The area of Worshiping and Praising God in Christendom is a top priority, it is one of the ways we communicate with the creator of the universe whom we serve.  In the book of Revelation chapter 5, we read about what is taking place in heaven as a series of mysteries are being unfolded, in the midst of all that is singing and worshipping as the twenty and four elders bow down before the great throne of God casting down their crown.

One interesting aspect of worshipping is that it brings relief in times of stress, uncertainty, anxiety, trouble, pain. There are victories that come our way which we know only God could give. Through out the bible this truth is spread across the pages. In 2 Chronicles 20, we see king Jehoshaphat and the tribe of Judah (Judah means Praise) come under attack  facing  fierce enemies who sought to destroy them. Interestingly after fasting and consulting God, He (God) told them not to face their enemies with the sword, spears, and shields but go with one of God’s greatest spiritual weapons “praise and worship”. To the canal mind this is a very strange strategy but to the spiritual mind it is a very real for we see this happening in our daily lives. The king Jehoshaphat and his people went to battle with praise and worship and the covenant keeping God fought their battle for them.

This brings us back to being obedient to the word of God, most of the time we “Christians” try to go a different direction when God tells us to go the opposite. Maybe there was something about what God said that did not make sense to us. My question is that are we trusting God to that point when He tells us to fight a battle with a very familiar weapon we deem powerless? Victory in God does not come when we use  our best techniques or weapons, but through obedience to the word of God. We are not fighting a physical battle, since we are fighting a spiritual battle the weapons God will ask us to use will mostly not make sense to us at all because we live in a physical world, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds, We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-6).

If we want to walk with God we must walk by faith not by sight, and without faithit is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:6). Having faith in God means trusting Him with every fiber of your being knowing that He is able to deliver you from every impossibility you find yourself in, praising Him in the midst of storm means thanking Him for delivering you before its manifestation. Consider how the great wall of Jericho fell, anytime God makes you a promise the Devil also set road blocks of doubt just to debunk your trust in the promise. In the book of Joshua 6:1-27, though God told them to use  this weapon, the writer of Hebrews tells us that  ”By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days” (Hebrew 11:30).

Worshipping and praising God by yourself  is a good spiritual exercise, as you keep doing this you are sharpening one of your spiritual weapons and this should be part of your daily life as daily exercise. It is one that will always be available for you to use, you do not need your church praise and worship team to crank you up or set you in the mood for praise and worship, real praise and worship is that which comes from your inner soul not what you hear someone else sing. No one can worship God for you but yourself  the word is near you it is in your mouth.

I have witnessed this with my own eyes, most of the time demons will scream at us to stop singing a particular song because they can not stand the power behind that song, and if we keep singing that song they have no other option but to leave. There is a great deliverance whenever God’s people come together in harmony and sing songs of praise and worship God from the bottom of their hearts.

Dr. Luke reported a story about Paul and Silas that they were thrown into prison for preaching and demonstrating the power and love of God,  they had no money even if they had it, no attorney would accept that job offer because the whole city was against them. The reporter of the story said in the book of Acts 16:25-26 that about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chain came loose.

When God brings deliverance, it is not for us only but it also affects the people around us. In this case we saw that every one who was shackled that night saw their chains come loose because they were all listening to the words in the songs and were in agreement. It is very useful if you learn to sing songs that are based on scripture because God will only respond to His word, there is nothing wrong with you if sometimes you feel like screaming from the depth of your soul the words of the song you are singing. REAL PRAISE AND WORSHIP COMES FROM DEPTH A HEART  FILLED WITH GRATITUDE.

May you triumph in every battle you face in Jesus name, Amen. By Kofi Thompson