Overflowing in Praise

The Sacrifice of Praise: When Thanksgiving Costs Something (Part 1 of 'Overflowing')

Personal Testimony: The Broken Foot Journey

I want to begin our journey through this 'Overflowing' series by sharing something personal. Not long ago, I experienced a broken foot. Anyone who's had a similar injury knows it's not just physical pain – it's the frustration of limited mobility, the feeling of being a burden to others, and the disruption of your normal routines. The doctor told me I needed to stay off my foot completely for several weeks. For someone who's used to being active and independent, this felt like a prison sentence. I found myself struggling with feelings of uselessness, dependency, and if I'm being honest, a fair amount of self-pity. In those moments, praise wasn't my natural response. Yet I discovered something profound: when I chose to praise God despite my circumstances, something shifted. It wasn't that my foot suddenly healed or my limitations vanished. Rather, in those moments of forced stillness, praise became my pathway to comfort. It redirected my focus from what I couldn't do to what God was trying to say to me. I remember one particularly difficult evening when the pain was intense, and I felt overwhelmed by how much this injury was affecting my family. Instead of complaining, I decided to put on worship music and just begin thanking God for what I could still do, for His presence with me, for the lessons He was teaching me in this season. As I praised, my circumstances didn't change, but my heart did. Peace replaced anxiety. Gratitude pushed out bitterness. And most importantly, I sensed God's presence in a way I hadn't when I was focused on my problems. This season taught me that praise isn't just something we offer when everything is going well – sometimes it's the very lifeline God provides when we're struggling to stay afloat. And that's what this entire series is about – discovering how praise becomes a powerful force in our lives when we choose to let it overflow, regardless of our circumstances.

The Biblical Foundation of Sacrificial Praise (Hebrews 13:15-16)

This experience led me deeper into understanding what Scripture teaches about praise. In Hebrews 13:15-16

Hebrews 13:15–16 MEV

Through Him, then, let us continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share. For with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Notice the language here – a 'sacrifice of praise.' Why does the writer call it a sacrifice?

Because true praise often costs us something.

It's easy to praise God when everything is going according to plan.

But when we're facing difficulty, disappointment, or pain- praise becomes sacrificial. It means choosing to acknowledge God's goodness even when our circumstances seem to contradict it.

The Greek word for 'sacrifice' here is 'thysia,' which refers to something killed or surrendered as an offering.

In the Old Testament sacrificial system, people brought their best animals – animals that had value, that cost them something – as offerings to God.

Today, God doesn't ask for animal sacrifices, but He does invite us to bring a different kind of offering – the sacrifice of praise.

When we praise God in difficult times, we're sacrificing our right to be bitter.

We're sacrificing our human tendency to complain.

We're sacrificing our limited perspective for God's eternal one.

And sometimes, praising God means sacrificing our very understanding of how things should work out.

Notice also that this verse says we should offer this sacrifice 'continually.'

Not occasionally, not when we feel like it, not just on Sundays, but continually.

The Christian life is meant to be characterized by ongoing praise – in every season, in every circumstance. through everything.

The passage continues by connecting this sacrifice of praise with doing good and sharing with others. This shows us that authentic praise isn't just words – it overflows into action. When we truly praise God despite our circumstances, it transforms how we treat others.

Our vertical relationship with God impacts our horizontal relationships with people around us.

Psalm 50:23 MEV

Whoever sacrifices a thank offering glorifies Me and makes a way; I will show him the salvation of God.”

The Hebrew word for salvation, 'yeshua,' encompasses not just spiritual salvation but deliverance, victory, prosperity, and well-being. When we offer sacrificial praise, we position ourselves to experience God's deliverance in its many forms.

When Praise Costs Something (2 Samuel 24:24)

To understand sacrificial praise more deeply, let's look at David's example in 2 Samuel 24:24. After David sinned by taking a census, he sought to make atonement by building an altar on Araunah's threshing floor. When Araunah offered to give David everything needed for the sacrifice, David responded: 'No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.'

David understood a fundamental spiritual principle: offerings that cost us nothing carry little spiritual weight.

Every time you praise God during hardship, it is a sacrifice. It costs you something – perhaps your pride,

your right to complain,

or your human understanding of fairness.

Consider Job, who after losing his children, his wealth, and his health, declared,

'The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised' (Job 1:21).

This wasn't cheap praise.

It came at tremendous cost – the sacrifice of his understanding, his comfort, and his sense of justice.

