The Restoration of Praise
Praise him with loud cymbals! Praise him with resounding cymbals! — Psalms 150:5
All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God. — Revelation 7:11
Author
Dr. Roberto Miranda
Summary: The Pentecostal revival and the praise and worship movement helped restore the importance of worship among God’s people. Praise is not merely a transition to preaching: it has an essential place in the worship service and purposes of its own. Through praise, we seek God’s presence and power, bonds are broken, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are able to flow freely. In closeness with the Lord, we receive direction and preparation for the tasks He entrusts to us. Therefore, praise should not be confined to a few minutes of the service but should become a way of life, even in times of trial or need.
Without a doubt, the Pentecostal revival of the early twentieth century helped restore praise to its original role as we see it portrayed in the Scriptures. The emphasis that the Azuza Street revival placed on the Holy Spirit, the gifts, and spiritual warfare brought with it a renewed awareness of the importance of worship among a large segment of God’s people.
With the praise and worship movement that began in the United States during the 1980s, which later gave rise in Latin America to Christian singers and songwriters such as Marcos Witt, Danilo Montero, Marco Barrientos, and others, worship regained much of the importance it had lost in preceding years.
Today, in many parts of the Christian community, there is a greater awareness that worship is a powerful instrument for releasing the power of God, breaking bonds, and creating an atmosphere where the gifts of the Holy Spirit can flow freely. In many parts of the Christian community, praise is seen as a platform where the power of God can descend. It is seen as a vehicle through which God’s children can receive instruction and strength to carry out the tasks the Holy Spirit wishes to assign them. Speaking of worship, Ron Kenoly, a well-known Christian singer and worship leader, puts it this way:
Working is good, but it is when we spend time with the Lord that we receive instructions for the work He wants done. We receive our assignments and orders during our times of intimacy with Him. The Lord will give us dreams, visions, and revelations of what is in His heart, as well as what He wants us to do. It is precisely during those times of intimacy with Him that we are prepared for the assignments He has for us.
Today, a large segment of the Christian community has come to see worship not merely as a transition to the preaching, but rather as an essential part of the service, with its own importance and its own irreplaceable functions. Many passages of Scripture have been brought back into focus from this new perspective. In them, people recognize the essential role praise plays in the spiritual processes God’s people experience.
A large segment of the Church today understands that praise is not just something carried out for a few formal minutes during the service. Rather, it is seen as a way of life, a powerful and practical instrument for facilitating the movement of the Holy Spirit in any situation of trial or need.