The Warfare of Praise

Revelations 14:6-7 (AMP) Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to preach to the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people; and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God [with awe and reverence], and give Him glory [and honor and praise in worship], because the hour of His judgment has come; [with all your heart] worship Him who created the heaven and the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

As he speaks of the judgment that is coming to the earth, he tells us to worship! Why would that be? Because He inhabits our praises! There’s peace and protection in the shelter of the secret place when we take our eyes off our circumstances and place them on Jesus!

Think about Paul and Silus for a moment. They were brutally beaten and imprisoned for ministering the Gospel and setting the captives free. Wouldn't most people see this as an excuse to question the goodness of God? "Really Lord, we are doing your work, and this is how you repay us?" Nope, not these guys! Their relationship with Him was so intact that nothing could move them! In the midst of a seemingly horrific situation their first choice was to worship and give Him praise!! The results? The very foundation of the prison was shaken! The prison doors burst open, and their chains were loosed! Suddenly they were free to run, yet they waited on the one the Lord desired to save! Not only were they freed from their earthly prison, but their prison guard and his family were freed from their spiritual one! Oh, what a God we serve and what power abides in our worship of Him!

No matter what the enemy throws at us, we can overcome if we’ll not be moved! Our strength, stability, peace, and victory directly correlate to what we are focused on and how we react to our trials! If our focus is on the lies of the enemy or even the reality of the natural situation…we will begin to waver, become fearful, perhaps even blame God, and ultimately surrender to the negative outcome. On the other hand, if we are blind sided with a painful scenario and use that attack to chase us into the arms of Jesus and focus intently on His eyes of love…then offer Him our heartfelt worship, even as the storm is raging all around us…we’ll be surrounded by His peace, even while we wait for His deliverance to be manifested! You can’t lose trusting and worshiping Him! Worry will only pull you away from Him and manifest pain and suffering. There’s such life in abiding in Him, trusting and worshipping against all-natural logic.

As the world is spiraling downward, He’s calling us to look upward as we give Him our heartfelt praise! Our worship will lift up His name and escalate us into new dimensions of His Glory!

Acts 16:22-33 (NKJV)  Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.