ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE MESSAGE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL – TOPIC: OH MAGNIFY THE LORD WITH ME

(GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)

DATE: 28TH JUNE, 2020

TEXT: PSALMS 34:1-3

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! PRAISE THE LORD – HALLELUJAH!!!

Let us make our DECLARATIONS OF EXCELLENCE in this Year of Excellence. SAY WITH ME:

Out of Zion, the Perfection of Beauty, God shines forth. The Lord my God causes the Righteous to shine forth as the Sun.

His Awesome Hands has formed me; His Creative Spirit inspires my mind. He Skillfully guides my hands.

Therefore, I boldly declare: I am set apart for Excellence. The Ruler of the Universe has exalted my horn among the Nations. He sets my feet on high! In His Strength, I rise!

By Faith, I Press forward towards the Prize of my Highest Calling.

I believe in my heart, and confess with my mouth: that Jesus is Lord! He is the Vine, I am the Branch; in Him I abide, in Him I Blossom.

As it is written: God, who commanded Light out of darkness, has Shone His Light in our hearts;

We have His Treasure in Earthen Vessels. That the Excellence of the Power may be of God, and not of us!

In this Year, I commit to EXCELLENCE, I commit to EXCEPTIONALISM, I commit to do the EXTRAORDINARY.

In Jesus’ Name – AMEN!!! And Amen, and Amen and Amen.

And you may kindly be seated wherever you are in God’s Presence; as we come before Him and share His Words.

I believed God will do something Special, something Unique in your lives today – Amen.

My Message today is titled: OH MAGNIFY THE LORD!

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Psalms 34:1-3 (NKJV)

1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
His Praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His Name together.

This Psalms in the three (3) Verses that we have read, speaks about how we come before God and how we should see God in our lives.

And if you look at the Verse 1, it says that: We have to BLESS the Lord; Verse 2 says we have to BOAST in the Lord; Verse 3 says we have to MAGNIFY the Lord and Praise His Name.

And so I’m going to talk briefly about the FOUR THINGS that we see in the Passage we just read.

1. The first is – BLESS THE LORD.

… Everybody say: Bless the Lord!

The word BLESS there, means to kneel or to Praise!

When we Bless the Lord, we are not conferring Value on Him, we are not making Him better.

When we Bless the Lord, the Phrase simply means to Bow before God or to Praise Him! It means we acknowledge Him and we speak well of Him.

… Bless the Lord!

2. The Second (2nd) thing that the Passage talks about – is to BOAST IN THE LORD.

… BOAST in the Lord!

The word ‘BOAST’ there means to shine, to admire and to exclaim hallelujah.

To Boast means to make a loud exclamation in the Name of the Lord. It is to express Pride and Admiration to the Lord for who He is and what He has done.

…. We Bless the Lord, we Boast in the Lord;

3. The third (3rd) thing the Psalmist says is that – WE MAGNIFY THE LORD.

To ‘MAGNIFY’ means to grow, to become great, or to Promote something.

So, when we MAGNIFY the Lord, we are declaring that He is Bigger, He is Greater, He is Awesome; far Bigger than anything else we face.

We must MAGNIFY the Lord; MAGNIFY the Lord!

4. And the fourth (4th) thing that the Psalmist says we should do, is to EXALT HIS NAME.

To ‘EXALT’ means to raise high; to lift up high above.

When we Exalt the Lord, it means we see Him higher ABOVE everything else.

This is how God wants us to approach Him in Prayer: We Bless Him, we Boast in Him, we Magnify Him, we Exalt His Name.

And God wants to be BIG in our Prayer Life.

We know we are having some times of Prayers – Sometimes we don’t focus right and our focus shifts from God to what the evil one is doing.

And many times, especially in our Part of the world; when we are Praying and we are casting out demons or coming against Principalities and Powers, we exert more intensity in that level of Prayer; than we are Magnifying the Lord, when we are Boasting in the Lord, when we are Exalting the Lord and when we are Blessing His Name.

The SHIFT has to be for us to lift up God.

A careful Study or reading of the Bible, reveals that the Bible doesn’t Pay much attention to the devil – The Bible doesn’t Pay much attention to him!

The word ‘Satan’ is used in the Bible about fifty five (55) times.

The word ‘devil’ is used thirty five (35) times in the Bible.

‘Demon’ is used eighty two (82) times in the Bible.

On the other hand: The word ‘LORD’ is mentioned Seven thousand, nine hundred and fifty five (7,955) times.

‘GOD’ is mentioned Four thousand, six hundred and sixty (4,660) times

‘JESUS’ is mentioned Nine hundred and eighty one )981) times.

‘CHRIST’ is mentioned Five hundred and seventy one (571) times.

‘ANGELS’ are mentioned Two hundred and ninety (290) times.

