By Mark Johnson
Forerunner Ministries http://forerunnerministries.com/
P O Box 6084, M
inneapolis, MN 55406
“I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations” Psalm 57:9.
Much has been said, and is being said, about praise and worship, the restoration of praise and worship to the body of Christ. That’s great! What about the unbelievers? Isn’t there a need for them to experience God’s presence so that a drawing conviction unto salvation may take place? I believe God would not have an expression of love and adoration unto Him to be confined to within a four‑walled structure.
Praise and worship in public places is not really a new concept. It’s been used throughout the ages from when King David worshipped before the Lord publicly, even dancing before the Lord, to the time of the Salvation Army. We just haven’t used this cutting‑edge tool much in modern day evangelism.
I have personally experienced some exciting results with praising and worshipping God on the streets of the cities of this nation. The summer of 1986, during the “Jesus Loves You‑New York” outreach, several things happened in this area. We were on 42nd Street singing some songs like “Power in the Blood” and “I Shall Not be Moved.” Several of the street people, who were quite drunk, knew the songs either from gospel missions or from earlier childhood upbringing. Some of these people began to sober up and, as they did, they were able to hear a clear presentation of the gospel from other team members. As a result, many received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
At times opposition will occur when you begin to worship God. This past summer at the University of California at Berkeley, when we began to sing songs of praise, one person was heckling us. As we kept singing, he realized his heckling wasn’t working. He then got a piece of metal and threw it on the sidewalk and tapped on it. The noise was definitely irritating. Right at that point we began to sing songs of worship such as “Oh the Blood of Jesus.” Songs about the Blood are key weapons. Soon we were joined by another street musician who played the conga drums. We did a reggae styled version of “God’s Not Dead.” Suddenly, the conga player got mad at the man with the piece of metal and he went up to him with his tambourine and stick and smashed it right in this guy’s ear! People started jumping in trying to break this up. By this time, we had a large crowd and many were receiving the tracts that were being distributed. Wasn’t that nice of the devil to draw a crowd for us! We were praising, worshipping, and preaching the whole time.
Praise and worship unto the Lord, on the streets, is exciting and produces definite results. I would like to leave you with a few important points to remember when you go out to sing to the Lord publicly:
1. First, we should touch the heart of the Father. We are out there because we really love God and He told us to be there.
Begin by expressing and showing that love through praise. Let’s bless Him and confess Him before men with songs of gratitude and love. We are singing unto the Lord, not to the buildings around us. “Because He is your Lord, worship Him” Psalm 45:11b.
2. Convey a message of love, joy, and forgiveness. Let them see Jesus on your faces as you sing with real sincerity.
3. Once you have broken through the resistance to worship, continue in intense worship. Allow God’s Spirit to move in this place.
4. Warfare: If people yell and scream at you, keep singing. Stop at intervals for a short time of preaching the Word. Be sensitive about this. Sometimes, God will want you to do nothing but worship. Keep singing the same song if the Spirit’s anointing is flowing and doing a work. It can act as a battering ram in breaking through the darkness. Anointed music from God’s throne room will cause evil principalities to leave (see 1 Sam. 16:23 and Isa. 30:29‑32).
5. Power: “It came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound in praising the Lord…that the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering…for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God” (2 Chron. 5:11‑14). Can you imagine that type of worship in public places? With God’s power and glory displayed in such a fashion, a platform for souls to be won would be gloriously provided.
Let’s praise our God for His goodness and grace in providing salvation for us and the world. Let’s worship Him for He is an awesome, holy God. Let’s sensitively display His power with wisdom and love through openly praising and worshipping Him.
