Objective
As part of the Adoration / Praise Series, we will impart to kids that an all-powerful praise comes from the heart. It’s not about the nice music, nor the excellent performance. Real praise goes up to the heavens and makes God smile. It is the kind that comes from a pure, sincere, and humble heart.
Big Point
All powerful praise comes from the heart
Teaching Video
God’s Word
3 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying. They were also singing hymns to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a powerful earthquake. It shook the prison from top to bottom. All at once the prison doors flew open. Everyone’s chains came loose.
Acts 16:25-26 NIRV
Key Points
- Praise God from the start
- Praise God from the heart
- Praise God non-stop
Lord, in the morning you hear my voice. In the morning I pray to you. I wait for you in hope.
Psalm 5:3 NIRV
The Lord is gracious, kind and tender. He is slow to get angry and full of love.
Psalm 145:8 NIRV
Teaching Reflection
What comes to your mind when you think about praise? Maybe, songs? Singing and dancing? Musical instruments?
In Christian church parlance, worship usually means “slow songs” and praise usually mean “fast, dance songs”.
There’s nothing wrong with this association. God is a God of order after all, and it’s good to have standards that we can adhere to.
Here though, we are talking about praise as that concept of lifting up our God most high, declaring that He is the greatest of all, and in the process, being edified in and of ourselves.
With Almighty Praise, we want to teach that it speaks of several things:
– giving honor to God
– thanksgiving
– driving away the enemy
– staying positive / encouraging
– declaring victory
– inviting God’s presence
– claiming God’s power
– focusing on God
Praise reaches for and achieves all of these things, and so much more! Because praise is a very powerful thing. When we praise, we do it with our bodies, so we spend strength and energy to do it, and in turn, it energizes, empowers, and refreshes us as well.
# 1 Praise God from the start
God wants us to think about Him the very minute that we wake up in the morning. He should be the first thought that we have in the day; even before doing anything else, we should be praising Him. We want praise to be a priority. We want praise to be so important to us that we never forget to do it every single day.
Also, we want praise to be something that starts for us even before we have a reason to praise Him. That means, we praise because God, full stop. Even before we have something to thank Him for, even before we have something to ask. Even before the sickness comes, or the sickness is healed. Even when the blessings are pouring in, or when the blessings have yet to come. From the very start we praise God!
# 2 Praise God from the heart
God wants our praise to be something that we feel here (in our hearts) and know here (in our minds). He wants it to be joyful! He allows it to be painful! It is always exciting. It can sometimes be tiring. But all throughout, God wants it to come from our heart.
When Paul and Silas were in chains in their jail cell, they were tired and hurting, being severely beaten. I would not have blamed them for just praying quietly and going to sleep at that point. But instead, they praised God all the more.
And that’s what made their praising all the more amazing, all the more powerful — because they still had hope in Jesus even their desperate situation! They can be hurting in their bodies, but in their hearts, they are still singing, and that’s the kind of praise that Jesus wants.
# 3 Praise God non-stop
And this is how often we praise Him! Endlessly! Every night and day and with no delay — just like that song says!
Praising God never stops. Whether we are sad or happy, winner or loser, hopeful, or despairing — all of our days we should be praising God.
Remember the chains binding Paul and Silas? Chains are a symbol of being trapped, right? They signify that a person can’t move, aren’t free. They’re usually very depressing.
But what did they do? They started praising. From the start of their situation, they praised God. From their heart, with their voices and with what movement they can do, they praised God. And non-stop, they praised until the walls of that prison fell down, and that is what we have to do every day, that is how we want to praise God every day: From the start, from the heart, and non-stop.
Link to Slides
The script for the entire teaching is in the speaker notes.