Let Him teach you about Himself.  Let Him show you what He can do.  Have faith that He will act when the time is right.  Have faith that He knows best.

It doesn't matter what we think He should do because we are thinking out of our own desires and out of our limited vision.  He sees the before and the after.  He knows what is best. As it says in Psalms 146:1-3:
"Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.  While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.  Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help."

Things are falling apart around me.  My eyes see what appear to be hopeless situations.  My heart tells me that my God is bigger than anything my eyes see and that my ears hear.

I will shout, "PRAISE THE LORD!" and I will proclaim that He is the God that watches over my family.  He is the God that is in control!

AMEN AND AMEN!

Praise and worship is for God because He so richly deserves it.  He is worthy to be praised.  We need to be praising Him because of all the reasons we found the last time we studied this scripture and because of so much more. Jesus taught us how to pray in the Lord's Prayer.  How does it start?  Does it start with "give us" or does it start with "hallowed be Thy name"?  So many times we bring ourselves to God and tell Him, "Here I am, Lord.  I want... I need... I want... I need...."  That is often what praise and worship has become, too.

Whenever I go to a church I get excited as I anticipate corporate praise.  What I mean by corporate praise is a group of people all lifting their voices in one accord and praising God.  Yet, over and over and over I see churches miss the mark.

Instead of singing songs TO God ABOUT God telling Him how wonderful He is the "worship" time is full of:
~songs celebrating how we are going to praise God and not actually praising Him.
~songs telling the reasons God deserves praise, but not actually praising Him.
~songs that say how great God makes us feel.
~songs that ask God to help us, strengthen us, or bless us.
~songs that are full of "feel good" stuff like dancing and clapping and shouting.
~songs that don't praise God at all.

Probably all the songs that are being sung are great songs and bless many people.  There are times when "feel good" songs are in order.  There are times when songs about the things God has for us are in order.  However, when a group is ready to praise and worship God then they need to PRAISE  AND WORSHIP GOD!  They need to bless Him and not themselves!

"Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name."  ALL that is within me bless His holy name!  Praising God is pouring ourselves out to Him, not filling ourselves up with Him.  It is singing songs that say "You, You, You" and not "me, me, me, I, I, I"!

Well, hey, what do I know?  I'm just another person with another opinion, right?  So, ask God for yourself.  If you are a praise leader in your church, ask God what songs He wants sung.  Then, even though you have practiced a set of songs for the church service and might even have the words to the songs in the bulletin or on an overhead, continue asking God what He wants sung.  As you are singing, ask Him what He wants.  If a song all of a sudden isn't right then stop the song.  Go to the one He wants.  Does He want something different?  Does He want everyone on their knees?  Does He have a Word to share through somebody?  WHAT DOES HE WANT?

A praise leader must be leading praise FOR GOD and not FOR THE PEOPLE.  Praise time is not entertainment time.  Praise time is not just an introduction to the sermon.  Praise time belongs to God and He needs to be put in control so He can get what He desires.

So, if you are not a praise leader then what can you do?  God doesn't necessarily want you to stand up and shout, "Stop the music!"  Ask Him what you should do.  Perhaps He just wants you to praise Him. 

Many times I have changed the words to songs and praised Him in spite of what was being sung.  I will change "He is worthy" to "You are worthy" and "praise Him" to "praise You". Sometimes all I can do is weep because I can feel God yearning for deeper worship from people who are just having a grand old time laughing and dancing and clapping. 

There are no easy answers for what to do if you are just one of God's children in the congregation wanting to join in corporate worship.  He knows what He wants from you and from your church.  Even when we are in a group of people that are missing God altogether it doesn't mean we have to travel along with them. Close your eyes so you aren't distracted by any nonsense.  Begin to pour yourself out.  Let all that is within you bless the Lord.  You don't have to ask Him for blessings.  They will automatically result from your worshipping Him in spirit and in truth. 

Don't take, just give, give, give.

What do we give God?  I'll think of some examples since I can't hear your answers.  My ears still aren't clear from my cold, so maybe that's why. An easy one would be to give Him back whatever talents He has give you.  For example, did He put in your heart the love of dancing?  Then dance to Him. Tell Him in words how wonderful, awesome, and glorious He is.  Sing them, or say them, or shout them, or whisper them, or think them.  Love Him.

Look at the examples we have so far.  What is the common thread running through them?  I'll give you a hint.  It has to do with direction of travel.