Without any comparison, the Bible is God’s Book; it Exalts His Name, and Magnifies Him. It shows that the Centre of our life is not the devil, it is Jehovah Almighty God.

… Somebody say Hallelujah – Hallelujah!!!

So, the Bible is all about God, it is His Book, it is His Word; we are His Creation.

And so when we come Praying, we shouldn’t be mindful of what the enemy is doing – We should be mindful of what God is doing.

That is why the Bible says we must EXALT His Name, we must MAGNIFY Him, we must BOAST in Him and we must BLESS His Name!

When we PRAY, we are declaring the Victory of God!

So, as we spend time Praying, remember your focus is on the Lord; Magnify Him, Bless His Name, Lift up His Name, BOAST in Him!

It doesn’t mean that the other guy is not doing something, or he is not around – It is just that we don’t give him the Center Stage!

… We give Jehovah Almighty the Centre Stage!

And remember this: That whatever or whoever you MAGNIFY in your Prayer and your declarations, will dominate your life.

Whatever you MAGNIFY will Manifest – If you Magnify evil spirits; they will manifest their presence and power in your life.

If you MAGNIFY God, He will Manifest His Power and His Presence in your life – Because whatever you MAGNIFY will Manifest!

And so our Prayers, our desires, our intensity, should be: OH MAGNIFY THE LORD; Exalt Him, Boast in Him, Bless the Name of the LORD.

Now, when we say that we should MAGNIFY God, somebody would say: Well, but God is already Magnified, He is already Exacted.

We don’t MAGNIFY Him (God) for His sake!

In other words, when we Magnify God He doesn’t become any Bigger. When we Exalt Him He doesn’t go any Higher! When we Bless Him, He doesn’t get any Better! When we Boast in Him, He doesn’t get more confident.

God does not need that, because the way we approached Him changes our Perspective of Him. And it helps us to see Him in the context that He truly is in.

Sadly, a lot of Prayers; especially for Believers – Pentecostals, is designed to MAGNIFY and EXALT evil spirits.

In fact, if you are in Ministry, and you fail to Magnify and Exalt the enemy – People tend to think you are not Spiritual, or you are not Spiritually Powerful.

And we think somehow: Spiritual Power is for us to magnify the powers of the enemy.

Spiritual Power is to MAGNIFY the Name of the LORD, to Exalt His Name, to BOAST in Him and to Bless His Name.

The more we study the Scriptures, the more we see how People Pray.

And so Psalms 68:1 says: “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered:”

In other words, let God rise up in your consciousness; in your understanding – Let Him rise.

And when you let Him rise, the enemies will be scattered. We don’t even need to scatter the enemies – Just by lifting him up, He scatters the enemies.

The focus of the Believer’s Prayer is MAGNIFY the Lord.

Somebody say: Oh MAGNIFY the Lord!

Say: I will Bless the Lord at all times, His Praises continually be in my mouth.

So, briefly let me show you how this Pattern works!

1. Firstly, we start with the way Jesus taught us to Pray.

This is how Jesus taught us to Pray in Matthew 6:9 – We know it as the Lord’s Prayer but He was teaching us; so that we can learn it as the Christian Prayer.

Matthew 6:9 says: This manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

That is how He teaches us to Pray – This manner, therefore, Pray: Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.

We start by Magnifying the Name of the LORD; Boasting in the Name of the Lord – His Name is Hallowed, His Name is Sacred from all other names; His Name is Greater than all other names:

There is none like Him, there is none besides Him. He is God – The Creator of the Universe, and He is our Father!

This manner, therefore, Pray: “Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”

… That is Magnifying the Lord!

So, Jesus says: When you are Praying, you start by Magnifying the Lord. Don’t magnify your Problems, don’t magnify your Situation, don’t magnify Covid-19; don’t Magnify ANYTHING ELSE – Magnify the Lord!

Yes, you may have Problems! But when you come before God, you don’t tell God about all the Problems – He knows about all the Problems, He knows about them before you Pray.

What He wants you to know is that He is BIGGER than your problems.

So we start by Magnifying the Lord.

Somebody say: Oh Magnify the Lord!

So, Jesus, this is how He taught us to Pray.

2. The second (2nd) thing I want us to look at is the way Mary – The mother of Jesus Prayed!

… We have seen how Jesus want us to Pray;

This is how is mother (Mary) Prayed in Luke 1:46-49;

And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my Spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all Generations will call me blessed. For He who is MIGHTY has done Great Things for me, And Holy is His Name.”

… My soul MAGNIFIES the Lord!

• Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name.

… My soul MAGNIFIES the Lord; that us how we Pray!

Our Focus is on making the Name of the Lord Great and Mighty; His Power great and mighty in our hearts, in our fears.

This is how the early Apostles Prayed:

… We have talked about how Jesus Prayed, how Mary Prayed.

