He said, "Attention everyone — all of you from out of town, all you from
Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat — God's word: Don't be afraid; don't pay any mind to this vandal horde. This is God's war, not yours.
2 Chron 20:15 MSG
For the battle is not yours, but God's.
2 Chron 20:15 NIV
I have told you all this so that you will
have
peace of heart and mind. Here on
earth you will have many trials and
sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world."
John 16:33TLB
On a daily basis, as individuals we face challenges in
different areas of life. Some are insignificant and are often regarded as part
of life or as some will put it, “it’s one of those things”. However, a challenge
may come to really test one’s stand in the Lord. Every conceivable strategy may
be employed; praying in tongues, calling down Holy Ghost fire, praying “fall
down and die prayers”; and after a while the challenge may be given a silent
treatment – choosing to ignore the challenge. But in spite of the silence on
the matter, deep down the desire is that “this cup should pass over me”.
What do you do when you have done
all you know to do and the challenge does not even
seem to bat an eyelid?
Employ the weapon of praise.
I mean the weapon of praise not the
weapon of thanks.
In essence go a step further than thanks, give praise.
Why? With praise you always win
the battle with little effort. Briefly, I
will
differentiate
between the thanksgiving
and praise, and then discuss praise’s mechanism of
action.
Thanksgiving is
gratitude to God generally in
response to God’s concrete acts in our
lives or in history. The focus of
thanks is usually on the past. It is an expression of gratefulness
of the
acts of God. Appreciating God for what
He has done.
Praise
comes from a Latin word meaning “value” or “price”. Thus to give praise to God
is to proclaim his worth or merit. The Hebrew title of the book of psalms
(“Praises”) comes from the same root word as “Hallelujah”.
It
is an expression of admiration and approval. Simply put, praise is thanking God
for who He is, His person, what He does and CAN do. When you tell others about what he CAN do for them, you are praising God. It takes faith to praise
God.
Praise
focuses on the future but uses thanksgiving as the stairs it climbs to see the
future that is currently out of physical sight. Praise is “thanks plus faith”.
It is easier to give thanks because you can see what you are appreciating God
for but to praise God, you need faith. That is what makes praise a weapon of
war.
Thanksgiving
opens the gates of God’s dwelling place but praise takes you into the courts of
God. Ps.100:4
Praise’s Mechanism
of Action
In
war, one way to intimidate the enemy is to create a threatening presence. This
is what the military call the deterrence strategy. The bible says in Exodus
15:11 that God is fearful in praises. In other words in praises, He displays
characters that are awesome, awe-inspiring, breathtaking and overwhelming in
nature. In praise, He displays terrible acts of power loaded with love and
deliverance for His children but destruction for the enemy.
Who
is like to thee, among the strong, O Lord? Who is like to thee, glorious in
holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, doing wonders?
Ex
15:11.Douay-Rheims Version.
Little
wonder the earthquake announced His presence when Paul and Silas praised.
Praise
automatically makes the presence of God the battle ground. In the presence of
God, the enemy is bound to panic. At the presence of the Lord, seas of problems
flee; mountain of challenges cannot be at rest, hard rocks of trials simply
melt. (Psalm 100:4; Psalm 114)
Praise
makes God the king and commander in chief of the army fighting your battle for
you.
“You
sit as the Holy One. The praises of Israel are your throne”.
Psalm.22:3
NCV;
“You
are holy; you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel”.
Psalm.22:3
The NET Bible®
When
God who is mighty in battle is in charge, gates of limitations have to lift
their heads.
Praise
gives you the ability to maneuver and orchestrate the extraordinary strategy of
unpredictability. The enemy can no longer anticipate your reaction to his
attacks. In fact praise does not make you react; it makes you to simply act.
This is because you cannot praise God without joy in your heart. And with joy
in your heart, the enemy always gets the opposite of anticipated reaction.
When
the enemy expects you to cry you are laughing. When he expects you to complain
and murmur you are singing. Your singing does not even have fixed times at the
slightest opportunity you have, you burst into songs of praise. So the surprise
you spring on the enemy each time with the weapon of praise takes the enemy to
his wits end.
With praise, you do not suffer casualty in the battle. You
only gather the plunder. After using the weapon of praise to fight their
battle
“…
Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off
their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of
equipment and clothing
and
also articles of value — more than they could take away. There was so much
plunder that it took
three days to
collect it”.
2 Chron 20:25
NIV
Praise is an unfailing weapon of war. May the Lord bestow on you the
garment
of
praise and the oil of joy required to inflict vengeance on the wicked nations and punishment to the
enemies of God.
Praise the Lord.
Martina Aderonke Fatogun
010416.
