One way to drive Satan to distraction, and to overcome him, is through praise of Jesus. Regardless of whether the enemy is a visible foe in front of us like the Scribes and Pharisees or an invisible foe outside of us like the devil himself or an invisible foe inside of us like depression, praise drives the enemy away. In the very prophecy that describes Jesus’ inmost thoughts and feelings as He hung on the cross, tortured, bleeding, and dying, the psalmist declared, “But You are holy, enthroned in the praises . . .” of Your people (Ps. 22:3, NKJV). In other words, He is enthroned-He rules in power, authority, and supremacy-through our praise.
In some supernatural way, praise ushers the authority of God into any given situation. One practical way to maintain your praise is, every time you pray, to begin your prayer with praise. First praise Him for Who He is. Then praise Him for something He has done for you. Start now!
To worship God means to attribute worth to God through obedience to God, preoccupation with God, and praise of God. The Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar said, in essence, “Oh, well, I worship God.” And Jesus corrected her, “You Samaritans worship what you do not know.” Why was her worship invalid? Because she was substituting the traditions and rituals of her religion for a personal relationship with God through faith. So Jesus explained, “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24, NIV).
What does it mean to worship “in spirit and in truth”? To worship God in spirit means to worship Him in deepest sincerity from the heart as one who is indwelled by the Spirit of God. To worship Him in truth means to worship Him honestly, without hypocrisy, through faith in His Word, both the Living Word, which is Jesus, and the written Word, which is the Bible.
