Over the next few weeks I will be sharing songs from my live worship recording called We Are the Army. This project was born during the early days of my ministry as a means of teaching the body of Christ how to use worship as a weapon of spiritual warfare…how to engage the lies of the enemy with the truth of God’s Word in song…how to run to the battle with an attitude of victory.
Have you ever thought about what effects worship and praise has upon the atmosphere around you? Worship is the atmosphere of heaven…and we can bring that atmosphere to earth whenever and wherever we worship our God!
That also means that worship - since it declares the truth of God’s Word - is a mighty instrument of spiritual warfare against the darkness of the enemy’s lies! Here’s what God’s Word has to say about it:
1 Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
[And] His praise in the congregation of the godly ones.
2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.
3 Let them praise His name with dancing;
Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.
4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.
5 Let the godly ones exult in glory;
Let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 [Let] the high praises of God [be] in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
7 To execute vengeance on the nations
And punishment on the peoples,
8 To bind their kings with chains
And their nobles with fetters of iron,
9 To execute on them the judgment written;
This is an honor for all His godly ones.
Praise the LORD!
[Psalm 149:1-9 NASB]
When we worship God, we are effectively coming against the lies - the strongholds - of the enemy in our lives! That is basic Scriptural truth! But God is so big and He is so capable of doing far beyond what our simple minds can conceive. Songs of worship and praise become a declaration of Who God is as well as an encouragement to our soul. With the high praises of God in our mouths through songs of spiritual warfare takes on a new dimension…and continues to do so…as we worship God with our entire being! I could never give God all the glory due His name. Let’s do what the Word of God says as we worship the Lord. Let me remind you what happens when we worship God with our entire being:
Psalm 149:6-9
[Let] the high praises of God [be] in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
7 To execute vengeance on the nations
And punishment on the peoples,
8 To bind their kings with chains
And their nobles with fetters of iron,
9 To execute on them the judgment written;
This is an honor for all His godly ones.
Praise the LORD!
Let’s take it to the enemy and stand against his lies by declaring this simple Truth: Jesus Christ is Lord! We have been uniquely equipped as new creations in Christ with mighty weapons of spiritual warfare…and we need not fear, because at the mere mention of the name of Jesus the enemy shudders and flees!
[2 Corinthians 10:3-6 NASB says]
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,
4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 [We are] destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
6 and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.
Praising God is such a vital tool in the arsenal of spiritual weapons of our spiritual warfare. I mean, think about it. To praise God, we must focus our entire being on Him. Our thoughts are turned toward Him. Our emotions are turned toward Him. Our physical bodies and all our senses are turned toward Him. When our entire being is engaged in praising God…when we exalt the name of Jesus…the enemy and his lies are no longer the focus of our being. As we praise God, the enemy flees from our midst because the truth of God’s Word scatters the enemy. Praising God outwardly from our innermost being brings the glory of God into our thoughts…onto the battlegrounds of our minds…and right thinking is replaced with wrong thinking…or stinking thinking as I like to say.
Need victory in your thought life today? Praise God. Need victory in a relationship today? Praise God. Need to experience the love of God today? Praise God. After all, we know that God inhabits the praises of His people. He is literally enthroned upon our hearts when we praise Him. Let’s create the atmosphere of heaven here on this earth. Let’s walk in victory today and put the enemy to flight by simply praising our God!
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to a song to use for this purpose, listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast at http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/praise-him-in-the-heavens/
Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/08/05/20/48/boy-1573211_1280.jpg