Or when we think about Paul and Silas in Acts 16. After being beaten and thrown into prison, with their feet in stocks and their backs bleeding, they prayed and sang hymns to God.

That praise cost them something.

It was a deliberate choice to focus on God's goodness rather than their unjust treatment.

When you're dealing with health challenges and you praise God anyway – that's sacrifice.

When you're facing financial uncertainty and you thank God for His provision – that's sacrifice.

When relationships are strained and you still acknowledge God's faithfulness – that's sacrifice.

When dreams are delayed or denied and you worship despite disappointment – that's sacrifice.

Sometimes the greatest offering we can bring to God is praise that's been refined in the furnace of affliction.

Isaiah 48:10 MEV

See, I have refined you, but not with silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

When praise emerges from that furnace, it carries a weight and authenticity that fair-weather praise cannot match. Jesus himself modeled this in the garden of Gethsemane when he prayed, 'Not my will, but yours be done.' His ultimate sacrifice began with surrendered praise – choosing the Father's glory over His own comfort.

This is the heart of sacrificial praise – it puts God's glory above our circumstances. And here's a profound truth:

What costs us something is often what impacts us most deeply.

The praise that requires sacrifice is the praise that transforms us.

As C.S. Lewis wisely noted, 'Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.'

When we choose praise in pain, we're responding to God's megaphone with worship instead of complaint.

The Transformative Power of Choosing Praise

What happens when we choose to offer this sacrifice of praise?

Scripture and experience show us that sacrificial praise carries transformative power.

First, praise redirects our focus.

When I was dealing with my broken foot, praise shifted my attention from my limitations to God's presence.

When dealing with all of the stress that we have to deal with the project that we have been on, finding myself not sleeping at times It tends to be praise that calms the mind and gets me to rest.

This isn't positive thinking or denial – it's choosing to see our situations from heaven's perspective.

Psalm 22 demonstrates this beautifully. David begins with raw honesty: 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

But by the end of the psalm, his focus has shifted: 'I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.'

His circumstances hadn't changed, but his perspective had – through praise.

Second, praise is spiritual warfare. In 2 Chronicles 20, when Jehoshaphat faced overwhelming enemies, he put the worshippers at the front of the army.

As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against their enemies. In the Pentecostal tradition, we understand that praise isn't just expression – it's a weapon that confuses the enemy and invites God's presence into our battles.

Psalm 149:6-9 describes this warfare aspect of praise:

Psalm 149:6–9 MEV

Let the high praises of God be in their mouths, and two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with shackles of iron; to execute upon them the written judgment; this is honor for all His godly ones. Praise the Lord!

When we praise, we're not just expressing emotion – we're wielding spiritual authority.

Third, praise creates space for divine communication.

During my recovery, being forced to slow down and praise God opened my spiritual ears to hear what He was trying to say to me.

Sometimes God allows difficulties not to punish us but to position us to hear His voice more clearly.

When we're running at full speed, we often miss the whispers of the Spirit.

Praise in difficulty creates a sacred pause where God can speak.

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah discovered that God wasn't in the earthquake, wind, or fire, but in the gentle whisper.

Often, it's in the quiet moments of sacrificial praise that we hear God's gentle whisper most clearly.

Psalm 46:10 MEV

Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Sometimes the stillness forced upon us by difficulty becomes the very context for knowing God deeper.

Fourth, praise alters our brain chemistry. Modern neuroscience has discovered what Scripture has always taught – focusing on gratitude and praise actually changes our brain. It increases dopamine and serotonin, reduces stress hormones, and creates new neural pathways. God designed us so that praise is not just spiritually beneficial but physically and mentally healing as well.

This is why Proverbs 17:22 tells us,

Proverbs 17:22 MEV

A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.

Fifth, praise invites God's manifest presence. Psalm 22:3

Psalm 22:3 MEV

But You are holy, O You who inhabits the praises of Israel.

He enthrones Himself in the praises of His people.

When we praise, especially sacrificial praise, we're creating a throne for God in our circumstances.

And where God's presence is manifested, everything changes –

healing occurs,

bondage is broken,

wisdom is imparted,

peace reigns.

Finally, praise prepares the soil of our hearts for thanksgiving. As we begin this journey toward Thanksgiving season, remember that

gratitude grows best in hearts tilled by praise.

When we practice praising God in all circumstances, genuine thanksgiving becomes our natural response rather than a seasonal obligation.

Colossians 2:7 MEV

rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, and abounding with thanksgiving.

