We started a study on the Biblical difference between true worship and true praise. The Hebrew and Greek words for worship have nothing to do with music. There is no "worship song," "worship team," or "now we enter into the worship time." Carrying this mindset causes the church and the Christian individual to rob God of the true worship which He demands and is worthy of.

The Scriptures teach us that Biblical worship in Hebrew in the Old Testament is TO PROSTRATE BEFORE; TO REVERE; TO ADORE; AND TO MINISTER TO:
The Scriptures teach us that Biblical worship in Greek in the New Testament is TO REVERE; TO HONOR; TO ADORE; TO KISS AS A DOG LICKS HIS MASTER'S HAND.

True worship is to bow the head, the body, the knees, or to lay flat before the Lord. This is physical positions representing the heart bowed before the Father.

PRAISE however encompasses many different aspects of expression. There are at least 11 Hebrews words for praise and at least 9 Greek words for praise. That means we have at least 20 different Biblical expressions of praise, yet typically we limit it to 2. We play a Lucian instrument and we sing.
 
Some examples of ways to praise:
1.  Thanksgiving:
2.  Lifting of your hands:
3.  Blessing:
4.  Shouting:
5.  Playing an Instrument:
6.  Singing:
7.  To make a show or boast:
8.  Dancing:
9.  Leaping:
10.Spinning Twirling:

Let's jump back to worship for a moment and give some Scriptures. Some of the key elements in worship is learning how to worship God in the Spirit and how to flow with the move of His Spirit. Practicing these things will help usher in the last great move of God’s Spirit resulting in a tremendous harvest of souls.

John 4:23-24 ESV But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. (24) God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

Ephesians 5:18-21 ESV And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, (19) addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, (20) giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (21) submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:2-5 ESV (2) For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (3) And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, (4) and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, (5) so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:12-13 ESV (12) Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. (13) And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

The main reason for this study in PRAISE is to show the different ways to praise listed in the Word of God. This is just laying the groundwork so we can see the difference between praise and worship. In future studies we will look at the different ways to praise.

In Romans 2:28-29 we see that praise is of the Spirit and is from God.

Romans 2:28-29 (ESV) For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

In Philippians 3:3-7 we see that worship is also from God. We are not to put confidence in the flesh, even in what we might call praise and worship.

Philippians 3:3-7 (ESV) For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

In Philippians 3:8-9 we see that which is good and righteous in us comes from Christ by faith.

Philippians 3:8-9 (ESV) Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--

In the study I must explain the difference between man’s spirit, soul, and body that the Apostle Paul addressed in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, so that our worship of God is in the Spirit. I am a spirit, I have a soul (thoughts, feelings, and will), and I am trapped in a body. The inner soulish man is my personality or who I am in the fallen Adamic nature. The inner-most-spirit-man is where the Holy Spirit dwells and who I am in Christ with the incorruptible seed of our Lord's righteousness. The out-man, my body, is but a shell that is perishes daily. My outer man is NOT who I am; it is only who others see.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 ESV Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the study I must teach how to reverence God so that the Person of the Holy Spirit is not grieved and can manifest Himself as he desires.

I must believe that God cannot lie and wishes to bless me.

Numbers 23:19-20 ESV God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? 20 Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

I must choose not to grieve the Holy Spirit by a life that transgresses against God.

Ephesians 4:30 ESV And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

In Hebrews 12:28-29 we find there is an acceptable worship just like He commands in Romans 12:1-2. If we are commanded to offer the Father acceptable worship, then there must be an activity of worship that is unacceptable.

Hebrews 12:28-29 ESV Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

​More later...