How did the early Apostles Prayed?

Acts 4:24 – This is after they had been threatened and they have been disciplined, and told not to Preach again in the Name of Jesus. They have been Punished;

And the Bible says they went to their own company and narrated what had happened to them. And this is how they Prayed;

Acts 2:24: So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made Heaven and Earth and the Sea, and all that is in them.

When they heard about all their troubles, they didn’t start by talking about: Lord, You see how bad they are treating us, Lord You see how difficult it is for us, Lord You see how life has been to us; Lord I don’t have a child, Lord I don’t have a job, I don’t have money….

…. That is not how they were Praying!

They said: LORD, You are Magnified, You Created the Heavens and the Earth, and all the things in them!

When they came before the Lord, THEY MAGNIFIED THE LORD.

Many times we think that our Problems would be solved if we talk a lot about them – As a matter of fact, if you talk a lot about them, you get “More Depressed”.

Sometimes we think, if we can attack the devil enough, we will win -No!

If we lift up the Name of the Lord enough, He WINS on our behalf.

He is the Captain of the Host; He is the Leader of the Heavenly Forces; He is the One who goes to battle on our behalf – We don’t battle on our own He battles on our behalf!

He is the WARRIOR: we are just watching Him. He gets the Victory and we enjoy the Victory – Oh Magnify the Lord!

The Apostles under great stress, great Pressure, decided that they would Magnify the Name of the Lord – they would Praise Him.

And this is how the Apostle Paul Prayed in Ephesians 3:14-15.

The Bible records the Prayer of Apostle Paul.

Ephesians 3:14-15: “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in Heaven and Earth is named,”

… I BOW MY KNEES! – That is what the Psalmist meant by “Bless the Name of the Lord!”

I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the WHOLE FAMILY in Heaven and Earth is named.

… That is Magnifying the Name of the Lord.

Now, when you read through the entire Scriptures you find that Prayer always Magnifies the Lord.

We Lift His Name, we Honour His Name, we see His Goodness, we see His Power.

If we will cause Him to arise, the enemies would be scattered.

I know the enemy is Present, but he is scattered when we Magnify the Name of the Lord.

He sent Jehoshaphat and the People of Judah into battle – A very terrible battle when they were faced with thousands of enemies bigger than themselves.

And they started by Magnifying the Lord, by Singing – Because He is Good and His Mercies endures forever!

Can you imagine going into a war, and your enemies have some Bazookas and some Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. And has got all kinds of weapons and guns. And you have nothing except: “Because He is Good and His Mercies endure forever”.

… As they Magnified the Lord, He scattered their enemies from further.

So keep your focus right: We don’t focus on dealing with the bad Guy (I don’t even like mentioning his name) – the bad Boy! We focus on Exalting the Name of the Lord.

It doesn’t mean we don’t know he exits, it doesn’t mean we don’t know he works, it doesn’t mean we we are not aware of his evil Plans.

But we are more aware of the Power of God, we are more aware of the Goodness of the Lord, we are more aware of the Grace of the God, we are more aware of what God can do!

The devil can bring sickness but He (God) is the Healer; he can bring Poverty but God is the One who Prospers us. And as we declare His Name, we declare His Majesty, we declare His Power, we Honour Him, we Glory Him – Oh MAGNIFY the LORD!

The Psalmist tells us in the same Psalms 34 – If we do that, He says you will ‘Taste and see that the LORD IS GOOD!”

If you Magnify Him – You will Taste Him; if you Exalt Him – you will see Him.

… Oh Taste and see that the Lord is Good.

When you Exalt Him – you will see Him; when you Magnify Him – you will see Him; when you Boast in Him – you will Taste Him; when you Bless His Name – you will Taste Him.

So before I finish Preaching today, I just want us to spend a few minute doing just that.

And in the next seven (7) or eight (8) minutes; I want you to stand up wherever you are: I know that some of you have been bartered. I know what this Perilous Virus is doing all over the world!

I know the fear, I understand all of that!

But for a moment forget about Coronavirus, forget about Covid-19, forget about the salary that is not coming, forget about all that you think the devil is doing.

Forget about all of that!

And for a moment, I want you to Magnify the LORD, and say with me:

Heavenly Father, I Magnify You today, because you are the King of the Universe. You are the RULER of the Universe; the Creator of all things, the Sustainer of all things!

Why don’t you lift your Voice – Out of your own mouth, with your own words: begin to Magnify the Lord, begin to declare His Power and begin to declare His Praise.

He is the Lord who brought the Mountains into being. There was no Mountain until He said: ‘Let there be!’ There was no water until He said: ‘Let there be!’ There was no LIGHT until He said: ‘Let there be!’

