male announcer: The Bible
says to run in such a way as to get the prize, but God doesn't expect you
to run on empty. The way to fill up
on your empty spiritual tank is to be empowered
by praise. Worshiping the Lord will fill
your heart with joy and bring you into his presence
so you'll be able to run on his strength
and not your own. "Empowered by Praise" coming up
next on "Leading the Way." ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Dr. Michael Youssef:
Today I want to show you how the praise-filled life
can change us and can change us for good. Why am I saying this? Listen carefully. Because praising God is
the one thing that you and I will do that lines us up
with the courts of heaven. Praise is the one thing
that we do that puts us in the same posture
as the angels of heaven. Praising God is the one thing
we do here on earth that puts us in agreement
with what's going on in heaven. Revelation 5:12 tells us that
in heaven they are constantly praising Jesus and saying, "Worthy is the Lamb
who was slain to receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor,
and glory, and praise." I say amen belongs here. You see, the angels
and the believers who have gone ahead of us--all the believers
who have gone ahead of us right now with the angels
are praising Jesus. And when you and I praise
the name of the Lord first thing when you wake up
in the morning, we are literally aligning
ourselves with them. Listen to me. When you and I die and
get buried in the ground, our praises are not going
to be buried with us. They're going to keep on rising
forever and ever and ever in heaven. Our praises to God
will never die with us. They'll never die. Listen, I want to be upfront
with you. I always am. Developing the praise-filled
life demands change. It demands change in us. It demands it, and you and
I know change is not easy. I know that. Most people don't want
to change. Most people don't want
to make an effort. They don't want
to go to trouble. Most people just prefer their
comfort zone and their routine. Well, I have to admit to you
right up front that change is not easy. I know that. But here's the good news. Praise works. The praise-filled life works,
but you have to try it, you have to practice it. You have to exercise it because
praise will change you and is going to change you
for good because praise will change your life, praise
will change your attitude. Trust me. Praise will change
your relationships. Praise will change
your perspective, your sensitivities,
and even your desires. Someone maybe ask,
"Well, Michael, how does a praise-filled life
change my attitude? How can that be?" I'm glad you asked. Because when you take time
to praise the Lord on a daily basis,
most likely and most certain it has to be first thing
in the morning, you're going to find
that it is nearly impossible for you to harbor anger,
bitterness, resentment, or hatred. When you take time to praise
the Lord on a daily basis, to praise the goodness of God,
the mercy of God, and the attributes of God,
you will soon discover that negative spirit
toward others and the positive spirit toward
the Lord God cannot coexist. One is going to give up,
and I know which one is going to disappear. Your praise may start sluggish. I know. Very sluggish and just--
but you start anyway. Just move your lips. The Holy Spirit will fill them. Just keep moving your lips. Keep blessing God. I know it might start not
with a joyful attitude and not on the top of the world. I understand that. It's fine, but--it may start
very reluctant even, but as you persist in praise
the spirit of praise is going to lift you up. Why? Because as we saw
in the last message, your praise is an invitation
to the Spirit-- the Holy Spirit of Jesus
not only to come and indwell you uniquely;
but when the Spirit of Jesus come and indwells in you
uniquely in the praise, he was going to come
and reign supreme. At that moment, you're going
to become loving, forgiving, and even praying for those
who spitefully use you. I have experienced this
too many times to doubt it. I've experienced it
too many-- and I know many of you have too. As I open my mouth to honor
the Lord for who he is, as I bless the Lord
for the glorious things he has done, as I thank God
for his grace and for his mercy and for his longsuffering
with me, as I praise God
for past provisions, as I bless God
for past healings, I find myself uplifted
from my current situation. But listen. You don't have to take
my word for it. I'm a flawed man. I'm probably more conscious
of that than anybody. I'm flawed. I'm a flawed person. But you don't have to take
my word for it, take the Word of God for it. Okay? I just want you to take
God's Word for it. So I want you to turn
to Isaiah 61. If you don't have your Bible,
if you have your iPad, just type Isaiah 61. As you're finding it,
as you're looking into it; Isaiah 61, it is a prophecy
about the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a magnificent prophecy
because it took place, it happened, it's pronounced
700 years before the Lord Jesus Christ came
into Bethlehem of Judea. As a matter of fact--
you don't have to go to it now, but mark it down. Luke chapter 4, the Lord goes
to his local church, sits down. That's what they did
when they read the Scripture. They--he sat--he sits down,
and they bring the scroll. And what does the Lord do? He reads Isaiah 61. "The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because he anointed me to bring good news
to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and to open the prison door to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day
of vengeance of our God." Look at verse 3. Coming up, verse 3 Isaiah 61. "To comfort all who mourn
and provide for those who mourn in Zion, to bestow
on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning." Now, here comes the clincher. Here comes the clincher. Are you reading it with me? Here comes the clincher. I want to show it
to you demonstrably. You found it? "And the garment of praise,
the garment of praise instead of the spirit
of despair." By the way, this is
a garment of praise. It was given to me as a gift
by the pastors in Beirut, Lebanon a few years ago. Now in your Bible,
I want you to highlight a garment of praise. It's the garment that's wore
in celebrations. I must tell you a couple
of things about the garment
of praise. You must understand,
first of all, the garment of praise is not
something you're born with. The second thing about
the garment of praise, it is something you put on. And the third thing is
the garment of praise is no good folded or hanging
in the closet. It's not good to you. And the fourth thing I want
to tell you is the garment of praise is something
you choose to put on. You choose, you choose,
you choose, you choose to put on. When it comes to the garment
of praise, listen to me, it is something
that is given to you. It's like this garment of praise
was given to me. It's given to you. It is something
that is offered to you, and because of that
it now belongs to you. It's now available to you. It is now at your beck and call,
but here's the clincher. No one, no one,
no one can wear it for you. In other words, no one can
praise God for you. They may thank God for you,
but they can't do the praises that you must do. You have to choose
the praise-filled life. You have to decide. Hear me out, please.
