophetic act of lifting of hands as a funnel to receive God's blessing. Or in another case, lifting of hands as a symbol of surrender.

Be watchful and wary.

Don't fall into the devil's trap of deception!

Worship must be from your inmost being!