POWER of PRAISE. Praise is NOT a Reaction to Circumstances but the TRIGGER that Changes Circumstances

By Liliya Akhmadeeva

When you praise, in the spiritual realm you produce the effect of a train coming on full speed blowing its horn as if saying “Make way to the Lord!” 

The Bible says, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” (Phillipians 4:4)

​Many people consider praise as a reaction to circumstances. They praise God, express their gratitude and happiness when they feel like​ it. However, not many people know that praise can become the greatest weapon in their spiritual warfare.

When you mobilize yourself into the position of praise, you set yourself on the road to victory because praise stops being the reaction on circumstances but rather the trigger that changes circumstances.

​This happened at the Wall of Jericho (Joshua 6:20). It happened with Gideon and his army (Judges 7:16-22). It happened with Paul and Silas (Acts 16:22-26).

Why is Praise such a Powerful Tool?
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*Praise leads you straight into the very presence of God. Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” Throughout history the children of God knew that all breakthroughs were happening in the Presence of God.  Moses refused to make a step forward unless the Presence of God wasn’t with him. Here is what Moses said to the Lord, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” (Exodus 33:15)

*When you praise we fulfil the command of the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” The night Jesus was crucified Jesus told his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me.” (John 14:1) You can praise God because no matter what happens around, you can still trust in the Lord in His goodness, His mercy and His power. In John 16:33 Jesus says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” When the disciples asked Jesus how they ought to pray, Jesus answered that they had to pray as following: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name… For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13) The Lord’s prayer starts with praise and ends up with praise.” 

A very powerful example of the will of God for the people to praise Him is presented in Luke 19:37-40:

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
 
Psalm 148 gives a detailed account of everything and everyone that ought to praise the name of the Lord.

*When you praise you get filled with the spiritual strength. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “…Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Praise and joy are two phenomena that work reciprocally. When you are full of joy you want to burst into praise. However, the opposite is also true, when you praise joy comes to you.
 
*When you praise, you proclaim the name of the Lord; you declare his miracles; you declare his victory. The Bible says that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. (Revelation 12:11) Verse 12 says, “Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!”

*When you praise, in the spiritual realm you produce the effect of a train coming on full speed blowing its horn as if saying “Make way to the Lord!”

We read in Isaiah 40:
​
3A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord ;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
4Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”…
 
9You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
 
Joshua 6:20 and Judges 7:20-22 describe the effect that praise had on the war ground.

“When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.” (Joshua 6:20)

“The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.” (Judges 7:20-22)

*When you openly proclaim the name of the Lord, the enemy trembles in fear. “While each man [in the army of Gideon] held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.” (Judges 7:21-22) You can boldly proclaim the name of the Lord because you know the power that is in you. Romans 8:31 says, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
 
Where do I find strength to praise?

The Lord is the source of your joy! Ask and you shall receive!

You have the Holy Spirit who is called your Comforter. David cries out to God saying, “Restore onto me the joy of Your Salvation.” (Psalm 51:12)

Isaiah 61:10 says, “I will find joy in the Lord. I will delight in my God.”

Jesus is calling you to come into His very Presence where you’ll be able to find the life in abundance. In John 4:14 Jesus says, “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

How does it happen practically? You become joyful in the Lord when you start prioritizing Him in your life. Does it mean that when you love the Lord you stop loving your husbands, wives and children? No. In fact, the Lord teaches how to love them, but the purpose of your creation is to live for God alone. The Lord is the source of your joy and all the glory goes back to Him.

Jesus says, “5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15)
Once you start shining for Jesus, He will increase more and more in you, He will fill you with unhuman supernatural power, you will start changing from Glory to Glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). You will become the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13) and the light of the world (v. 14)

When you praise, in the spiritual realm you produce the effect of a train coming on full speed blowing its horn as if saying “Make way to the Lord!”