This is important. True praise is the river that
flows out of your heart, and that river is fed
by your gratitude to God and thankfulness to God
and praise to God. Here's something I hope
you'll never forget. Don't ever forget what
I'm going to tell you. From God's point of view,
he has given us a zillion reason why to praise him. He's given us a zillion reason
why to praise him, and furthermore, he does give us
the desire to praise him. And wouldn't you know it? Because he gets blessed
by your praises, he blesses you back. Isn't that an amazing God
we have? Isn't that an amazing God
we have? But you're the one who has
to do the praising. You're the one who must
wrap yourself up with the garment of praise. You have to do it, and you
have to do it on a daily basis. You're the one who must keep
that garment of praise 24/7. Question, does this mean
that you'll never be tempted to take off the garment
of praise? Of course not. Temptations come to all of us. But every time the enemy
of your soul offers you a garment of despair,
what you do you overwhelm him with the garment of praise. Amen. Every time you're--he tempts you
to put on the garment of discouragement
under the guise of just being realistic,
you put on the garment of praise and you keep on wearing it
and you keep on wearing it. But there's something else
I need to tell you about the garment of praise. "Isn't that Michael--
is not a preacher, a evangelist, or a theologian?" No. The Lord himself,
the Lord himself is the one who contrasts the garment
of praise with the spirit of despair. The one who made us,
the one who redeemed us, the one who loved us,
the one who died on the cross for us,
he is the one who makes that comparison. The Lord himself does that. And in the Old Testament
when a person is experiencing utter despair, it leads them
to tear up their garment, literally ripping the fabric
as a sign of deep sorrow. The ripping of the fabric is
a sign of the ripping of their hearts and
how they are heartbroken. It's a sign of being
emotionally torn by sadness. Let me give you some biblical
examples of the tearing of the fabric as a symbol
of the tearing of the heart. That's why Joel, you know,
he says, "Tear your hearts,
not your garments." For example, you find
in 2 Samuel chapter 13 Tamar the daughter of King David
when her wicked, evil step-brother raped her,
she tore the ornamented robe in despair. In Job chapter 2, verse 12
when Job's friends saw what happened to him,
they couldn't help it but tear their own clothes. In Ezra 9:3 when Ezra
saw the unfaithfulness of God's people,
he tore the tunic and the cloak. Question, what is Jesus's
message when he sat in the-- his local church and opened the
Scripture to Isaiah 61 and says, "This has been fulfilled
in your years," meaning, "This prophecy now fulfilled
in me the Messiah. I am the one of whom
Isaiah 61 is speaking." And he says this to them. And first of all they're kind
of not very responsive, but then later he told them
a story from the Old Testament that indicated that he came
to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews
and that's when they took him into this precipice in Nazareth
and they wanted to throw him down. "What do you mean, the Messiah came
to save Gentiles? He's only come to save Jews." But what is he saying? Why did he sit there and read
the chapter of Isaiah 61 and Luke chapter 4? Because he's telling every one
of us that in him the Christ you can exchange your torn
garment of sadness with his garment of gladness,
that in him the Christ you can replace your garment
of despair with his garment of praise,
that in him the Christ you can throw away the garment
of sorrow and cloak yourself with his healing and the garment
of his power and forgiveness, in him the Christ you can
cover up your nakedness of discouragement and despair
with a beautiful garment of joy. Now, beloved, it is only
in the lifting up of the name of Jesus
that evaporates the cloud of discouragement. I don't know of any other way. It is when you move your lips
in praise and worship and adoration on a daily basis
that he moves his power and his strength
and his joy in you. It is when you fix your eyes
on Jesus and Jesus-- the praise of Jesus
will he changes your desires, he will change
your relationships, he will change
your perspective, and he will change
your sensitivities. Can I get a witness? Well, if that's not enough,
let me give you another reference from Isaiah 40
beginning at verse 28. Mark it down. I'm going to read it for you,
but mark it down. "Do you not know?
