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Our
Battle Cry Is Our Praise!
The
last few months have been leading up to this article. In May, this message began with the article “Victory in Our
Praise.” Many
people while they are in a personal battle, they focus on what the enemy is
doing against them. Satan doesn’t mind you screaming at him during the battle.
He sees our screaming as an empty threat.
The enemy runs scared when we turn our eyes away from what he doing and
we turn our eyes upon Jesus. There
is an old hymn that says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of this earth
will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”
Praise
God for who He is. Psalms 91:14
says, “Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I
will set him on high because he hath known My Name.”
The names of God reveal His character and His nature.
In the midst of a battle, praise God for His character.
Whatever Satan throws at you, it is in God’s character to deliver you.
Here are some names that God has revealed in the Word.
†
Jehovah Jireh - The Lord provides. Gen 22:13-14. †
Jehovah Rhapha - The Lord your health. Ex
15:26 †
Jehovah Nissi - The Lord my banner. Ex
17:8-15 †
Jehovah Shalom - The Lord my peace. Jud
6:24 †
Jehovah Ra'ah - The Lord my shepherd. Ps.
23:1 †
Jehovah Tsidkenu - The Lord my righteousness.
Jer 23:6 †
Jehovah Shammah - The Lord is there. Ez
48:35 Another
thing we must do in a battle is remember what God has done for us.
Malachi 3:16 says that the people who feared the Lord wrote a book of
remembrance. As Pastor Eddie Adams
of Victory Tabernacle said a few weeks ago, we need to have a victory bank.
Every time we have a victory in our lives, we need to write it down in a
place where we can find it easily. John
Avanzini said that he kept a victory book in his nightstand by his bed, so when
Satan attacked him in the night, he would reach over and take out the book and
remind himself and Satan of the past victories. The
next thing we need to do is to praise God for what He is going to do.
We need to confess God’s promises.
The Bible says that we need to have the faith of God, and with this
faith, we can call those things that are not as though they are (Rom. 4:16-17).
Isaiah 55:11 says, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my
mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I
please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
When
you speak God’s Word, you become the voice of God.
You take the logos - the written word, and make it become Rhema
- the living, breathing, life giving word.
Jeremiah 1:12b says, “[F]or I will hasten my word to perform it.” Now
I want to focus on the pulling down of strongholds over a region though praise.
I have two examples of this from the Scriptures. In
2 Chronicles 20:23-24, the army of Israel went out to fight against three
armies. Through a prophet, God told
the people to stand back and see the salvation of the Lord.
They were told to place the praisers on the front line of battle.
As they did, God set ambushments against the enemy.
The
second example is in Acts 16:23-32. Paul
and Silas were thrown in jail for casting a demon out of a young girl.
At midnight, they began to sing praise to the Lord.
Through the power of praise the jailhouse walls were broke down and it brought salvation to a whole household. The
first key is again to praise God for who He is.
I now want to share with you how to use the names of God to displace the
strongholds of the enemy. † Violence - Jehovah Shalom † Perversion - Jehovah Tsidkenu † Broken Homes - Jehovah Shammah † Poverty -
Jehovah Jireh † Run Away - Jehovah Ra'ah † Homelessness - Jehovah Nissi
Again,
praise God for what He has done. Remember
the past revivals God has brought to your city.
Praise Him for sparing your city from disaster.
The
third thing is to praise God for what He is going to do. This is called
prophetic praise. In Psalms
102:12-28, David enters prophetic praise. He
begins to praise God for what He is going to do in a future generation. Now
I want to tell you the types of praise. The
first is Towdah, which means a sacrifice.
Hebrews 13:15 says, “By Him let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God
continual, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” The
second is Yadah, meaning the lifting or extension of you hands to the
Lord. In Exodus 17:8-15, Moses and
the children of Israel are in a battle with the Amalekites, as Moses held his
hands up, the children of Israel won. The
third is Barouch, which means to bow down.
Philippians 2:10 says, “That at the name of Jesus, every knee shall
bow, of things in heaven, of things in the earth, and of things under the earth,
and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the
Father.” The
fourth is Shabach, which is the shout. In the battle of Jericho, the Israelites fought the battle by
marching around the gates of the city in silence for six days, then on the 7th
day, they shouted. At that moment
the walls of the city came down. Number
five is Zamar, the playing of the instruments. In 1Samuel 16:17-23, Saul had an evil spirit upon him, as
David would play the harp, the spirit would have to leave. The
sixth one is Halell, which means to rave and boast. It also means to dance.
In 2Samuel 6:14, David danced before the Lord when the ark of the
covenant was brought to Jerusalem. The
last one is Tephillah, which is intercession or prophetic praise.
In Psalms 102:1-28, David is praying to God for his deliverance.
He then begins to praise God for His goodness and mercy.
Then he begins to praise God for what He will do in a future generation. I
now want to show you how to put the power of praise into action.
Psalms 149:6-9 says, “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
and a two edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and
punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles
with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour
have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.”
Our praises are swords in our hands. Cindy
Jacobs tells a story in her book “Possessing the Gates of The Enemy (p
175-6),” about a church in Oakland, Ca, who puts praise power into action.
This church, Shiloh Christian Center, was contacted by the police
department to go to a particular street in the city and see what could be done
there. The church went to the
street and held a block party. They went back for three weeks in a row.
The results were incredible. According
to the police reports, 70 percent of the drug lords moved out of the area. Cindy
asked the pastor, Dr. Violet Kiteley, if they were praise God according to
Psalms 149. She answered, “Of
course we were. We were not out
there just to have a good time and sing!” The
last thing I want to leave you with is Psalms 22:3.
It says, “But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabits the praises of
Israel.” When we praise God, His
presence comes in and Satan cannot stay around. He has to leave! Everybody Praise the Lord! - |
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Last modified: April 27, 2003
