What Is the Difference Between Praise and Worship?

Your personal praise and worship you do during the week should enhance your corporate praise and worship on Sunday mornings. The corporate praise and worship you do on Sunday morning should enhance your personal praise and worship all week long. You should enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. So, you see you bring praise to church with you instead of coming “to get your praise on.”

What is Praise?
Praise means “to commend, to applaud or to magnify.” Praise to God is an expression of worship, lifting up and glorifying God. It is an expression of humbling ourselves and centering our attention upon the Lord with heart-felt expressions of love, adoration and thanksgiving. High praises bring our spirit into a pinnacle of fellowship and intimacy with God. It magnifies our awareness of our spiritual union with the Most High God. Praise transports us into the realm of the supernatural and into the power of God.

There are many actions involved with praise to God — verbal expressions of adoration and thanksgiving, singing, playing instruments, shouting, dancing, lifting or clapping our hands. But true praise is not “merely” going through these motions. Genuine praise to God should not be an outward show. It is a matter of humility and sincere devotion to the Lord that comes from within. Jesus calls those hypocrites who do it just for show. (Matthew 23:25).

Praise has more to do with music than worship does. Scriptures such as 1 Samuel 10, 1 Samuel 16, 2 Kings 3 and 1 Chronicles 25 teach us that music served as an instrument to release God's power and prophetic anointing. The Israelites at the wall of Jericho and Gideon's army used music with their praise to bring down God's mighty presence.

Praise is NEVER silent. It is ALWAYS vocal. You have to say it; that is if you have breath. It is not praise unless it is audible. (Psalm 92:1, 95:1, 100:1, 111; 103:1-5; 111, 116:17; 145:1; 145:4a)

What is Worship?
The true meaning of the word ‘worship' in the Old Testament meant to “bow down, to prostrate oneself, to look toward, or kiss toward”. These descriptions tell us that worship is both the heart's attitude and physical action before or towards God. It involves our whole being. It is a word that describes our relationship with God. Worship comes from the word “worthy.”

Personal worship is not complete worship. Personal worship creates a desire for corporate worship. "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” (Psalm. 34:3)

Genuine personal worship must and will lead to corporate worship. Perhaps this is because no individual worshiper can provide sufficient response to God's majesty. The fullness of God's nature requires a response from the diversity of the body of Christ. As individuals begin to appreciate God's character in personal worship, they are driven to corporate worship.

Why Do We Worship?

• Worship is commanded by God. (Psalms 22:23)
• God is worthy of our worship and praise. (Psalms 18:3)
• Worship glorifies God. (Psalms 50:23)
• It helps develop our relationship with God. (Mark 12:30)
• It releases the power of God's presence. (Psalm 22:3)
• We become like what we worship. (Psalm 106:19-20; 2 Corinthians 3:18 )
• It is the proper way to come before God. (Psalm 100:1-4)
• It helps us to become God-centered instead of self-centered. (Isaiah 26:3)
• It is part of our priestly ministry. (1 Peter 2:5-9)
• It is a definite sign of life. (Psalm 115:17; Isaiah 38:19)
• It brings us out of depression and stress.
• It keeps our relationship with God intimate.

What Happens When We Worship?
Whenever we respond in obedience to the Lord, by our faith we put certain spiritual laws into operation for us. Therefore, we can expect certain results in spiritual realms.

• Victory over our enemies (2 Chronicles 20:1-30)
• Release from bondage (Acts 16:16-34; Jonah 1:17-2:10)
• Inner peace and joy (1 Samuel 16:14-23)
• The breaking up of large problems (Joshua 16:1-20)
• Special protection from enemies (Isaiah 4:5-6)
• Manifestations of God's presence and power (2 Chronicles 5:12-14)

For additional reading about Praise and Worship.