Last blog we said that first - praise puts us in a position to experience and enter into the promises of God. Then second - God always shows up and makes Himself known when His people praise Him! He inhabits the praises of His people. Now we continue with the next blessing of praise.
Third, praise becomes a spiritual weapon in tearing down strongholds, satan, and powers of this world. We are told that the Word of God is a sword. Praise is God's Word, promises and nature of the Lord expressed. Psalm 8:2 shows us that praise is powerful and aggressive in cutting down our enemy and contradicting his lies. Satan has no defense when it comes to praise. In the midst of praise He is dumbfounded and silent. The Bible clearly states that praise "silences the foe". It grieves me that folks don't understand that when the church is in unified praise, it becomes a weapon of war in the Lord's battle against the enemy. So, praise be to the Lord!
Fourth, related and in addition to the third blessing of praise is: praise creates panic and total confusion among satan and his ranks. One of the Biblical examples of this is found in 2 Chronicles 20. I don't have room here to go into all of this. But, we remember that when the people began to praise there was confusion among the enemy to the point that they began to destroy each other. In my own experiences in Africa as a missionary, we saw first hand how satan and his demons could not stand praise. When all of the people would become unified in praise in a particular worship time or place, if there was anyone present who had demon possession or oppression, it became known immediately. We are not attuned to those kinds of things in our culture and society. But, it was very real in their experience.
Fifth, praise aligns and joins us with heaven. What is going on in heaven as we read this? Praise. God is on the throne and He is being praised at all times. We tend to live and worship in cocoons of our own making, responding emotionally, mentally, and physically to what is going on around us at the moment. Because of our perspective, we lose spiritual sight of the fact that at all times He is being praised and that when we praise either individually, or collectively when gathered as the church, we literally join heaven in giving praise to Him. Heaven's view is different from ours. Heaven knows we have already won. Praise aligns us with God's perspective. We need to open our eyes to the spiritual reality of our situations and our worship, realizing that we are joining with heaven singing the new song of victory! Would that ever change our attitudes toward our worship gatherings as a church!! mjm
