Praise, Pray, Proclaim

^{© jhopfan.org}

This article is a part of the "Vitalize" pack

Isaiah 62:6
Jerusalem,
I have appointed watchmen on your walls;
they will never be silent, day or night.
There is no rest for you,
who remind the Lord.
Do not give Him rest
until He establishes and makes Jerusalem
the praise of the earth.

· Does this statement only apply to Jerusalem?
· Has the revelation been fulfilled?
· Definition of guard?

We are to continually praise, glorify and worship God – because Jesus prays that God's Kingdom will come and His will be done here on earth, as it is in the Heaven. And in heaven, there is constant praise, worship and adoration. (I wrote a study about the reflection of the Heaven here.)

We're the royal priesthood in the New Testament. So the basic priestly ministries of prayer, fasting, thanksgiving, worship and representation are our responsibility.
Although you see a different order on the jhopfan.org poster above, I prefer to see the Praise - Pray - Proclaim process in the life of the believer.

Praise

There is power in praise because it is where we meet God Who is the source of life and all good. He is also the source of holiness and from His Cross comes the Holy Blood, from His Throne comes out the spring of Life - the cleansing of all sin and the source of our next breath.
We praise Him, per se.

Pray

Since we are still in the fallen world - we pray. We must pray, we should pray, with thanksgiving, with tears, in the stress, in the greatest joy. We are called to be a part of the family where the firstborn, Jesus is the high priest, teaching us how to pray. This is the simplest handout communication in the heavenly family.
And (although it is often neglected) we are not to perform a task list (as a religious obligation in the OT). We are heirs, sons, His adopted household, to reflect His Majesty, His Light and Glory. We pray and our Heavenly Father, Who is Provider, gives us directions for the fruitful life.

Proclaim, Declare

As there are fruits of the Holy Spirit, so there are heavenly reflections of priestly ministry in the believer's new Covenant.
While many want to build a "Judeo-Christian culture" mixed with Levitical priesthood, it does not bear fruit. Jesus Christ came from the tribe of Judah, He has nothing to do with the Levitical line. (Even the Levites were not allowed to wear clothes in which they sweat. How much more can we proclaim the works and the things that come from Gd our Father?)

to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness.
Rom 4:5

Here, the "believe" refers to the righteousness. Yet We can hear so much declaration today, Commitments and obligations under the community rules, traditions, ofter plainly alienated from the apostolic doctrines and heritage.

We can see lot of hardworking people. They are faithful on their traditions, but their message is somewhat full of sweat. Declaration of the hard work. Remember the oath:

Gen3:17
The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life..

Listen! Here, the "labor" or "work" refers to the curse. Today many serve from the flesh, not from their righteous status - not listening to the breath of the Spirit.

The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
John 3:8

The age of sweat is the past. The past. Meanwhile...

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love,* joy and peace...
Gal 5:22

{agape, not filia}

Fruits cannot be made.. they are growing. Gd makes the progress, we have milestones and daily tasks - embraced by His power and council. We have a new love: agape. And where there is an agape, there is a loving invitation and calling. A call to the nations. For everyone. A desire for sharing His goodness and glory.
This is our Declaration, this is our Proclaim!

☆ ♜