USING PRAISE AS A WEAPON OF WAR | Martina Aderonke Fatogun

He said, "Attention everyone — all of you from out of town, all you from Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat — God's word: Don't be afraid; don't pay any mind to this vandal horde.  This is God's war, not yours.

2 Chron 20:15  MSG

For the battle is not yours, but God's. 2 Chron 20:15 NIV

I have told you all this so that you will have peace of heart and mind. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world."

John 16:33TLB

On a daily basis, as individuals we face challenges in different areas of life. Some are insignificant and are often regarded as part of life or as some will put it, “it’s one of those things”. However, a challenge may come to really test one’s stand in the Lord. Every conceivable strategy may be employed; praying in tongues, calling down Holy Ghost fire, praying “fall down and die prayers”; and after a while the challenge may be given a silent treatment – choosing to ignore the challenge. But in spite of the silence on the matter, deep down the desire is that “this cup should pass over me”.

What do you do when you have done all you know to do and the challenge does not even seem to bat an eyelid?

Employ the weapon of praise.

I mean the weapon of praise not the weapon of thanks. In essence go a step further than thanks, give praise. Why? With praise you always win the battle with little effort. Briefly, I will differentiate between the thanksgiving and praise, and then discuss praise’s mechanism of action.

Thanksgiving is gratitude to God generally in response to God’s concrete acts in our lives or in history. The focus of thanks is usually on the past. It is an expression of gratefulness of the acts of God. Appreciating God for what He has done.

Praise comes from a Latin word meaning “value” or “price”. Thus to give praise to God is to proclaim his worth or merit. The Hebrew title of the book of psalms (“Praises”) comes from the same root word as “Hallelujah”.

It is an expression of admiration and approval. Simply put, praise is thanking God for who He is, His person, what He does and CAN do. When you tell others about what he CAN do for them, you are praising God. It takes faith to praise God.

Praise focuses on the future but uses thanksgiving as the stairs it climbs to see the future that is currently out of physical sight. Praise is “thanks plus faith”. It is easier to give thanks because you can see what you are appreciating God for but to praise God, you need faith. That is what makes praise a weapon of war.

Thanksgiving opens the gates of God’s dwelling place but praise takes you into the courts of God. Ps.100:4

Praise’s Mechanism of Action

In war, one way to intimidate the enemy is to create a threatening presence. This is what the military call the deterrence strategy. The bible says in Exodus 15:11 that God is fearful in praises. In other words in praises, He displays characters that are awesome, awe-inspiring, breathtaking and overwhelming in nature. In praise, He displays terrible acts of power loaded with love and deliverance for His children but destruction for the enemy.

Who is like to thee, among the strong, O Lord? Who is like to thee, glorious in holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, doing wonders?

Ex 15:11.Douay-Rheims Version.

Little wonder the earthquake announced His presence when Paul and Silas praised.

Praise automatically makes the presence of God the battle ground. In the presence of God, the enemy is bound to panic. At the presence of the Lord, seas of problems flee; mountain of challenges cannot be at rest, hard rocks of trials simply melt. (Psalm 100:4; Psalm 114)

Praise makes God the king and commander in chief of the army fighting your battle for you.

“You sit as the Holy One. The praises of Israel are your throne”.

Psalm.22:3 NCV;

“You are holy; you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel”.

Psalm.22:3 The NET Bible®

When God who is mighty in battle is in charge, gates of limitations have to lift their heads.

Praise gives you the ability to maneuver and orchestrate the extraordinary strategy of unpredictability. The enemy can no longer anticipate your reaction to his attacks. In fact praise does not make you react; it makes you to simply act. This is because you cannot praise God without joy in your heart. And with joy in your heart, the enemy always gets the opposite of anticipated reaction.

When the enemy expects you to cry you are laughing. When he expects you to complain and murmur you are singing. Your singing does not even have fixed times at the slightest opportunity you have, you burst into songs of praise. So the surprise you spring on the enemy each time with the weapon of praise takes the enemy to his wits end.

With praise, you do not suffer casualty in the battle. You only gather the plunder. After using the weapon of praise to fight their battle 

“… Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value — more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it”.

2 Chron 20:25 NIV

Praise is an unfailing weapon of war. May the Lord bestow on you the garment of praise and the oil of joy required to inflict vengeance on the wicked nations and punishment to the enemies of God.

Praise the Lord.

Martina Aderonke Fatogun 010416.