Did you get it?  They are all being done TO God.  You are sending praises and worship and love TO God.  You are giving Him of yourself, giving Him what He deserves, and ministering to Him. Now I'm going to make you think about the opposite side of the coin.  Let's use the same ideas. The dancer who is dancing to God begins to think about how great it feels just to be dancing and switches focus from God to the footwork or feel of the dance itself. When you are telling God all about Him and begin to:

• list all the things you are thankful for
• tell Him how He makes you feel
• keep talking, singing, etc. saying things that contain the words I, me, my, myself....
• ask for healing or ask for something else
• tell Him you want more of Him
   
  When you are telling God you love Him and the reasons change from you love Him because He is Awesome to you love Him because of what He has done for you.
  
  Do you see how the spiritual flow changed from toward God to toward you?  You were pushing things toward God and then you began sucking from Him.  You were giving and then you were taking.
  
  Spiritual ebb and flow.  There is a spiritual current moving in the lives of believers.  Have you felt it? I've been in church services where the focus was on God.  People came into the building to come together in one accord to GIVE Him praise and worship.  There was one church in particular that I attended for a year.  It was awesome.  Three months went by and the pastor just stayed with the rest of the congregation and gave alongside the rest of us.  The worship just went on and on and on.  There were a few people there who didn't get completely into the giving mode, but only a few.
  
  What happened was as the spiritual flow went like a rushing river to God, God came down to receive it.  If you've not experienced that feeling it is hard to describe.  It was like the air got heavy.  Some people began to weep.  Sometimes it was weeping of repentance and sometimes joy.  God came and touched each person in a special and personal way. Some people ended up on the floor and others on their knees.  It was awesome. So, what happened was, as we only focused on GIVING God GAVE in return.
  
  What happened was we didn't have to ask for anything.  God gave.  The church didn't have to take an offering.  God convicted people of how much to give.
  
  God spoke to those who would listen and they would go minister to those that God directed.
  
  We didn't go to church to socialize or to get healed.  We went to minister to God and to meet with Him. The reason I no longer go to that church is because the pastor took over.  That pastor must have realized that he no longer had control.  In other areas of his life he was a very controlling person.  So, he started to take over the service when he felt we had spent enough time in praise and worship.  It was very sad.  I wasn't the only one who could feel the Holy Spirit being "dismissed" so we could get on with the rest of the service.
  
  So, what do we need to do?  We need to spend more time giving to God what He deserves.  He is worthy of being praised, honored, worshipped, and adored. Don't waste your time singing songs that say things like, "I want to praise You" or, "It's time to praise You" or even, "You are all I need." Sing about Him!  Sing TO Him!  When you are singing a song that says, "He is worthy to be praised" then to whom are you singing?  Are you telling the other people there that God is worthy to be praised?  Don't they already know that?  Of course He is worthy!  So praise Him! Sing songs:  You, You, You.  Don't sing songs:  He, I, me
  
  Don't reject the songs that are about God rather than to God.  There is a purpose for those songs.  People who don't know Him need to hear them.  There is a time and a place for them.  However, when you come together with other believers and want to praise Him, then PRAISE HIM! Be aware of the spiritual flow.  If you are in a church that is sucking from God instead of giving to Him then withdraw from that and find out what He wants you to do.
  
  Sometimes I would feel Jesus standing and waiting to see if anyone was going to acknowledge Him.  Other times I could feel a spiritual "ceiling" right over our heads where nothing was going through either way.   Sometimes I could feel a great sense of grieving. Sometimes I would feel led to just weep.  Other times I would pray that the "ceiling" be broken.  Sometimes I was praising God with as much spiritual emphasis as I could muster feeling like a salmon swimming up a spiritual stream that was being pulled down as my praises swam up. During your time alone with God, how much of it is all about Him and how much is all about you? Be sensitive to the spiritual ebb and flow and which way it is flowing.

You say you have bad health?  You're still alive aren't you?  You are able to read or you wouldn't be able to read this.  You are able to sit at, or lie with, your computer.  You are still breathing.  Your heart is still beating.  Your _________ (fill this blank in with your body parts that still work) still works.  Now, go ahead and thank God for your health.

Flowers Clouds Sunshine Rain Your computer Your brain, talents, skills... Your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, parents, spouse, neighbors, and/or friends. Your favorite piece of furniture, favorite blanket, favorite picture, favorite thing you like to look at.

Paper  Well, think about it.  How handy is it?? Your favorite food The last person that smiled at you, hugged you, complimented you, or gave you something nice. Birds that sing pretty songs and pretty butterflies Your coffee pot, car, lawnmower, or any other appliance you use that works/runs. You start filling in the rest of the list. Oh, don't forget to put me on it.

Well, I'm the one that just reminded you of the fact that you have lots of things to be thankful for and you are on my list, too!