“May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands.” (Psalm 149:6 NIV)
We are in a war. Our war is not with people of flesh and blood; it is with Satan, the enemy of our souls. One of the most powerful weapons of warfare that God has given to His children is praise. Praise means to talk about or sing about the goodness, grace and greatness of God. Praise is an expression of our love for God and our faith in Him. God is worthy of our praise!
To defeat the enemy, we must have the praise of God in our mouths and the double-edged sword in our hands. The double-edged sword is the word of God. We have to get in agreement with God’s word and speak it out of our mouths in faith. God watches over His word to perform it. He will bring His will to pass in our lives, when we live a life of praise and continually stand on His promises. We should constantly praise God for His unfailing love and His wonderful promises. Praising God will keep us soaring above our circumstances and will keep Satan under our feet.
God’s word tells us to keep His praise in our mouths continually. He ordained praise to keep us in His presence and to stop Satan in his tracks. A life of praise defeats Satan and generates the joy of the Lord in our lives. The joy of the Lord is our strength and enables us to live as overcomers in this world.
The Bible says for us to rejoice in the Lord always, to pray continually and to give thanks in all circumstances. Prayer and praise go hand in hand. We make our requests known to God with thanksgiving. Our heavenly Father wants us to cast all of our care over on Him and then trust Him to take care of us. He does not want us to worry or be afraid. He loves us and will always do what is best for us. We should keep thankful, positive, faith-filled words in our mouths no matter what we are going through. God promised that He will work all things together for our good when we love Him and live for Him. When we are thankful and voice our thankfulness, it gives the Holy Spirit freedom to move on our behalf and work in our situations. Giving thanks and praising God will transform us and our circumstances.
We all have positive and negative situations in our lives. We need to focus on the positive and be thankful. In the midst of our troubles and hardships, we can rejoice over the things that are not wrong. We can also rejoice because God has faithfully taken us through the problems of the past, and we can rejoice in knowing that He will do it again. The Holy Spirit empowers us to praise God at all times, even when our faith is being tested and tried by life’s circumstances. We can be content and rest in the Lord when we have surrendered our lives to Him, because we know that He is in control. James says that we should count it all joy when our faith is being tested, because the testing of our faith develops patience. He says that we have need of patience. It is through faith and patience that we obtain the promises of God.
We must learn to quit complaining. Things only get worse when we complain, because complaining opens the door to the enemy. Complaining words release destructive power. They destroy the joy of the one doing the complaining and have a negative effect on the people who have to listen to them.
If we are going to live in victory, praise has to be one of our major weapons. Praise fills our lives with God’s presence and drives away the darkness. When we refuse to worry or complain and rejoice by choice, our God will meet all of our needs and fight our battles for us.
“Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do. Remember that the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers.” (Philippians 4:4-6 TLB) “Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!” (Psalm 106:1 AMP)
Pray this:
“Heavenly Father, I want to live the victorious life that You have called me to live. Thank You for the weapon of praise. Help me to pray about everything and worry about nothing. Help me to praise You at all times. Thank You for meeting my needs and fighting my battles for me.”
“In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
Pat Gray