Are We Underestimating Praise?

Are We Underestimating Praise?

2 Chronicles 20:21-22 "After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.”

In this chapter of Chronicles, God’s people have armies coming to attack them from three different places.  Things were not looking good.  Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah as he stood in the assembly.  He told the king and all the people of Judah that they shouldn’t be afraid because they was not their fight, it was God’s fight.  He told them to march down against the invading armies, but that they would not have to fight the battle.  This is where the verse picks up.  “After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

Jehoshaphat and his army were headed into what seemed like a hopeless battle.  There were three different armies waiting to destroy them and to take their land.  You would think they would have the soldiers lead them this battle.  Even if they trusted God, you would think just to be on the safe side you would have the soldiers go first.  However, King Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out to face the armies.  “As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.”

Did you catch that last part?  It doesn’t say once they started fighting the Lord gave them victory.  It doesn’t say their enemy was defeated by their mighty hand.  It says as they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against their enemy and they were defeated.  They didn’t even have to fight a single person.  They didn’t have to lift their hands at all in this fight, they just needed to lift up their voices.   Do you have enemies that you need defeated?  Are you praising God now while you are in the middle of it, or are you waiting until you get out of it?  I have known that praise is important for some time know.  I have even done other episodes on how important it is to praise through the storm, not just after it is over.  However, I didn’t know about this story.  I didn’t know about God destroying three armies with praise alone.  

Sometimes we are trying to fight our enemies on our own.  We know we need God and yet we ask Him for so much we feel we should try to do this one on our own.  Yet, instead of leading with praise we lead with anger, frustration, sadness, jealousy and whatever other emotions we are feeling in the moment.  Can you think of a time when you have charged into a situation with your emotions leading the way?  How did that work out for you?  For me, it never works out.  When I go into a situation on my own, without inviting the Lord to come with me, it never works out as I intended it to.  However, when I do think to praise the Lord while I am in the middle of a difficult situation, it always turns out well.  

There are times when we think God has abandoned us.  We are praying and it does not seem like He is with  us. Maybe we are the ones who have abandoned God.  We may be praying, but are we praying with a hopeful heart?  Are we trusting God will come through for us when we pray?  Are we praising God for all He does for us?  God is working in our lives every single day, are we praising Him for that?  I talk a lot about gratitude because I think it is so important to go through life being grateful for what we have.  I think when we are grateful with what we have God blesses us with more.  Being grateful is also a great way to shift our mood if we are feeling sad, or having a bad day.  Sometimes all it takes is a perspective switch and we can turn our whole day around.  

Praise is different from gratitude.  Sometimes we can be praising God for what we have and what He has done for us and yet praise is so much more than that.  We can also praise God fro who He is.  Sometimes we are in a situation where we may not want to or be able to praise God for the situation. For instance, in this verse God’s people were not praising God for the situation they were in.  They were not grateful they had three armies coming after them.  They were praising God for “the splendor of His Holiness.”  They were praising God for who He is.  He is the the Fountain of Life.  He is the great “I AM.”  He is the Just One and He is the King of kings.  He is the Lord of Lords and He is the Light of the world.  He is the Lord our God.  He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  

How often are you praising God for simply being God?  How often are you spending time in prayer thanking and praising God for being everything you need Him to be?  Maybe the next time we are in a hard situation, instead of charging into the situation with our guns blazing, maybe we can lead with our praise.  Instead of leading with our anger, frustration, sadness, we can lead with our praise.  God is always there for us.  Let’s be there for Him.  Let’s give God the praise that He so rightly deserves.  The thought just came to me that not everyone knows how to praise God.  There is not specific way.  I love to listen to praise and worship music, which is really any Christian music.  I am also part of a prayer group and we praise outloud to the Lord thanking Him for all He has done and all he Is.  I say phrases such as those listed above, things such as, you are the Light of the World, You are the Word made flesh, You are the King of the Kings.  You can also think back to all you have and thank God for that one by one.  You can thank God for everyone He has brought into your life.  Praise is time spent with the Lord when you are either thanking Him for something or you are talking about all the reasons He is awesome!!  I challenge you to find some time in your day today and praise the Lord.  You can do it silently within your own heart, or you can shout if from the roof tops, and everything in between.  Whatever you feel comfortable with.  The more you praise the  more comfortable it will feel to you.  Also, the more you praise the more you will see God working in your life.  

Dear Heavenly Father I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to praise you more.  Put praise for you on our hearts so we long to do it.  Give us a thirst for praising you Lord.  It is so amazing how you defeated Judah’s enemy when they started to praise you.  Lord, we have many enemies and we need you to defeat them.  Help us to praise you first instead of trying to fix it all our selves.  We love you Lord, you are so powerful.  You give Light to our lamps.  You straighten our crooked path.  You are always by our side and we am so grateful.  I ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you on Monday.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I!  Have a blessed weekend.

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