God has chosen to reveal Himself to us through His names recorded in Scripture.There are twelve covenant names of God which reveal His character so that we can know Him. He also reveals Himself to us through the Bible so we can know how to walk with Him.ELOHIM-God Our CreatorJEHOVAH-Our Eternal GodJEHOVAH EL SHADDAI-God our Supplier. JEHOVAH-JIREH-God my Provider:JEHOVAH-RAPHA-God my Healer:JEHOVAH-NISSI-God my Banner:JEHOVAH M'KADESH-God my SanctifierJEHOVAH-SHALOM -God my PeaceJEHOVAH-TSIDKENU-God my RighteousnessJEHOVAH-ROHI and JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH, God my ShepherdJEHOVAH-SHAMMAH, The Abiding Presence

HOPE THIS ANSWERS SOME QUESTIONS

Never attempt to any praise or worship dance without first seeking the Lord in prayer. Before you hit the dance floor, hit the prayer closet! We need to spend our 'quality' time with Him so that He could accomplish His plan through our ministry. The message expressed in the music should be of great importance when choosing a selection to dance to in a public setting. We are called to praise and worship with our whole hearts, and we should prayerfully choose a song that we are able to worship with our minds, spirits, and bodies. Below are just a few of my own suggestions to help you focus on Jesus when lifting up His name in the dance:

1. Spend time in prayer first. Seek His face and spend time in His presence. Look to Him to show you if there is anything offensive in His sight, then ask for His mercy and forgiveness and to cleanse you of your sin. He is faithful and longs to bless us when we seek His face.

2. Learn the words to the song and sing them while you are dancing. You may even ask the congregation to join you in singing if it's a song that is familar to them so you would be able to worship as one body of Christ.

3. Spend time doing bible study on the 'idea' expressed in the song (i.e.: if you pick a song that speaks about God's mercy, sit down with a concordance and soak in exactly how merciful God has been throughtout the bible. Then meditate on how merciful God has been in your own life).

4. Use colors symbolic of the idea of the song. For instance, if your song includes words about the blood of Jesus, use the color red to symbolize His blood, or if it speaks about God's redeeming love, you may wish to choose silver symbolizing redemption.

Color combinations may also express meanings, such as "His Majesty" can be expressed with red (blood), purple (royalty), and gold (God's glory), or ""His Bride" can be white (purity), silver (redemption), and pink (right relationships). Mix different color streamers - use two on one wand, or use one streamer in each hand. Two different color flags may also be used.

Whenever we do anything in the Lord's name, be sure that He is our main focus and He will always bless us by manifesting His presence and awesome power. He has come to set the captives free!

A FEW WORDS ON COLOR...
God loves color! Colors have great significance spiritually as they do in the natural realm. Additionally, combinations of colors (used separately) may also have different meanings. When choosing a color of flag or streamer, I feel it's important for the dancer to keep in mind the symbolic meaning behind each color and choose according to what his or her spirit is feeling. The Lord has given me another revelation about color, thanks to my dealings as an artist- If you think about the individual color breakouts that it takes to make a color, the symbolization is awesome! For example, if you take white (which means purity, salvation, light - see reference below) and red (meaning Jesus' blood, atonement, sacrifice), you get pink which means right relationship, heart of flesh, or intimacy. This solidifies that God is a God of order - even individual colors broken out all work out and make sense. I just think this is SO cool. Try some for yourself!