He is the Originator, the First Cause, the Initiator of existence; Out of Timelessness He created Time! Out of a Vacuum He created Space. Out of Nothing He brought the Universe – Constantly expanding into existence.

He is GOD – He fills all things by His Power! We Magnify You: Your Name is above every other names, Your Glory is above every Glory. There is none like You!

We BOAST in You! You are our Champion, You are our Leader, You are our General; You go into battle with us – You have never loss a battle. You never come home defeated.

You are Jehovah! You are Jehovah all by Yourself, You are Jehovah all by Yourself: when there was nothing, You were!

When everything came into being, You still are. By Your Breathe all things come into being!

I want you to Magnify Him. Say with me: Heavenly Father, I Magnify You, because You are above all gods, You are above all demons, You are above all Principalities – The devil is under your FEET.

Begin to Magnify Him – the One who is above all gods, the One who is above all Powers, the One who is Above all the imaginations of the devil. He is Above them, He is Above them!

He rules in Might, He rules in Power; His Power supersedes and exceeds all other Forces and all other powers. By the Breath of His nostrils be blows them away. He is our Father, He is our God.

… Just Magnify Him, Declare His Praise!

I don’t know what witches are in your family, but Jehovah is above them! I don’t know whoever that Prophesied that evil is coming against you: Jehovah is above that evil. He is Jehovah – He is Above all gods!

Among the gods, there is none like You: Glorious in Holiness, fearful in Praise, doing Wonders Jehovah!!! We Magnify You! We MAGNIFY YOU!

Consider the works of God, consider what He has done; with the Army of Pharaoh running against His People; He opened the Red Sea and His People walked on dry ground. And when Pharaoh attempted to come through the same sea, He shut the sea – He opened the sea and shut the sea.

He can open the sea and shut he sea; He can shake Mountains, He can open rivers, He can feed a whole Nation for forty (40) Years in the desert. He can Provide bread every morning. His Name is Jehovah – and He is your Father!

Magnify Him, begin to recount the works of the Lord: He can shut the mouth of lions, so that, although you are in Prison with lions they will not eat you up; they will not eat you up!

I don’t know what lion has been released against you, IT WILL NOT EAT YOU UP! Because Jehovah can shut the mouth of lions.

He can Provide Cooling for you in the fire – whatever fire you are in, He can cool it for you. He will sustain you!

Why don’t you lift up your hands to Him. And begin to declare His works; remember His works. Remember His works of Old; He want to do the same works for you today, He wants to do the same works for you tomorrow, He wants to do the same works for you always!

In 2020, disaster has hit the Earth, but not God – God is not shutdown, God is not surprised, God is Above Coronavirus, God is Above Covid-19, Above every disaster. He is the One who is able to Heal, He is the One who is able to Restore all, He is the One who is able to Build up!

He will Build our lives again, He will Build our Nations again, He will Build our world again – Our trust is in Him.

I want us to Exalt the Name of the Lord because His Name is above every other names. Every problem has a name, and once you can name the Problem – the Name of the Lord is Above it!

So, if you are talking about Poverty, Poverty is a name. Say: the Name of the Lord is Above you! If you are talking about Stomach Ulcer, Say: Stomach Ulcer you are a name, the Name of the Lord is Above you. Whatever you need: begin to name the Name of the Lord ABOVE IT!

Why don’t you lift up your hands and declare the Name of the Lord Above every names; above every Situations. I don’t know what the Doctor said, it is a Name! just name the Name of the Lord Above it.

We Exalt Your Name above sickness and disease; we Exalt Your Name above Pain, above Dislocation; above Disruption in our Businesses. We Exalt the Name of the Lord!

And finally, I want you to rejoice in the Lord your Saviour – Just as Mary did: My soul Magnifies the Lord, my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.

Just say: Lord I rejoice in You, I am Glad in You. My Spirit is at Peace in You, my Soul finds Strength in You.

Begin to talk to Him: in Him we have Peace, in Him we have Soundness, in Him we have Victory. We rejoice!

Some of you have never laughed for many Months; but today you will laugh with Joy. Some of you have been sad for so long, but today rejoice in the Lord.

There has been a Spirit of depression, trying to put you down, but today let your Spirit rejoice in the Lord.

Begin to Thank God for the Joy you feel; begin to celebrate the Goodness of the Lord, begin to have Peace in your heart, in the Lord!

So Father this morning, we say: Bless the Lord Oh my Soul; Bless the Name of the Lord.

Bless the Lord oh my Soul, and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name! We declare Lord, that Your Name is Blessed.

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His Praise shall continually be in my mouth. My Soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The Humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, Magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His Name together.”

CLOSING PRAYER

And so Lord, we are ready to Taste and see that the Lord is Good: May Your Goodness come before us, may Your Goodness surround us, may Your Goodness envelope us – Amen!

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

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