TODAY AT THE PRAISE SANCTUARY!

SUNDAY SERVICE (MAY 15, 2011)

Church commenced at exactly 8am with opening prayer, praise and worship led by brothers Adu Poku and Alex Jnr. The Praise Sanctuary choir ministered powerful renditions of both local and foreign songs. By the time the man of God took over the pulpit, the atmosphere was charged with the presence of God. He led us through an intense time of worship before declaring the Word of God for the day. He began by making this profound statement: “If there is anything that you need to do in the presence of God, it is to see yourself below a zero level so you can worship Him in all reverence and humility.”

Before speaking on the main topic for the day, the man of God declared the month of June as the month of Pure Worship and he spoke briefly about what to expect in the coming month. He recalled the days of David as a shepherd boy and also as a king. He spoke about the time when the ark of God was returning to Jerusalem and David, out of the gratitude that filled his heart, danced before the Lord until he was almost naked (2 Samuel 6). David’s wife, Michal despised him in her heart and this stirred up anger from the Lord. What Michal did not know about David’s heart of thankfulness was that he was once a shepherd boy who was forgotten by his family and God located him in the wilderness and anointed him king over Israel.

“If you don’t know my pain, you can’t understand my praise…”

Still speaking on the theme for the month – Being led by the Holy Spirit to take advantage of opportunities, he emphasized on the various ways by which God can lead His children. He spoke on the first 5 ways and promised to continue with the rest next Sunday. On this day (Sunday May 15, 2011 at the Praise Sanctuary, God really descended into the midst of His children and ministered to them! God bless you as you read except of the message for the day….

Message for the day…

By: Rev Alex Owusu Amankwah

On: “VARIOUS WAYS BY WHICH GOD CAN LEAD YOU”

This year, it is your time to shine. Light stands for development and so even as you shine this year, you shall experience total development in every area of your life.

Various ways…

1. INWARD WITNESS

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” Romans 8:16

2. INWARD VOICE

“I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost.” Romans 9:1

• l        Feeling is the voice of the body, reasoning is the voice of the soul and CONSCIENCE is the voice of the spirit.
• l        This conscience comes from your spirit, but it is not the Holy Spirit. It bears witness in the Holy Ghost.
• l        Understand that you can only win in this life when you allow your conscience to flow in the direction of the Holy Ghost.

3. THE VOICE OF THE HOLY GHOST

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” John 16:13

• l        The Holy Ghost has a voice and He speaks. He guides and reveals to children of God things to come.
• l        The voice of the Holy Spirit is more authoritative and audible than the inward voice. The Holy Spirit speaks to us as if someone close by was speaking to us.

(At this point, Rev Alex recalled his school days – specifically at a time that he was preparing for his exams. He was invited to preach to a gathering of matured congregants and so he decided to pray and prepare for it. As soon as he began to pray, he fell asleep. But in a dream, the Holy Spirit spoke audibly to him, thus: “Alex, if you pray cheap prayers, you will preach cheap messages…” – that was the audible and authoritative voice of the Holy Spirit manifesting.)

• l        The voice of the Holy Spirit is the sure way by which God speaks to us at all times! (Ref: Acts 10:19; Acts 13:1-2)

4. THE SPECTACULAR GUIDANCE

“Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” Acts 26:19

• l        In the above verse, Bible describes an encounter that Paul had when God revealed Himself to him in a spectacular manner.
• l        In Acts 8:26-29, Bible also talks of Philip’s spectacular encounter with the supernatural when he was whisked away by the Spirit from one destination to the other.
• l        Nevertheless, understand that this way of God’s leading is always an exception. It does not happen frequently as compared to the others.

5. GUIDANCE THROUGH VISION

“Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.” Lamentations 2:9

There are about 3 main ways by which God leads His children through visions;

• l        Spiritual visions – where God reveals something to you when your eyes are closed in prayer or worship or meditation. The key here is that you don’t have to first visualize a thing before closing your eyes to be able to have this vision.
• l        Trance (Acts 10:23) – this happens when your human senses are suspended from the physical realm so that you can begin to have a divine encounter with the Holy Spirit.
• l        Open Vision – this happens when God reveals things beyond natural comprehension to you even when you eyes are opened. The Holy Spirit takes over your spirit and take you into another realm where He can commune with you.

It is important to be led by God in all things so that you can take advantage of all the opportunities that will come your way. Remember that seek for God’s leading in areas as your job, marriage, finances, etc.

Always learn to align any spiritual guidance you receive with the Word of God so you can prove what is right or not and what has been sanctioned by God or otherwise.

God bless you!!!