Believers are rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith.

Notice that thankfulness isn't just present – it's overflowing. That's our goal in this series – to develop such a habit of praise that thanksgiving naturally overflows, regardless of circumstances.

Practical Steps to Cultivate Sacrificial Praise Daily

So how do we develop this practice of sacrificial praise?

Let me offer several practical steps as we begin this series:

1. Start your day with intentional praise – before checking your phone, before assessing your feelings, before engaging with the day's problems.

This sets a spiritual tone that can carry you through whatever challenges arise.

Psalm 5:3 MEV

O Lord, in the morning You will hear my voice; in the morning I will direct my prayer to You, and I will watch expectantly.

Begin with praise, then bring your requests.

2. Create a 'sacrifice of praise' playlist – songs that help you focus on God's character rather than your circumstances.

Turn to these when you feel overwhelmed or discouraged.

Music has a unique way of bypassing our intellectual barriers and speaking directly to our spirits.

That's why Paul instructs us in Ephesians 5:19

Ephesians 5:19 MEV

Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

3. Practice praise partnerships – find someone you can text or call when you're struggling to praise. Sometimes we need others to help us lift our eyes above our situations. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 MEV

Two are better than one, because there is a good reward for their labor together. For if they fall, then one will help up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has no one to help him up.

We weren't meant to practice sacrificial praise alone.

4. Keep a praise journal – document specific moments when choosing praise led to unexpected blessing or perspective shifts. This creates a personal testimony you can return to in future difficult seasons. In Joshua 4, God instructed the Israelites to set up memorial stones so that future generations would remember His faithfulness. Your journal becomes your memorial stones.

5. Speak praise aloud – there is power in verbally declaring God's goodness, especially when your emotions don't align. As Hebrews says, it's 'the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.' Romans 10:10 tells us, 'For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.' Speaking praise aloud engages both heart and mouth in the act of faith.

6. Practice praise in community – Hebrews 10:24-25 instructs us, 'And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.' When we praise together, we strengthen each other's faith and create a powerful corporate witness.

7. Use praise as your first response to difficulty – not after you've tried everything else, not after you've complained, but as your first reaction. This doesn't mean denying reality or suppressing emotions, but it means bringing those realities and emotions immediately into God's presence with praise. Philippians 4:6

Philippians 4:6 MEV

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with gratitude, make your requests known to God.

8. Study biblical examples of sacrificial praise – spend time with Job, Paul, David, Jehoshaphat, and others who modeled praise in difficulty. Their examples provide both inspiration and practical wisdom for our own praise journey. Romans 15:4 reminds us, 'For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.'

As we conclude this first message in our 'Overflowing' series, I want to challenge you: What difficult circumstance are you facing right now that requires a sacrifice of praise?

What would it look like for you to offer God thanksgiving that costs you something?

Perhaps it's a health diagnosis that's filled you with fear.

Maybe it's a relationship that seems beyond repair.

It could be financial pressure that keeps you awake at night.

Or possibly a dream that seems permanently deferred.

Whatever your circumstance, I invite you to make a deliberate choice today to offer God praise that costs something – praise that goes against your natural response, praise that requires faith. In the coming weeks, we'll explore how this foundation of sacrificial praise opens the door to experiencing God's presence, transforms our communities, and prepares us for genuine thanksgiving in every season of life. Let's begin this journey together, choosing to overflow with praise even when – especially when – it costs us something.

Bridge to Next Sermon

Next week, we'll build on this foundation as we explore 'The Presence Principle: How Praise Invites God's Power.' We'll discover how sacrificial praise doesn't just change our perspective – it actually invites the manifest presence of God into our circumstances. We'll examine biblical moments where praise preceded divine intervention, and learn practical ways to create atmospheres that welcome God's presence through our worship. As we've seen today, praise that costs something carries special weight in the spiritual realm. Next week, we'll see how that sacrificial praise becomes a catalyst for God's power to be revealed in unexpected ways. I encourage you to practice sacrificial praise this week, and come prepared to share how God met you in those moments. Remember, an overflow of praise begins with the sacrifice of thanksgiving in difficult seasons. Let's close with this powerful truth from Habakkuk 3:17-19

Habakkuk 3:17–19 MEV

Though the fig tree does not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the yield of the olive fails, and the fields produce no food; though the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls— yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and He will make me walk on my high places. To the Music Director: with my stringed instruments.

This morning we are going to praise our way to victory. Let’s worship