Have you not heard? The Lord, the everlasting God,
the Creator of the end of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding
no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary,
and he increases the power of the weak. Even youth will grow tired
and weary, and young men will stumble
and fall; but those who hope
in the Lord--" Can you say that with me? "Those ...
they will renew strength." Hallelujah. "They will soar on wings
of eagles. They will run
and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." I need to tell you true story
before--as I conclude. It's a wonderful story. It's an incredible example to me
and I pray to you, best example
of how the garment of praise can overwhelm the spirit
of despair and discouragement every time. His name was
George Frideric Handel. I'm sure you know the name. He was all alone in his room
one day feeling depressed, discouraged. Actually, he was feeling
thoroughly and utterly dejected. He was despondent,
and he was weary. His soul was sick within him. You see, earlier--a few days
earlier, his orchestra was thrown out on the streets
after rehearsal. The next day the concert
audience jeered him, and he convinced himself he is
nothing but a failure. He is just utter failure. He felt there was nothing left
for him but to leave London. And while he's in the middle
of this dark mood, this dark mood of despair,
there was a knock on the door. Interrupted his despair. A friend came with a manuscript
for an oratorio, and he asked Handel, "Will you
please write the music for it?" Handel refused. He say, "It's over. I'm done." But then he took a second look
at it and he saw the title Messiah, Messiah. And Handel did love praise
the name of Jesus. He loved the praise of God. So he read it,
and all of a sudden this-- he literally recovered
because the spirit of praise began to cover him
like a blanket from head to toes,
and he immediately went to work three straight weeks without
a break and he came up with what we know today
as Handel's Messiah. "Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah." It's okay, guys. Your job is safe. And thus, my beloved friends,
the garment of despair was replaced by the garment
of praise. Today, you and I and millions
of others around the world can be blessed with that
magnificent music, the so-called Handel's Messiah,
and it was born out of the spirit of despair
being replaced by the garment of praise. I'm about to finish,
so I don't want to lose you in the last couple of seconds,
okay? There is no telling how God
can use you and you and you and you and every single person
at the sound of my voice; yes, you at any age,
at any stage, at any condition,
and in any place. He can use you. The question is, will you say,
"Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. I will take the garment
of praise, every day have it cover me,
and I will live the praise-filled life." announcer: Visit ltw.org today to grow in your relationship
with Christ. Log on and strengthen
your faith as you watch or listen to biblical teaching
from Dr. Michael Youssef. Receive encouragement
as you watch miraculous stories of God moving here at home
and around the world. Everything on ltw.org
can be easily shared through email or your favorite
social media platform. Visit ltw.org today. Be encouraged and join
our global gospel movement. Dr. Youssef: As we look
at the world and see how darkness is closing in
and how uncertain the future is, I really believe
this is the time we can be empowered
by praising God. We are so indebted to the Lord
for everything, but we are truly indebted to him
for the ability to praise him and to bless his name. What I am teaching you
in this book is what the Lord taught me,
and that is the life of praise, that is a daily life. It is as important
as your heartbeat, and it's within
that praising of God that we are blessed
and empowered. announcer: Filled with
practical scriptural guidance and stories
from his own personal life, "Empowered by Praise"
explores the blessings, challenges, and power of praise. You can experience the deep
abiding joy of entering God's presence, seeing his power
on display in your life, and glorifying him
with all that you are. Dr. Youssef's book,
"Empowered by Praise" is available now
for your gift of any amount. Discover how praise can lift you
above difficult circumstances and transport you
into God's presence and power like never before. Contact us today to get your own
copy of, "Empowered by Praise." Consider a generous gift today. ♪♪♪ Pablo: Hi, my name is Pablo. I'm from Ciego de Avila. It's a pleasure and a blessing
to be here around the mountains preaching the gospel
of Jesus Christ. It's amazing to see how people
across the country are hungry for the gospel
and for Jesus Christ. So they don't have the way
to have Bibles to read for themselves so this navigator
is such a special way for them to listen and to learn
the gospel and to grow in their relationship
with Jesus Christ. Dr. Youssef: This is called
the navigator. This little gizmo
has the gospel in it. People can hang it on a tree
in a village, remote areas in Indonesia,
in India, anywhere in the world
and hear the Word of God. Pablo: When they receive this,
they just start listening to it, learning and chewing on it,
and they get very happy because they receive
Jesus Christ and at the same time
they have the Word of God to nourish them
so they can have the Word and they can learn and grow
in Christ Jesus, which is it's all about. God bless you so much. Dr. Youssef: I'm so delighted
that we have this new navigator. This one, it's got
much larger capacity. It will take a whole lot more
messages to millions around the world. announcer: As a part of
Vision 2025, "Leading the Way" is striving to distribute
100,000 navigators to those without access
to modern technologies. These solar-powered devices
contain powerful biblical content
from Dr. Youssef. Dr. Youssef:
Hello, listening friends. We're delighted
you joined us today. male:
[speaking foreign language] announcer: For many,
this is the only access they will have to God's Word. Join with us to get the gospel into the hardest-to-reach areas
of our world. Contact us to make
your generous gift today. Your donation will help support
the work of Christ through "Leading the Way." announcer:
Passionately proclaiming
uncompromising truth, "Leading the Way"
with Dr. Michael Youssef thanks you
for your faithful support through your continued prayers
and gifts. ♪♪♪