Below are a few examples - this is only a basic list from personal study, and we always suggest digging into the Word yourself to see what the Spirit teaches you as an individual:
Red: Symbolizes blood atonement, sacrifice of Christs blood (Isa. 1:18, Heb. 9:14)
Gold: Symbolizes the glory of God, divine nature, holiness, precious (Rev. 3:18, Rev. 4:4, Mal. 3:3; 1 Peter 1:7)
Silver: Symbolizes paid price for redemption, price of a soul, Word of God (Matt. 27:3, 1 Pe. 1:18, Ps. 68:13; Heb. 4:12)
Blue: Symbolizes heaven & authority, spiritual or heavenly realm, Throne of God, authority/overcomer (Ex. 24:10, Ez. 1:26, 10:1; Rev. 12:11)
Green: Symbolizes new life, growth, prosperity, health, eternal life, restoration (Ps. 23:2, Gen. 1:30, Lk. 23:31; Rev. 22:2; Ps. 92:14)
Purple: Symbolizes Jesus' royalty, Believer's royalty, Majesty, wealth (Jdg. 8:26, John 19:2, Mk. 15:17-20, Lk. 16:19; 1 Peter 2:9; Esther 1:6)
Pink: Symbolizes right relationships, heart of flesh, intimacy, child-like faith (Romans 3:25, Rev. 19:8; Ez. 11:19; 1 Peter 5:5-6; Song. 1:2; Matt. 18:3-5)
Yellow: Symbolizes sunlight of Jesus, joyful, celebration, God revealed (Matt. 17:2, Rev. 1:16, Ps. 84:11; Ps. 46:4-5; Ez. 1:4; 8:2, Ps. 68:13; 1 Thes. 2:20; Romans 8:18)
Iridescent: Symbolizes overcoming power, fruit of the Spirit (Rev. 4:3)
Orange: Symbolizes praise, protection, harvest, fruitfulness, fire of God, works tested (Matt. 9:38; Col. 1:9-10; 1 Cor. 3:13; 2 Chron. 23:13, Zech. 2:5)
White: Symbolizes Creator, righteousness acquired thru blood of Christ, Bride's garments, Salvation (Rev. 4:4, 6:2 Rev. 19:8, Dan. 12:3)
Black: Symbolizes death, punishment, famine, sin, affliction, death, repentance, bondage (Lam. 4:8; Rev. 6:5; John 3:19-20;; Ps. 107:14)
Rainbow: Symbolizes God's promises (Rev. 4:3), Covenant (Gen 9:13 & 16)

"For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I bethrothed you to one husand, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."
2 Corinthians 11:2-3

--------------------------------------------------------

The Lord has been speaking to me about equipping Christians with the knowledge of the importance of building an intimate relationship with Him as a prerequisite for praise & worship. I believe it is so much more important than just providing the 'props' to do so. How are we to offer up our praise and worship with flags, streamers, or tambourines if we do not know the Person to whom it is being offerred? The word of God tells us that in order for our sacrifice to be pleasing in His sight, we are to have clean hands and a pure heart, and to do this we need to be washed in His word. We wash our faces every day, and we eat every day. As followers of Jesus, how much more important should our spiritual life and growth, which is eternal, be to us? His word tells us that in order to reap the blessings He has for us, we are to seek His face (see Psalm 24). I believe that people are missing out on so many blessings because they do not invest the time seek His direction and just sit at His feet and listen for that still, small voice (see 1 Kings 19:12). Are we more like Martha and attempt to do things through our own abilities and less like Mary who seeks her Lord and His Presence? What does the Word say about what our priorities should be? (see John 10:38-42) Out of the abundance of the heart, the worship will flow. We need to "abide" and 'be rooted' in Him and in His Word. These are two great words to begin your study!

I believe the Lord has placed this on my heart because those offering praise & worship need to put their relationship with the Lord FIRST, before preparing the routines, and props, and costumes. If what we are calling what we do "ministering" and not performing, I challenge you to examine the fruit of your ministry. Are we more worried about what people think rather than what God thinks? In order for the fruit to be 'sweet' and anointed, we need to be filled to the rim with God's Spirit. This is a daily filling, and comes from spending time with and intimately knowing the Person who created us. Without that relationship, our praise and worship will be fruitless. The closer we walk with Him, the more apparent our "fruit" will be to people, and, in turn, our offering will draw people to Him and we will become transparent. People will be able to see His beautiful heart in us.

May you be abundantly blessed as you seek His face and are obedient to His call to "Seek me first"!